Othello: Where doth your loyalty lie?
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, there are many moral aspects at hand: honor, loyalty, pride and love. Shakespeare had a way with toying with a reader’s perspective on objectives and the point he was trying to make. The questionable actions in Othello are there to make a reader question the morals of a person and what makes a good person honorable, loyal or trustworthy. Othello himself, has one of the most undetermined morals of the play as well as Iago, who through the looking glass, seems to have low morals, if none at all. This is where the confusion lies and discovering what Othello tells readers of what it means to be of good moral character, regardless of intentions.
From the beginning Shakespeare opens with a series of betrayals, but gives the reader ample reason with each cause to pass over them and neglect them because of what the betrayal stands for. For instance, one of the first betrayals the reader sees but may not fully comprehend is Desdemona’s unfaithfulness to her father to be with the man she loves. While it is obvious that Rodrigo and Iago have initiated an argument and small conflict with Brabantio over the marriage of Desdemona and Othello, it is hard to see the hurt Brabantio feels that his daughter has chosen someone else over him.
Desdemona. I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband;
And so much duty as my mother show’d
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor, my lord. (Act I. Scene iii.185-89)
Here Desdemona is expressing that although Brabantio, her father, is important to her and has taught her many things, she would rather be with Othello, the love of her life and just as her mother did before her she is choosing love over family. While Desdemona ultimately chooses Othello, this could be argued as the root of his distrust in his wife and she has just betrayed her family for her love. Brabantio even warns Othello, “Look to her, if thou has eyes to see; She has deceiv’d her father, and may thee.” (Act I. Scene iii. 292-93) While Desdemona seems loyal to her husband through the rest of the play, this is enough to make Othello follow the words of a hidden foe over the words and actions of his wife.
Breaking Othello and Desdemona’s relationship seems to become a goal of Iago’s if not for his own revenge, then just for his own satisfaction. This breathes in a new perspective of Iago’s morals, if they exist. While Iago is consistently trying to alter Othello’s perception of people and their motives by telling half-truths or altering the scenery in a deceptive manner, in his mind he may have been doing so to protect and defend his own moral. Iago is another of Shakespeare’s characters who feels deceived and wronged. While Iago thought Othello to be his closest friend and companion, he felt betrayed when Othello had given Cassio the promotion in ranks rather than Iago himself. Iago may have been a trustworthy friend of Othello at some point, but the reader sees him as tainted by jealousy, pain, and broken trust.
Desdemona seems to be happy in her marriage even though her husband always seems to be away on military business and the longer Othello is away, the easier he is convinced that Desdemona in unfaithful and a bad person. Iago has enough fun with his own rhetoric in trying to convince every one of his “good” deeds and manipulating people with his own words and seems proud.
Iago. For ‘tis most easy
Th’ inclining Desdemona to subdue
In an honest suit; she’s fram’d as fruitful
As the free elements. And then for her
To win the Moor, were [‘t] to renounce his baptism,
All seals and symbols redeemed sin,
His soul is so enfetter’d to her love,
That she may make, unmake, do what she list,
Even as her appetite shall play the god…
(Act II, Scene iii. 339-48)
As much as Othello would like to believe that Desdemona would always be by his side and obedient in terms of a wife should be, it appears he is frightened of becoming a laughing stock if his relationship does fail due to infidelity. Iago, in his speech above, believes that he is so well organized and manipulative in his words and plans that if he chose to he could have Othello wrapped around Desdemona’s finger at any moment. He seems to be under the impression that Othello will fold at any request the Desdemona has for him.
Iago not only finds this humorous but ordinary and according to studies it is. "During the course of the fifteenth century the image of a man ridden by a women had been developed as a visual metaphor of the abasement and humiliation to which men were liable as a consequence of the susceptibility to the seductive attraction of women" (103). Othello seems to be in this situation mostly because regardless of being influenced to believe that his wife is unfaithful, he loves her and eventually learns the truth although it is too late.
When Othello makes the decision to kill Desdemona in her sleep, he even then questions his morals and motives, but nevertheless they are still with him.
Othello. Yet I’ll not shed her blood
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
(Act V, Scene ii. 3-6)
It becomes apparent to Othello that this is something he must do to protect others from someone, from his perspective, has terrible morals and deceitful habits.
That is until the truth is unraveled through Emilia, Cassio, and partially Iago himself. Othello starts to feel the pain and regret of the actions he has taken based on word-of-mouth and the lies of someone he though was a reliable friend and comrade. His emotions become blurred and a mix of them emerges at once, ultimately resulting in his suicide. This action can be seen as honorable, however crude and unforgiving. Othello’s realization that the murder he committed on Desdemona was pointless and angers and saddens him. He realizes that his true love loved him and he betrayed her; “I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, killing myself, to die upon a kiss. (Act V, Scene ii. 357-59)
Othello sees the loss of the innocent Desdemona as the loss of himself and the life he lived and his suicide is retribution for the life he took. While he feels as though his honor has diminished, through the act of his suicide, it is almost restored for this play’s finale.
Shakespeare makes the reader think about the actions of a person and what it takes to be a good human being. Does it take honor, honesty, truthfulness or selflessness? Maybe to be a good person it just takes selfishness, just enough to get by but never enough to get in the emotions of others. Every one of the characters involved in Othello makes you question the morals of person: Desdemona betraying her father for her unapproved husband, Iago for his deceptiveness, Brabantio for refusing to claim his daughter after her marriage, and Rodrigo for his jealousy and compliance in helping destroy Othello and Desdemona’s marriage.
Othello, who could arguably be the most moral of the play, is even questioned in his actions and although Iago’s intentions prove to be just pure manipulative and malice in the end, it brings out all of the aspects Shakespeare wants the reader to see. The closest ally might also be the worst enemy and maybe that bad liars are just really honest, and good liars are the dishonest and even the disloyal.
Works Cited
Moxey, Kieth. “The Battle of the Sexes and the World Upside Down.” Peasants, Warriors, and Wives: Popular Imagery in the Reformation. Chicago: U. of Chicago P., 1989. 101-26.
Shakespeare, William. TheTragedy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. The Riverside Shakespeare. 2nd Ed. Eds G. Blakemore Evans and J.J.M. Tobin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. 1360-90. Print.
Satan: Fallen Hero or Rising Villan?
I once considered and even argued that the sole hero of Paradise Lost was Eve, the flawed, yet brave and ambitious female lead who gave mankind freewill by eating from the forbidden tree and then persuading or encouraging Adam to do the same. My views have not changed in the thought that she is a hero; just that she is not the only one presented throughout the text. John Milton does an exceptional job of getting readers to question the true nature of Satan and whether or not he is actually the villain or just a victim to greater powers.
While the general reader knows that Satan is a fallen angel, it is hard not to relate to and judge him based on human features. To understand his emotions and actions, a reader would need to analyze his character; and Satan’s demeanor allows for in-depth discussion and examination to appreciate the steps he takes to accomplish his goals. Satan, being one of the most conflicted and confusing characters in Paradise Lost, is complicated and some might even call him demented. But who’s to say that Satan is not the most developed being or happiest for that matter throughout the entire epic? The nature of his actions could be described as selfish, manipulative, and even revengeful; but doing what makes him happy and without restraint (freewill) makes him likable and relatable to readers because his actions are not as far-fetched as to the actions any other person would take. Satan, while containing all these traits that make him likable, are also what make him seem more human and humane compared to God and the Son. While God and the Son are righteous, creators of all, peacekeepers and rule makers, Satan portrays a character that faces challenges and emotions that defy the life he should be living, with the life that he wants to live.
The reader first learns of Satan’s fall in Book I of Paradise Lost and are immediately informed of his intentions to never return to God’s side and become obedient. As he lies next to Beelzebub, Satan breaks the silence by insisting:
All is not lost: the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what else not to be overcome?
That Glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort form me… (1.106-11)
Satan is showing his revengeful side and showing that he will not be silenced although he may be shunned. These six lines elucidate Satan’s whole desire to be detached from God so that he may rise on his own and have the powers and admiration that God has for his self. Satan, being very adamant about his claim to be equal to God, if not more powerful, persuades and summons a large gathering of fallen angels to be his army and defend his claim. The self-appointed throne and hierarchy created by Satan shows his desperation, dedication, and motivation to become separated from those who expect obedience (God and the Son), and create a place where free will and choice are dominant.
When Satan first sees Paradise, he is engulfed with feelings of pain and guilt as he remembers “Tell, how glorious once above thy Sphere/ Till pride and worse Ambition threw me down” (IV.39-40). He recognizes that life with God was ideal, that is until he acknowledged he did not want to be in obligation to God or praising him, when Satan felt he deserved that same power and appreciation as God, himself. Satan quickly changes his pain and guilt to anger and manipulation in bi-polar fashion. While he is aware that the deeds he must do free himself of God and create a world that is more equal in power, Satan is self-conscious of the fact that “Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell” (IV. 75). The self-awareness that Satan has, makes is mental stability more apparent, even when his actions seem to be irrational and pressured by revenge. This argument that Satan has with himself substantiates the sense of morals that he has, even if he disregards them completely. The fact that the argument even happens that he is apologetic for separating from God, that he does not want to return to Heaven, that he actually contemplates the idea of feeling bad about destroying man-kind, shows that Satan’s intentions, although evil, reflect his desires, not a mental incapability that forces him to do it.
When Satan successfully influences Eve to eat from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge, it could be argued that he has won the battle between himself and God. His ultimate goal was to destroy mankind and although God had foreseen the fall happening, it happened because Satan initiated the action.
With Satan’s accomplishment, Sin and Death, byproducts of Satan himself, are encouraged to complete the bridge from Hell to Earth making the wrath of Satan for accessible to mankind and the infection of the Earth basically complete:
…:Now possess,
As Lords, a spacious World, to our native Heaven
Little inferior, by my adventure hard
With peril great achiev’d. Long were to tell
What I have done, what suffer’d, with what pain
Voyag’d the’unreal, vast, unbounded deep
Of horrible confusion, over which
By Sin and Death a broad way now pave’d
To expedite your glorious march; (10. 466-474)
Satan, although his celebration belittled by God himself, is using this speech to encourage his followers to go out and complete his aspirations of destroying God’s greatest triumph, Earth and mankind. Readers can see how proud Satan is that in such a small time-span his ultimate goal has been accomplished and what pain he has caused to the almighty ruler. He takes pride in the fact that man-kind now knows that they can be disobedient to God and although he plans to infect the Earth with Sin and Death and debase all living things generated by God, the fact that freewill exists and can be exercised is a triumph for him.
Overall, it is apparent that even though God has plans for Satan and the fallen angels to be cursed to Hell after Judgment Day that Satan still has his victory. Both Eve and Adam knew not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and although they may have eventually fallen on their own due to curiosity, Satan can be credited with how manipulative he was and how quickly he caused the fall.
From beginning to end we see Satan start as an Archangel and “fall”, if you will, to the ruler of Hell. There are many interpretations as to how Satan’s fate ends in Paradise Lost. I personally believe that Satan is not only a hero, but that the development of his character exceeds that of any other. Many, many years of history have shown us that rebelling against any ruler does not always end in triumph and although Milton ends Paradise Lost before Satan’s fate is truly unveiled, although foretold, the reader can grasp that his revenge has been successful. Satan’s cognitive abilities to decipher that he does not want to be obedient to one being and the choice to break free, demonstrates his own ability to use free-will without provocation. He also takes the knowledge and power that he has to empower others to make the decision to follow in his footsteps and lead a life of independence and self-authority.
While the spread of sin seems like a downfall of mankind, it is once again a triumph for Satan. He may not see the suffering that his future holds, but Satan is the true achiever in Paradise Lost. I personally believe that while Satan portrayal in Paradise Lost seems selfish and ill-directed, it seems as though his fight for separation from the “Almighty” was a fight for humanity as well. It is insinuated that Satan tries to destroy mankind, and although that may have been his own intention, it could be speculated that Satan actually rescues them.
A Woman’s Role in Society: A Feminist Critical Reading of Pride and Prejudice
Throughout history women have been fighting for equal rights, recognition and respect. Even women writers have a hard time straying from the general, stigmatized female characters in their novels. Jane Austen, the author of a popular novel of the 18th century, and even still today, Pride and Prejudice, wrote the novel from the primary perspective of a woman. While it can be argued that Austen writes based on the stigmas generated around selfless, undermined, dependent women, it can also be said that she writes against them. Pride and Prejudice is a prominent example of how women were considered as inferior and held back by society, while also exposing the very basic lives of women and the minute expectations that society had for them and through feminist literature criticism this piece of literature can be analyzed.
Feminist literary criticism focuses on uncovering any patriarchal stances, analyzing and identifying with female characters, and analyzing the relationships between male and female characters in works of literature. We can first look at the roles portrayed by women in Pride and Prejudice and decipher that while few are boisterous and outspoken, most are obedient and soft, if you will. First we have Mrs. Bennet, who has raised five girls and it appears that her only goal or aspiration is to see them all become married to respectable, educated, and wealthy men. “If I can see but one of my daughter s happily settled at Netherfield,” said Mrs. Bennet to her husband, “and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for” (Austen 15). While it is not unusual for parents to want the best for their children, this happens to be Mrs. Bennet’s only hobby and therefor brings cause for concern. In today’s society, there is a push for women to strive for more; education, career, and an individual social status. Without proper attribute or acceptance into society in regards to education and career, women were subject to rely solely on raising their children to be acceptable to the public.
Next we have Miss Bingley, a sophisticated and harsh young lady who although has the means through family fortune and formal education, is introduced in the novel as the sister to Mr. Bingley and will be staying with him to keep house. Even through her many accomplishments and connections through prominent and esteemed members of society, Miss Bingley is reliant on her brother for social gatherings and introductions. During a discussion at Netherfield Park Miss Bingley expresses what it means to her to be an accomplished woman:
No one can really be esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved. (Austen 50)
In A Feminist Perspective by Johanna M. Smith, she states that, “The myth of perfectibility is central to the politics of Mary Shelley’s parents, and while she was skeptical of such optimism her work throughout is deeply engaged with the problematic of education” (Smith 318). To be such an accomplished woman meant that you were the epitome of perfection and both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet express the rarity in knowing such women. Women in the time of Pride and Prejudice were not entitled to institutional education and to be so accomplished in many arts meant that she came from a wealthy family and even then, it did not mean she was to spend her time doing such things. These women were to stay home, rear children, and entertain guests as they chose to stop by and these were the types of traits men looked for in a woman that he desired to make his wife.
“The arts of pleasing men, in other words, are not only angelic characteristics, in more worldly terms, they are proper acts of a lady. (Gilbert and Gubar 816)” In Austen’s novel, it is hard to say that any of the women show any of these angelic features and that in fact may be what she was striving for. That none of the characters fit the mold of the perfect, pleasing housewife may have been the job at society that Austen was trying to make in the name of feminism. Mrs. Bennet is noisy, desperate, and tiresome and Elizabeth Bennet is prideful, stubborn, and outspoken. The closest angelic figures in the novel are Jane Bennet for being gentle, reserved, and good spirited even while heart broken and Charlotte Lucas for being agreeable, modest, and practical although she seems to be simple and a bore. According to Gilbert and Gubar, “assertiveness, agreesiveness—all characteristics of a male life of ‘significant action’ – are ‘monstrous’ in women precisely because ‘unfeminine’ and therefore unsuited to a gentle life of ‘’contemplative purity’” (819). These are traits given to Lady Catherine de Bourgh who is bossy, snobby, and overbearing.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh as a tall, large woman, with strongly-marked features, which might once have been handsome. Her air was not conciliating, nor was her manner of receiving them such as to make her visitors forget their inferior rank. She was not rendered formidable by silence’ but whatever she said was spoken in so authoritative a tone, as marked her self-importance… (Austen 188)
While men were able to hunt, work, go to institutions, hold balls, and marry who they choose, women were far less fortunate. Men throughout the novel are shown with far more independence and privacy than any women. Mr. Bennet himself is rarely seen outside of his personal study and other men throughout the novel are rarely seen in their private or intimate settings. In such circumstances, these men were also never confronted about their privacy or the time they spent with other men. However, women were not as inclined to such privacy or intimate lives.
Elizabeth Bennet turned down not one, but two marriage proposals as she vowed to only marry for love and not for the sake of wealth or convenience. While her reasoning may seem fitting for those of us in the twenty first century, it was not so in the time of Pride and Prejudice. Not only does Elizabeth break tradition by declining potentially successful marriage proprosals to both Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy, she is then insulted by Lady Catherine du Bourgh, a member of her own gender, for not being qualified to marry the latter of the two men. “You will be censured, slighted, and despised, by everyone connected with him…They (Mr.Darcy and Miss de Bourgh) are destined for each other by the voice of every member of their respective houses; and what is to divide them? The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family, connections, or fortune” (395). Through all the turmoil and distress Elizabeth has caused, she does not back down. Lady de Bourgh is very harsh on her own sex and even down right cruel to suggest that due to her social standing and family relations that Elizabeth is not worthy of her nephew. I believe that this was Austen’s jab at society. Not only is she using such a controversial scene to portray the inequalities of being able to accept a marriage proposal but the downright ridiculousness of social standings or good breeding being the sole purpose of getting married.
“A life of feminine submission, of ‘contemplative purity,’ is a life of silence, a life that has no pen and no story, while a life of female rebellion, or ‘significant action,’ is a life that must be silenced, a life who monstrous pen tells a horrible story” (Gilbert and Gubar 824). Elizabeth Bennet, our pivotal character throughout the analysis holds a high standard of decision making and following one’s heart, which are both traits unknown to women at that particular time period. While eventually Elizabeth does become a housewife, she becomes a housewife for love, for her values, and against society’s intentions.
While Jane Austen nearly plays into the stigmas of lowly, non-opinionated, obedient women, she actually plays against them by mocking and even breaking the standards. With Lady Catherine du Bourgh we see a woman in society who is held in high regards to her fellow patrons but displays masculine-like traits and Mrs. Bennett who is a typical housewife but is outspoken and regarded as annoying and embarrassing. Then there is Miss Elizabeth Bennet who decides to marry for herself and not for her family and defies a large number of social standards by speaking her mind, refusing marriage, and breaking the societal standards.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. The Project Gutenberg. 2008. eBook. Gilbert, Sandra and Susan Gubar. “The Madwoman in the Attic.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.418 430. Print.
Smith, Johanna M.. “A Feminist Perspective.” Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. Ed. J.Paul Hunter. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 1995. 313-333. Print.