Lucy Goodfellow Othello Essay

Explore how Shakespeare presents stories and storytelling in Othello.

You must relate your discussions to relevant contextual factors and ideas from your critical reading.

(Total for Question 7 = 35 Marks)

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Within William Shakespeare's eponymous tragedy 'Othello' (1604) the playwright explores stories and in
turn storytelling throughout his play. Shakespeare does this in numerous ways, from his creation of
impactful characters such as his protagonist Othello who experiences prejudices and mal treatment
from other characters due to his racial heritage, to the villainous antagonistic Iago whom uses stories in
order to perpetuate these racial stereotypes and present the protagonist to indeed be, as critic Loomba
writes the godless, bestial and hideous villain that the audience would have already believed him to
be due to their preconceived notions surrounding black people that they would have almost naturally
put onto the eponymous Moor of Venice. The playwrights use of the epithet Moor serves to
heighten this racial stereotyping as he belittles his character by using derogatory racial slurs in his
subtitle The Moor of Venice. The Machiavellian Iago also uses stories to further encourage this racial
stereotyping. The characters use of biblical allusions within the primary act such as

an old black ram

Is tupping your white ewe

which immediately forces the audience to liken the titular character as a vile devil like creature that
destroys everything that he touches. This story combined with the character of Roderigos overt racism
naming Othello Thick- lips and the Noble Brobantios labeling of the protagonist as a

a practicer

Of arts inhibited and out of warrant.

Would serve to immediately characterize Othello to be a violent supernatural beast and make the
audiences of the time- who were more susceptible to biblical allusions due to the more significant
presence of religion in society in comparison to today, believe that Othello was indeed the violent
villain they come to see in the dnouement of the play. Therefore Shakespeare during the primary
scenes of his tragedy William Shakespeare presents stories as something that is a helpful tool to show
the nature of a character without revealing them to the audience and ruining the suspense that has
been built over the first scene.

Moreover this suspense it furthered by the playwrights decision to commence his tragedy In Media Res
meaning that is commences at a crucial point in the story rather than at the very beginning.
Shakespeares decision to begin his play Venice at night on A Street with his characters in mid
conversation, effectively engages the audience as they would immediately wish to know who Iago and
Roderigo are talking about who

Loving his own pride and purposes

Evades then with a bombast circumstance

Horribly stuffed with epithets of war

This would create immediate intrigue within audiences both past and present as they would be
perplexed as to the identities of the discussed Moor and what to know if he is as bestial as he is
portrayed to be by Iagos stories about his character. If Shakespeare had chosen to begin his tragedy
with the introduction of his protagonist, then this intrigue would now have been created and therefore
this opening Act would not have been as effective due to lack of mystery. However, the structural device
of In Media Res could also disengage audiences at the time due to the lack of education present in the
lower classes and the fact they may not have been able to quickly grasp what is happening. Their lack of
education could also serve to make audiences of 1604 more susceptible to Iagos storytelling and thus
make it easier for the character to manipulate their ideals surrounding The Moor protagonist. Today
however audience can quickly understand what is happening and they would likely be thankful that they
immediately see the action of the play and Iago beginning to weave his little web of lies rather than
the less interesting plot. To a modern audience the racial stereotyping- made possible by the characters
use of stories, is present not only in the opening scene but is evident throughout the play with several
named characters using the epithet of Moor or damned slave in reference to the protagonist
connoting vileness and wrongdoing. This does not have the same effect that it would to an audience in
the 1600s as today the use of stories to perpetuate racism would be deemed as derogatory and
unnecessary and arguably bad writing. It can be argued therefore that Othello is a racist play as the
playwright perpetuates then common stereotypes surround race in his characters actions. However
critic Onteka argues that this is not the case and that we apply horrible examples of racism to a play in
which this racism cannot exist as these events would not have happened. This interpretation is
further exampled by the fact that Shakespeare choices to have his protagonist subvert these stereotypes
when the audience meets him directly for the first time. He speaks in Black Verse- a symbol for class and
grandeur. Both his actions and his words show the protagonist to be a Valiant commander deserving
of this epithet

Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust

them.

However when the tragic heroes fall from grace begins- due to his hamartia or jealousy, a coherent and
compelling air of tragedy can be seen to develop (Kastan) and Othellos devolvement commences with
him beginning to act like the Barbary horse the primary act's animalistic imagery connotes. Therefore
it is likely that although Shakespeare may not have intended to make his play a racist depiction of a
fantasy of interracial love as critic Loomba writes, with changing social expectations and stereotypes
surround race today we can perceive this as a racist play due to the playwrights manipulation of the
audience with his use of stories and storytelling. Furthermore the use of Biblical allusions and references
to stories in the Bible and other religious texts are presented to be a corrupting factor. Iagos use of
language within his asides and monologues (his way of telling stories to the audience directly and
corrupting their view of Shakespeares world and the other characters he hopes to ensnare) through
the play shows that Shakespeare viewed stories as a tool that was able to corrupt the mind of the
audience and poison them against a particular party.

In conclusion William Shakespeare presents stories and storytelling as a corrupting a powerful force that
is capable of ruining lives, which is rather ironic as its intention is to entertain. The brief prologue that
Lucy Goodfellow Othello Essay

Othello provides detailing his past is another story that Shakespeare presents to be a corrupting and
destructive factor. The love between Desdemona is arguably infatuation and Othellos admission that

She loved me for the dangers I had passed,

And I lived her that she did pity them

Further evidences this interpretation. Additionally due to the fact that the story of my (Othellos) life
is what drew the fair Desdemona to Othello who according to the Brobantio the noble signor
implying he is trustworthy, corrupted her. It can be interpreted that Shakespeare believed that even
the most seemingly pure stories of love are able to fall victim to the harmful nature of storytelling in
general. Furthermore since the catalyst for their relationship is a story and their marriage is then sullied
itself by the story of Desdemonas alleged affair it can be said that the tragedy of Othello is due to
stories themselves and their corrupting nature.