Use this blog post to either reflect on a specific passage from the article about women in Othello that we didn't discuss in class, or to further explore an idea, a connection, a question, or a passage from our discussion of either "Othello's Alienation" or "Iago the Psychopath."
A good blog post will have an angle or a focus that will be hinted at in the title. This angle will be the driving focus of the blog post. The post will discuss only a few really important specific ideas, connections, or passages from the play and the article, but it will discuss them deeply. Rather than just repeat what's already been said, the writer will strive to explore a new insight or perspective, or will connect ideas from the discussion to passages in the play and/or the article that weren't examined carefully yet. The writing will be clear, effective, and have a sense of voice. Length: approx. 300 words.
“Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in ‘Othello’” and the Feminine Mystique
ReplyDeleteWhile reading, in particular, the last passage of this article titled “How Did Shakespeare Really Feel?”, I was surprisingly reminded of my nonfiction book, and the central claim of the existence of a practice that raised traditionally female roles to the height mysticism and importance and in doing so ignored their oppressed situation in a certain society. I believe the author does this quite thoroughly throughout this article, though most prominently in the last section.
In the second paragraph he describes Emilia’s actions as her “channeling her natural feminine strength” and in the next sentence describing Emilia and Desdemona as “spectacular examples of the capabilities women have in terms of strength.”. I would be rather disappointed in my gender if talking about a husband’s malaises and taking the blame for one’s own murder was the height of female ability. This brings me to another point---Why was the author so determined to assign gender/femininity to actions? The section titled “Sexual Power Revisited” addresses Desdemona’s moral solidarity in the face of Iago and Othello’s actions, and how is that in any way sexual? Even in regards to the idea of “sexual power” in terms of her influence over Othello, he often speaks of her personality and disposition separate from her physical appeals, which renders the claim that her influence was purely sexual in nature inert, though he continues to call it as such.
Of course, this does not directly imply the author’s mysticism of females. Such a practice comes into play in the third sentence of the third paragraph in “How Did Shakespeare Really Feel?”, in which he states that “It [females] is a mysterious sex…” and proceeds to contrast Desdemona’s passivity to Emilia’s forwardness as evidence of that. I would question to logic of this statement, since one could easily find both passive and “indomitable” individuals in any sex, and I am completely confused as to how the female sex, which makes up more than half of the global population, would ever be considered “mysterious” in the same definition where the male sex is not. The author also claims that “Othello” displays that “in many cases, they [men] do not rule at all.”, which completely ignores the undisputably patriarchal nature of the play. There were only three “major” female characters in the play (Bianca, Desdemona, and Emilia), Bianca was only seen twice and with a minor role, and the only major females left (Desdemona + Emilia) are dead by the end, with no real victory between the two besides Emilia’s involuntary martyrdom for “the truth”. They had little to no control over their fates besides deciding whether to listen to or defy men, and in most cases they chose the former.
The situation for females in this play is better and more complex than is usually seen in Shakespeare’s time, but that should not take away from the fact that it is still a pitiful situation. This author’s claims, which for the most part are taken from a modern perspective, fail to recognize this. The over elevation of Desdemona and Emilia’s roles in particular harmfully implies to readers (who live in the modern era) that “Othello” is a good example of the equal treatment of females in literature, of which it is certainly not.
A Further Examination of Iago’s Psychopathy and its Role in Othello
ReplyDeleteUpon concluding our class discussion regarding Iago’s status as a psychopath, I felt our profile of him was well supported by the literature our class read. We were able to pinpoint some sociopathic aspects, such as the weakness and constant fluctuation of his motives, the exceedingly calculated and pernicious acts he undertakes based on them, and his rampant egocentrism that characterizes his detached view of the world. However, many of our discussion participants were unable to stomach the actions undertaken by Iago as simply the brainchild of an almost motiveless psychopath seeking nothing but another sick thrill. Many believed that Iago’s actions and appearance in the play could act as a representation of values and qualities that are questionable in the whole of human society, namely the issue of humanity’s fear and resulting hatred of things that are unknown and thus unpredictable to us. Although the trend of our discussion seemed to be moving in a direction that could attempt to disprove ideas such as this, there is some merit to these interpretations, and Iago’s psychopathy is critical in their development.
In Edward Berry’s “Othello’s Alienation,” it is argued that Othello is slowly rendered insecure because of long-standing racial prejudices and a lack of definitive origin, which are exaggerated to the point of self-destruction by the “racially-charged” actions of Iago. However, based on the findings exhibited in Fred West’s “Iago the Psychopath,” it is far more likely that Iago used these existing societal animosities to create the image of a motive and to reassure himself that his own morals are superior, when in fact he lacks a concept of them on his own, which is common in a psychopath. The racial divisions present in Shakespeare’s time serve as an asocial catalyst that Iago would almost certainly have been influenced by and something he would have thought of as acceptable. Iago’s lack of true moral standards sets him apart from the average Venetian citizen, who would need considerable cause to act violently against someone such as Othello, even when he disobeys the social expectations. Iago, like any psychopathic individual uses existing societal conditions to manipulate circumstances to his own advantage. For example, Iago manipulates Brabantio by playing upon his prejudices when he tells Brabantio about Desdemona’s elopement with Othello. It can also be seen in his exploitation of Roderigo and Othello; he uses the act of race-mixing to incur hatred within Roderigo; and he uses Othello’s own insecurities about his race to make him believe in Desdemona’s unfaithfulness (“...Of her own clime, complexion, and degree, Whereto we see in all things nature tends- Foh, one may smell in such, a will most rank, Foul disproportions, thoughts unnatural”). By using the belief that blackness connotates a lack of beauty, Iago is able to awaken insecurities within Othello.
The fact that Shakespeare’s psychopathic character uses a then-accepted social attitude to his own advantage at the expense of several innocents is chilling. Why Shakespeare would choose an individual incapable of exhibiting a motive to commit what many may consider a hate crime? Based on the influence society has on individuals such as Iago, it is not surprising that a sociopathic individual, incapable of rationalizing the systematic hatred, would decide to take the actions advocated by such hatred a step further. Iago uses ruthless persecution not as a means to facilitate values encouraged by an existing society, but as a means to further his own gain. In this way, Iago does represent the consequence of our collective fear and eventual hatred for those that we know little about. By placing these ideas into the mind of an individual who is mentally unable to experience compassion, whether through hate or disability, this individual is compelled to act.
Self-Contradictory Blog Post - "Shakespeare's Attitude Toward Women in "Othello""
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this blog post, I found myself getting increasingly irritated at how dismissive and self-contradictory the author was, and was especially disgusted when going through the passage “Sexual Power Revisited”. It seemed as though that what the author was saying throughout the entire article was that women are simply powerful because of their sexual influence over men, and shows this off as a positive aspect, ignoring any other possible womanly power other than defying men themselves.
Right before the passage “Sexual Power Revisited”, titled “Emilia’s Refusal to Submit and the Rise of Feminine Bravado”, the author congratulates Emilia for dying in the name of women and not submitting to the obvious inequality of her time period. He says that because Shakespeare made her show this defiance, she is strong and therefore women and men are given equal power.
But then in “Sexual Power Revisited”, he says that Desdemona shows “phenomenal moral strength” and “never sways from her vows of marriage”, saying essentially how her submittance is deserving of respect and shows how strong women are. When, in fact, Desdemona submits and refuses to say Othello’s name when asked who killed her, it rather suggests that she still has to serve a duty to her husband because she is bound by marriage, not because she is strong. When Othello hits her, she says “I will not stay to offend you.” (Shakespeare 67 (given edition)), insinuating that she exists for Othello’s happiness and command, further shown when Lodovico in fact comments upon her obedience to Othello. And in the passage before, the author had just said that Emilia’s defiance instead of submittance was a show of strength, while in this current passage he says Desdemona’s submittance instead of defiance was a show of womanly strength. Submittance as a whole implies there is a power imbalance and that there is a dominating force, which, in this case is the power of men. Not only is the author self-contradictory, he says that being dominated over is a show of power, which doesn’t quite make sense.
It it simply quite sad that the author views Shakespeare’s show of womanly power in Othello only in a sexual and defiance of the patriarchy, when deep analyses of the characters of Othello (such as “Iago the Psychopath” and “Othello’s Alienation”) reveal how complex Shakespeare’s characters really are.
“Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in ‘Othello’” and Mighty Women
ReplyDeleteWhile progressing through the book and discussing it in class, it was very clear that the men in the book held the power over the women in the play. One way you could counter this thought is taking a closer look at the relationship of Othello and Desdemona. From the beginning, I could tell that Desdemona and Othello were madly in love but as the play went on it seemed like the love quickly turned into obsession. In the section of the article entitled “Desdemona’s Sexual Power Over Her (Supposedly) Mighty Man”, the author takes a deeper look into this relationship.
From the title with the word “supposedly” I knew this would be interesting. In the first paragraph of this section, the author explores the idea of the power that Desdemona has over Othello. For example, when Iago starts to persuade Othello that Desdemona is cheating, Othello seems tortured and is basically knocked out. This is where the unhealthy relationship that is driven by obsession comes into play. The author talks about Othello’s vulnerability then says “He (Othello) blatantly admits that he would rather not be told that his wife is false because he cannot cope with the thought of her with someone else.” This shows how Desdemona affected him in unhealthy ways. My question was if Desdemona knew what she was doing to him because in this time it was rare for a women to have any power over a man, and Desdemona clearly had plenty of power over Othello.
I would have to disagree in the choice of words used in the title. To say that Desdemona had power over Othello is certainly correct but the term “sexual power” may not be. To use “sexual power” I think there would have to be more evidence of this throughout the play. I do agree with the part of “(Supposedly) Mighty Men.” At first glance you see Othello as a big, strong, fighter who is a good leader and you don’t necessarily think about him being emotional. Throughout the play his emotional weaknesses are exploited as Desdemona slowly breaks him down.
The last sentence of the second paragraph of this section closely relates to the article that was called “Iago the Psychopath.” The author touches base on the power of Iago’s words, which is basically what the whole other article is about. The power of Iago’s words are seen throughout the play and cause serious damage, including death. The dominance in power held by the men in Othello is seen all through the book but is countered by the relationship of Othello and Desdemona.
Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in “Othello” Who Really Had The Power?
ReplyDeleteThroughout this blog post the author tries to convince and persuade the reader that Shakespeare’s female characters had a very strong role in the play “Othello” and they even had power. The author claims that because women have tremendous sexual power over men they can be seen as strong and influential over the male characters . The author also states that Emilia is a very strong female character because “she daringly goes against his word [Iagos] in order to let the truth be told.” The author states that Desdemona as well as Emilia is a strong female lead character with rights and mental strength. The author uses the example that Desdemona says she killed herself instead of blaming Othello. However, these pieces of evidence can be seen in two different lights.
I feel the author's claim is very far fetched because throughout the play women have been undermined by men and clearly do not even have the same amount of power as men and certainly not more power than men. “It is so too: and have not we affections’ desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?” (Shakespeare 77). The author interprets this quote from Emilia by saying it means Shakespeare wanted to send a warning to men that they better keep women happy. However, it can also be interpreted that Shakespeare is alluding to the true nature and personality of a woman. It means that if men can cheat on women then why can’t women cheat on men. Emilia is basically saying that there are circumstances in which she would cheat on Iago, therefore Shakespeare is making her seem shallow and not strong, as the blogger perceives.
The Author claims that Desdemona has an extreme amount of power over Othello and that she influenced him greatly because of her “powers”. This statement is very controversial because with a few well placed words from Iago Othello is calling Desdemona “unfaithful” and a “whore”, so I have to question was it Desdemona's “power” that was controlling Othello or was it another man in the play, Iago.
Was Iago always a psychopath?
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing “Iago The Psychopath” with the class, one thing was clear; most people think that Iago in Othello was psychotic. I would agree, but what about before the play? The author included in his article that A.C. Bradley said “It may be inferred that before the giant crime which we witness, Iago had never been detected in any serious offence and may even never have been guilty of one”. As the readers, we were not shown Iago’s life and personality before Othello and Desdemona get married.
Looking further into this idea, I remembered something about Emilia. While she thinks of men in a generally negative way, and knows her husband is a bad person, she is astonished to find out from Othello that her husband had lied. “My husband!” she kept repeating, in shock. If she knew her husband was so awful, why would she be surprised that it was her husband that caused this tragedy? This suggests that maybe Iago never lied before. A.C. Bradley mentions that maybe Iago was just never caught. It seems highly unlikely though that Iago could commit such a crime such as he does in Othello without being caught. This means that either he didn’t commit crimes to the degree that we witness, or he used to not participate in unlawful things at all.
Iago also never truly puts Othello at risk, even though Iago claims early in the play that Othello sleeping with Emilia is his motive. The only real consequences Othello suffers is the guilt from murdering Desdemona after he realizes her innocence. If Iago’s plan worked perfectly, Othello never would have known she was innocent. Therefore, he would not have suffered any physical injuries, and minimal mental injuries. It was never shown in the play that Iago had any intention to kill or physically harm Othello (who was his apparent target after all), and the mental pain Othello had suffered would have been temporary if Emilia hadn't told him Desdemona was honest.
Knowing all of this does not change the story of Othello, but it changes the image of Iago. There is more sympathy found for Iago now, because something awful would have had to happen to change Iago in such a dramatic way. It’s harder to react as strongly to his psychopathy because he might not have always been a psychopath. You can’t have complete hatred for someone who wasn’t always evil.
Iago Was A Psychopath
ReplyDeleteWithin the article Iago The Psychopath which we discussed throughout class during our discussion. The idea was presented to us that the character in Othello; Iago was actually a psychopath. Some people supported this idea, and others did not. From my conclusion of the article and relating it back to the book, I am convinced that Iago was a psychopath.
The article begins by refuting the claim by many that Iago is actually nothing more than a mere symbol within the play for an evil or an “extension of Satan”. Up to that point, I also had pondered on the idea that Iago was a pure evil. However the author then points out that Iago believes his actions are justified, which makes him actually a type of “complex psychopath”.
To actually understand the actually claim of this article, one has to actually have a definition of what a psychopath really is. By definition, a psychopath is “a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior”. The author uses the middle of his article to draw us further to his claim by the use of ethos. He begins to list multiple discernible traits of Iago that can be associated with that of a psychopath. Such that he is motiveless, as his motives don’t actually have real proof to them and they are more ideas. And when they pop into his head he can’t let it go. Another point is that his lying is pretty much subconscious and that it does not bother him.
All of these techniques and points brought up by the author, convinced me into the claim that he was presenting. And our discussion in class allowed me to listen to varying ideas, but I still believe from this article and the play itself that Iago was a psychopath.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIago the well rounded, friendly neighborhood, non-psychopath.
ReplyDeleteIago the well rounded, friendly neighborhood, non-psychopath. During our fishbowl discussion, I discussed the idea that Iago was written in the point of view of a psychopath in the play Othello, with the class. There were many great points that were made by my classmates backing up this argument, however it seemed to me like there was a large bias towards the idea specifically due to the fact that the article we were discussing supported the idea. I would like to present what seems to be the first argument that I’ve seen discussing that Iago is not a psychopath at all.
One of the main arguments that was made during the discussion supporting the idea of Iago being a psychopath was that his motives were inconsistent and fluctuated often. Iago originally was against Othello because he promoted someone other than him despite his length of service fighting alongside Othello in the front lines and his expertise in the military field. However, this motive didn’t last very long. Throughout the play, Iago seemed to constantly find more reasons to hate Othello, urging him to kill him more and more. This could be taken multiple ways. If somebody is trying to prove that Iago is a psychopath, this could most definitely be used as a source of speculation to “prove” this theory. However, if you’re not trying to prove this theory and you look at the same concept, the first thing that comes to your mind most likely wouldn’t be that Iago must be a psychopath. There are many things that Iago did and tendencies that he had that you could use as an argument supporting that Iago was written to be a psychopath. I think these arguments could be pure speculation and that Iago was really just a man who had irrational motive to kill another man. In my opinion, Iago is not a psychopath.
Was Othello truly controlled by Desdemona?
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of people, who, when reading Othello, believe that Othello is controlled by Desdemona. Others believe he was controlled by the idea of her.
About halfway through the play, once the characters have been introduced and the stage is set, the real play begins. Iago begins his work, manipulating everyone around him. His main target: Othello. And in order to control Othello, he uses Desdemona, his wife. Iago tells Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him, and this angers him. The first impression the reader gets of Othello's mood is that he is saddened and feeling betrayed by Desdemona's supposed adultery. But after careful thinking, another idea becomes apparent. The idea that Othello is not controlled by Desdemona herself, but the idea of her cheating on him. It is an idea that could seemingly corrupt anyone. Both ideas make sense, however only one can be true. Because it is such a deep question/observation, only one person can truly answer it: Othello himself. And because Othello is a fictional character, it is an open argument.
As we go through and read the article, Desdemona's sexual power over Othello, the underlying point can of course be debated. The article talks about Desdemona's power over her, “Mighty Man.” However, it also speaks on how Othello is affected by Desdemona's cheat with Cassio. Of course, in the play and in the article, it is common knowledge that Shakespeare gives women a strong position of power within the play. Emelia, for example, has a very strong role. Even though in the midsection of the play, Emilia appears as though she is nothing but a pawn in Iago's schemes, she becomes a driving force to stopping Iago on the latter parts of the play. Even when Iago bids her leave during the scene where Lodovico finds Othello over Desdemona's dead body, she stays, telling everyone of how Iago made her steal Desdemona's handkerchief. It gives the reader an idea of just how powerful Shakespeare makes the female roles in this play. And Desdemona is equally as powerful. The entire reason that Othello is so angry it's because he is enraged that Desdemona cheated on him.
I agree with the author's point that Desdemona has almost total control over Othello. It's obvious that the damage the supposed scandal does to Othello is massive. He's crippled, and his only method of recovery is to kill Desdemona. Her status, her figure, if you will, in society, meant a great deal to Othello. Clearly, his only way of retribution in reclaiming his high status in society is to end her, to show that he is the stronger person. These actions clearly show us that Othello was not enraged by her misdemeanor, however, he was enraged by her taking his status away from him. And that does show us he was controlled by her profile, not her herself. After my research, I conclude that Desdemona had almost total power over Othello.
Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in “Othello” I can surprisingly agree with
ReplyDeleteFrom the glimpse I got from looking at the other articles, it’s pretty clear that people disagreed with this argument. However, I don’t think it’s time to disregard the blog entry yet. It seems that most of this opposition stems from the claim of the blog. I believed the claim to be that Shakespeare wanted to represent the women as the strength of the novel rather than trying to prove men and women equals or that women had absolute complete dominance over men. I think the important word people forgot was represent, as it means that the action of the women might not have worked in the end but it was all the strength and courage behind the action. Such as Emilia talking back to Iago, which ultimately got Emilia killed, but must have taken enormous courage and strength to act upon which was unprecedented at the time it was written. A women, back in Shakespeare's time, was nothing more than an object and the fact that Emilia knowing that their might be repercussions to her actions but still moving on represents the hidden strength in women. However, some people saw a discrepancy when the blog started talking about the “sexual powers” that the women characters in the story had. Again, I believe this is another misinterpretation of the evidence, the author clearly states, “..the men in Othello show how no one is above being corrupted and how men are not nearly powerful as they seem.” Therefore, the inclusion of the sexual powers is less to show the strength of women and more so shown the weakness in men. Then why would the author even include the sexual powers sections? What better way to empathize the strength of women, than to show how weak men were compared to them. Additionally, it was not as if their was no sexual powers against women either. Nearly all the women in the play recognized Cassio as an extremely handsome/wantable man, yet Bianca, although wooed by Cassio, still stood up for herself when she believed that she was being cheated on. While Othello, secretly kept up all those feelings and hatred to his beautiful Desdemona until he finally caved in and killed her. To sum it up, the claim that Shakespeare wrote a male dominated play but represented the strength and power through women holds up with enough evidence, at least to me.
IAGO YOUR EVERYDAY MASTERMIND
ReplyDeleteMarcus Manzoni
12/3/15
During our fishbowl discussion, sadly I was chosen to sit out the Iago discussion, which consisted of most kids saying Iago is a 100% psychopath and agreeing with the article, and I would have to respectfully disagree with those statements along with the article itself IAGO THE PSYCHOPATH written by Fred West. From reading this article there is no doubt in my mind that West wrote this with a biased in mind. West characterizes a psychopath in the beginning of his argument as someone who acts spontaneously, without reason who commits immoral and or evil crimes (stated on pgs. 29-30), however later on in his argument he states a second type of psychopath, a complex one who has reason for these evil acts but does not believe what he is doing is wrong. This is quite similar to the actual definition from webster “a mentally ill or unstable person; especially : a person affected with antisocial personality disorder”, however I don't believe Iago fits into this category.
Iago is a complex character to say the least, and is commonly mistaken for a representation of pure evil and and a devil living amongst men without morals and boundaries in life. Some people’s perception of Iago comes from the movie where he is made out to be an insane person, someone who takes these actions for pleasure, while my interpretation of Iago in the book is him being more driven by hate, not to gain pleasure. I disagree with these false accusations that Iago is a psychopath, Iago is a normal human being with a mindset to do whatever it takes to get what he thinks he deserves, even if he knows that what he is doing is bad. Nowhere does it say that Iago’s mind is plagued by a disease and acts without reason, in fact all of his actions are taken because of reason, Iago hates the Moor, and I believe his hatred is somewhat justified. Iago's life has been full of disappointments and him being wronged, he lived his whole military life in the shadow of Othello, it had been rumored that Othello slept with his wife Emilia and the main provenance, Iago was snubbed of his promotion to Lieutenant which he believed he deserved. Up until the events occurring in Othello it is explained that Iago had undoubtable loyalty to Othello fighting by his side for many years and even earned the name honest Iago from his peers, and this fact is commonly brushed away. Another overlooked fact is that Emilia, the woman who is portrayed as smart independent and outspoken married Iago. Along with her reaction of her being in complete shock when she found out that her husband was the driving force of all the tragedy, sums up a substantial amount of evidence showing that Iago was in fact a somewhat normal guy and not the psychopath he is made out to be.
The second main reason why Iago isn't a psychopath is because there is no conclusive evidence of any mental illness. As I briefly described in the last paragraph Iago wasn't always devious, while a psychopath is usually characterized as someone who has always been one, living with a mental illness. This alone is enough evidence to make an argument for Iago. I like to compare Iago to Adolf Hitler, yes I know what you are thinking “he is the definition of a psychopath” but according to what really is considered a psychopath, Hitler is just some extremely evil person but not a psychopath. Hitler like Iago was driven by hatred and just like Iago was a mastermind who knew how to manipulate people and get what he wanted and what he thought he deserved. In a New York Times article written by Erica George,backs up the reason why Hitler is considered to be evil but not insane. Hitler’s traits of being intelligent, manipulative, and driven by hate correspond directly to Iago.
LAST PARAGRAPH
ReplyDeleteIt's without a doubt that Iago was intended to be an evil character in Othello, but consider him not as a psychopath but your everyday mastermind, who walked the streets of Venice before being plagued with pestilence and consumed by new found hate of Othello. Any sane person could have reacted the same way as Iago in his situation, it happens everyday, normal people being pushed to the edge over hardships and disappointment leading them into temptations to commit evil crimes without thinking rationally.
How Emilia Completely Opposes Any Idea of Feminism or Female Empowerment in Othello
ReplyDeleteAccording to the article written about the women of shakespeare’s Othello, Emilia was “not as willing to submit to men as other women may be”. This claim has a certain amount of factual evidence to back it up, but there is far greater evidence that contradicts the statement.
For a substantial amount of time Emilia follows her husband’s every order and listens to his every word. Even when Iago was introducing her he makes vulgar statements about her to her face and to the entire group, immediately smearing her reputation and putting her below him in the others’ eyes. He remarks “ Marry before your ladyship, I grant, she puts her tongue a little in her heart and chides without thinking” and she barely defends herself to the point that Desdemona feels the need to speak up in her defense. After this altercation Iago goes on to completely devalue all women in general while both Emilia and Desdemona laugh along with him. The next and arguably best piece of evidence of Emilia’s submission to Iago is the moment in which she betrays Desdemona in order to receive praise from him. Iago asks Emilia to steal the handkerchief that Othello gave to Desdemona, and at the first chance to do so she betrays her friend in order to please her husband without a second thought. When she gives the handkerchief to iago his response is cold, “A good wench, give it to me.” and when questioned about his motive he states “Be acknown on’t; I have use for it. Go, leave me.” After risking her friendship with Desdemona and aiding so tremendously in Iago’s plot against Othello, one would think she would receive greater praise. Now it can be argued that Iago is just cold and this is not her doing, but he is motivated to treat her this way by her submission to his cruel ways. She is driven to submit by her image of Iago as a handsome war hero not a deceiving psychopath. It is only once she discovers his plot that she begins to defy Iago and follow her morals over her husband. This can be viewed as Shakespeare’s attempt to redeem her character before she dies, but this only comes after she has betrayed not only her friend but the entire movement in which everyone believes she represented.
Did Iago really feel deep emotions, or was it all for show?
ReplyDeleteThe word psychopath can be defined as a person who has a chronic mental disorder, causing them to be aggressive or unstable and violent. This description absolutely fits Iago, says the author of Iago the Psychopath. One idea I found particularly interesting that the author said was that Iago “may weep and shout with rage, but all this is a readiness of expression” (West, 33). In other words, Iago didn’t really feel many deep emotions, but by expressing them, he could use them to his advantage.
Iago showed no sign of any actual concern or care when it came to other characters in the play other than himself. In order to convince Cassio that he wanted what was best for him, Iago had to carefully craft his words to make it sound as if he was genuinely concerned. When Cassio was kneeling over on the ground because of how upset he was about losing his position, Iago lept at the opportunity, and acted as if he was worried about Cassio: “What, are you hurt, lieutenant?” (Shakespeare, 36). He didn’t actually think Cassio was hurt, and he didn’t care that Cassio was upset either. Even though Iago actually was planning on murdering Cassio later on, by sounding as if he is worried that Cassio was injured, he has re enforced Cassio that Iago is a friend, and is trustworthy, making Cassio more likely to follow Iago’s twisted advice. Iago does not only use this trick with Cassio, but also with Desdemona. In act four, Desdemona is an absolute mess, because she is so hurt by Othello’s cruel words, and she doesn’t understand why he would ever call her a whore. She finds solace in Iago, and asks him for help, because she knows she can trust the husband of her dearest friend. To make himself sound caring and sympathetic, so that Desdemona will be more receptive, Iago says “Do not weep, do not weep. Alas the day!” (Shakespeare, 71). By sounding more caring and loving, Desdemona listens to Iago’s words, and believes that Othello is not actually mad at her, but simply frustrated by the council. Iago does not have anything against Desdemona, however he does not care for her in the littlest bit, as proven when she is murdered at the end of the play.
Iago is a very crafty man, and is able to trick many people in the play Othello. Even though he does not feel emotions deeply, by expressing them, he is able to fool so many people, and he is able to use their trust to his advantage.
Jillian Margolies
Why an article about the power of women is actually sexist
ReplyDeleteIn the article about the role of women in Othello, Mike Sweetwater does make some good observations about William Shakespeare's progressive views towards women, but he completely misdiagnoses Desdemona's role in the play, even to the point where he comes off as sexist. To say that she is there to demonstrate women's sexual power and how much they can accomplish by wooing a man, he makes her seem like she is only a sexual being, and nothing more. It gives the impression that she was "daddy's little girl" who rebelled against her father when she realized how much she could do with her sexuality. In fact, this view not only reinforces a sex-centric view of women, it also breeds a little contempt for women by saying how a great, outstanding man like Othello can fall at the hands of Desdemona's sexual allure. Rather, Desdemona is there to spark a debate in the viewer's mind by being a sharp contrast to Emilia. Emilia is an outspoken, bold, principled woman, who even says she would cheat on her husband were she given the chance. In contrast, Desdemona is faithful and obedient (Shakespeare uses this to create irony as Desdemona is the one who is murdered for her rebelliousness and infidelity). This contrast makes the viewer see how different women can be than the common conception and shows a progressive view of women. Now one might find a flaw in this argument and say "how can Desdemona be called obedient if she ran away from home to elope with Othello?" I suppose that does kind of poke a hole in my theory, but I interpreted that as a demonstration by Shakespeare that women are stronger and more independent than most people might have thought at the time.
Iago Was Clearly a Psychopath
ReplyDeleteThroughout the discussion there was much debate as to whether Iago was indeed a psychopath or just your average villain. After a lot of thought and reflection on opposing and supporting claims presented in both the article and the points of classmates in the debate, I have come to a very solid decision that I believe is hard to argue against with the facts given. Iago is most definitely a psychopath as he shows every possible trait of one and almost no clues that would lead me to believe otherwise.
It is normally unwise to create such a definite claim as if it is proven wrong you will look like a fool, however I am confident it is impossible to disprove this so I have made such a claim anyway. From all the given traits given in the article and research I have done on studies I found, Iago would be diagnosed a psychopath by any psychologist in America. Iago creates very small motives for a heinous crime, masterfully manipulates anyone he wishes, and hides his lies from even his wife for years. Particularly of interest to me of these traits is the way he was able to be friends with everyone and hides his lies, as this alludes to even more than him just being your average psychopath. Psychopaths with the highest IQ’s have been able to hide their true mental state from loved ones, friends, and even convince psychologists conducting tests that they are in fact just a normal human. This classifies Iago as a rare and extreme case, as he is genius enough to do all the said things and more. Finally, many of my classmates said that it is unlikely he is a psychopath because they believed the condition is rare, however up to 3 percent of Americans are believed to be psychopaths, making it one of the most common medical conditions in America.
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ReplyDeleteDesdemona’s “Sexual Power”?
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in ‘Othello’,” The author claims that Desdemona has sexual power over Othello, which apparently helps explain his behavior. However, I think that the article is very poorly written, and I do not agree with their claim. When she introduces her first quote (which was about how Othello would’ve been happier if he had not known about Desdemona’s “infidelity”), the author is quick to mention that the quote shows Desdemona’s power over Othello. While I personally thought that it showed Othello’s vulnerability rather than female power, I continued reading on. In the next line, the author addresses this point, but instead of disproving it, they just say that it shows Othello’s weakness as well.
Further into the article, the author revisits the idea of Desdemona’s “power” at the end of the story. Here, the author claims that she shows more strength than Othello. In her time of death, she does not blame Othello, but rather herself. Furthermore, the article mentions that she was unafraid to die, and that this shows her moral strength. One could certainly argue that this point does show Desdemona’s power, but there is a key word missing here: sexual. In this section of the article, sexual power is mentioned nowhere. While not having a fear of death and vowing that she never committed adultery may be considered strength, they are in no way sexual, and therefore one of the author’s main ideas gains no evidence to help support it. This structure repeats itself again at the end of the article, when the author says that being able to affect men by doing nothing other than being pure and beautiful can be considered sexual superiority over men. The words “pure” and “beautiful” are usually shown in a contrasting connotation compared to the word “sexual”. While this may have been a good idea to expand upon, the author decides to do nothing with it.
Overall, I think that this article was not very good, and that the author’s claim was very weak. They never really supported their claim about “sexual power”, and instead they tried to use their opinions to appeal to the reader, without any evidence whatsoever. Honestly, if the author had not added the word “sexual” and simply made it about women’s strength in Othello, it may have been a better article with more evidence to support it. Unfortunately, the author instead introduces quotes that do not reinforce their claim, and doesn’t appeal to Logos, Pathos, nor Ethos, resulting in a rather weak argument.
Contradictions in Strength
ReplyDeleteMike Sweetwater’s blog “Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in “Othello” claimed that the female characters are the ones who represent strength in Othello. As much as I wish that I could believe this, I have a major problem with Sweetwater’s argument behind his claim.
According to Sweetwater, Desdemona’s strength came from her sexual power and her ability to remain devoutly loyal to Othello. In doing this, Sweetwater reduces Desdemona and all other woman by saying that the only way women can have power over men is through their bodies. By not bringing up any other ways that Desdemona could be powerful, Sweetwater dismisses the notion that women can be powerful with their minds.
Emilia gains her strength by speaking out against her husband at the end of the play. She breaks through the repressive custom that women should submit to and serve their husbands. I agree that in this way, Emilia shows strength as a female. However, Emilia’s actions make it impossible to believe that Desdemona was strong. All Desdemona did was conform to her gender role as an obedient wife and live up to the social expectations that she revere her husband. While this does show loyalty, Desdemona was not strong. Being strong would have been telling Emilia the truth and accusing Othello of killing her. An even better way that Desdemona could have been strong would be if she had spoken out to the Duke and her father in the very beginning of the play, instead of waiting to be invited to speak by Othello.
Emilia was able to stand up to her husband, but Desdemona was sickeningly loyal to her husband. Claiming that both Emilia and Desdemona were strong female characters is a doomed argument because their actions towards men in the play were practically opposites.
The only way the Mike Sweetwater could have had the slightest chance of making a successful argument would be if he had defined strength in a vague way that could encompass both Desdemona and Emilia.
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ReplyDeleteIago Was Truly A Psychopath
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Iago the Psychopath” by Fred West, I completely agree with his argument that Iago is truly a psychopath. He gives reasonable and qualified evidence that proves his claim. First, he explains what it means to be a psychopath and then applies those qualities to Iago. For example, he states, “The psychopath does not set out to lie in the self conscious, guilt-beset way that a normal person does. Lying does not bother him” (West 32). I completely agree with this statement because as I was reading Othello, it is evident that Iago feels no remorse whatsoever when he feeds his lies to his victims. An example of this would be when Iago plants seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind about an unfaithful Desdemona. He tells Othello, “Look at your wife: observe her well with Cassio” (Shakespeare 46). Iago tells Othello that Desdemona lost interest with him and has moved on to Cassio. In the beginning, Othello does not take the bait but eventually falls for Iago’s schemes. I think the reason why everyone was easily fooled by Iago was because of his lack of remorse and his lack of affection. West says in the article that Iago’s motivation for his crimes were not normal adult-like, but rather like a young child. This means that a young child’s motives are not out of reason, but out of pleasure and happiness whereas a normal adult would have sense and reasoning to their action. I completely agree with West because their is no logic to Iago’s masterplan. Yes, you can argue that he wanted to become lieutenant initially, but he had already gained that in the middle of the play. His actions were out of full pleasure, and full pleasure only.
One point I thought was interesting that West brought up was that in spite of Iago’s evil masterplan, throughout the entire story he was always supporting Othello, his general. Perhaps it seemed that Iago supported him, but to me it looked as if Othello supported Iago. Iago is very crafty and very manipulative in his ways, and even got Othello, who is not easily persuaded, to believe every word he says. Iago’s seeds grew inside Othello’s mind therefore developed a hatred for Cassio and a hatred for Desdemona. This was what Iago exactly wanted. Iago made the illusion that he was helping Othello, but it was really Othello who helped him.
Iago was a very complex character with many layers to him, and this was because he was truly a great mastermind, an emotionless liar, and a crafty psychopath.
The effect of Othello's color
ReplyDeleteAlthough Othello is a cultural and racial outsider in Venice, his skill as a soldier and leader is nevertheless valuable and necessary to the state, and he is an integral part of Venetian civic society. And I believe that his self-confidence came from knowing how important he was. Contrary to what many people said during the discussion, I think that Othello did not have a low self-esteem. Many times in the play, he knew he deserved respect and love and never once did he think poorly of himself except when he unfairly killed Desdemona. While Othello knew that many people thought of him as just a another stereotypical African American man, I think that he did not let that affect him. I truly believe that he knew that if even the duke of Venice held him at such high standards, he was very valuable and his color did not matter for the most part. Also, he was so used to other people calling him the “Moor” that it no longer became an offensive term to him. And many people, like Desdemona, who loved him for who he was and had a great deal of respect for him, referred to him as “the Moor, my Lord.”
It was also said that if Othello was white, the whole tragedy would have been less likely to have happened. While I agree with that in some aspects, like maybe Iago would not have done this if was not black, I also disagree in others. I think that even if Othello was indeed white, he could have still very well killed Desdemona for “cheating” on him. Also, before killing her, Othello mentioned that he was only killing her because he didn't want her to this to any other man. I think that while he thought that his reason for killing her was because she slept with Cassio, he felt like he also needed another reason to do so. Othello’s color did make him love Desdemona any less.
The Psychopath
ReplyDeleteNathaniel Kim
While reading “Iago the Psychopath” by Fred West, I was very interested at what the author had to say about Iago being a psychopath. The thought had never occurred to me and it really made me go back and rethink the real motives for Iago’s actions. Reading this paper also gave me a new insight into Iago’s characterization. In particular, when I read about the characteristics of a psychopath, I realized that Iago and a psychopath share many qualities. There are two in particular that really convinced me that Iago is a psychopath. One was how psychopaths have no problem lying to others and the other was guiltlessness.
West cites Cleckley, who says, “‘Candor and trustworthiness seem implicit in him at such times. Though he will lie about any matter, under any circumstances, and often for no good reason’” (West 32). This characterization of a psychopath by Hervey Cleckley in his book, The Mask of Sanity, clearly defines Iago. Iago is taken as being very honest and everyone trusts him, but he is actually a liar. He lied many times in order to get people to do exactly what he wanted. Iago is called, by other characters in the play, as “honest Iago” numerous times, which fits the category that a psychopath implies honesty. However, at the end of the play, Iago admits that he lied and to Othello, which makes him a liar. When Emilia is questioning Iago, he admits that he told Othello that Desdemona cheated with Cassio (Shakespeare 86). Since Iago seemed all honest to everyone and everyone trusted what he said, but he was actually just lying, it makes Iago fall perfectly under the characteristics of a psychopath.
Iago’s lack of feeling guilty for his actions also pushed me to feel that Iago was a psychopath. West quotes, “This guiltlessness is one of the central features of psychopathy” (West 29). This was really interesting to me because I was able to see the connection between Iago and a psychopath. Iago showed no guilt for his actions, but he continued to cause havoc and just stood back and enjoyed the show. When I read how psychopaths have guiltlessness, I thought about Iago when he said, “Work on, / My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught” (Shakespeare 61). Iago is urging his poisonous words to take hold of Othello’s mind in order to turn him against Desdemona. This is a horrid thing to do (turning a husband against his wife) and Iago shows no remorse and is actually enjoying what is happening to Othello. This quote shows Iago’s guiltlessness, which is an awful characteristic that he shares with a psychopath.
These two characteristics of a psychopath and the textual evidence that came to mind really pushed me to believe that Iago is a psychopath. When I read the textual evidence the first time, I never thought that Iago was being characterized as a psychopath, but after reading Fred West’s paper, it was obvious that Iago should be classified as one.
The truth about Desdemona and her representation of Women in Othello
ReplyDeleteIn the class discussion people talked about what a strong female character Desdemona was and personally I disagree. Desdemona was probably the weakest female character in the whole book. She always did what Othello asked her to do out of desperation and without question. The only time she ever questioned Othello was when he slapped her and accused her of cheating. One might say the same could go for Emilia but she does question Iago quite often. She even tells Desdemona things that prove how unwilling she is to submit to Iago. “The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.” Emilia makes bold statements about men throughout the book many times. Also, at the end she does not side with her husband's wrongdoing but goes for what she believes is right and exposes Iago to everyone. Like the author of the horrible blog “Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in Othello” says, “She no longer feels compelled to submit in any way to her husband, and in fact, she daringly goes against his word to let the truth be told” aka the only part of the blog with which I agree. Another female character is Bianca. Although she is a low status prostitute she still had the guts to question someone of Cassio’s status when he gave her the handkerchief. “Why, whose is it?” (pg 59). But, what really made me look down upon Desdemona’s character was the fact that she was defending Othello on her deathbed. Some might argue that it was her love for Othello but that just shows how weak her character is. It shows how much stronger Othello’s character is and how he has Desdemona wrapped around his finger. Desdemona saying “Nobody; I myself, Farewell; Commend me to my kind lord; O, farewell!” (pg 85) was like her final form of submission to Othello. It shows how Desdemona completes the role of the common obedient wife at the time. If Desdemona had told Emilia the reality of what happened it would have shown how much stronger her character is and that it is not overpowered by her love for someone who doesn’t even trust her. Going back to Mike Sweetwater’s blog about Women in Othello, I don’t like how he said Desdemona’s character is strong but then says her strength is her sexual power. Is Desdemona really strong if according to the author Desdemona’s strength over Othello is her sexual power? Isn’t the author just downgrading women to their sexuality when he was supposedly discussing how respectfully strong they were? I feel like everyone around Desdemona just make her out to be very strong when she is actually quite weak. Desdemona’s supposed “strength” is so overrated. Emilia’s character is so underrated. She represents the real strength of women in Othello.
Why have a name?
ReplyDeleteOthello was addressed by his name a total of eleven times, which lessens Othello to an object rather than a human. Racism is fluid though the whole play with respect to Othello and how people view and respect him. The author of the article, “Othello’s alienation” by Edward Berry, states boldly “Perhaps the most persuasive sign in Othello's Alienations is to be found in the use or, more precisely, the avoidance of Othello’s name” (Berry 322). Characters within the play can be characterized based on how many times they address Othello by name, opposed to “the moor”, “the thick lips”, or “devil”.
Characters, such as Iago, Roderigo, Brabantio, and Emilia, reduce Othello to a class in society. Othello is a “thing” long before he is thought of as a person. These characters in total call Othello by his name seven times, but more than 30 times they address him by other racist terms. I believe this leads to the downfall of Othello and if he were white, everything would have turned out differently. This point in our conversation interested me and set me up to begin thinking about how Shakespeare characterized each individual character to meet the needs of the play. Shakespeare knew of the difference between white and black and how blacks are viewed as a whole different lesser species, but he was not aware of this to a huge extent. He had some characters use his “blackness” against him, for instance with Iago, but he also had some characters respect him as if he was white because of his position.
Characters who use Othello's name, tend to overt the racist terms. Desdemona only refers to Othello by name once, but calls him “the moor, my lord”, which downplays the use of the name “the moor”, softening the racism. Her, along with other non-racist characters, view him as a human and do not use his skin color to judge him, yet still do not use his proper name often.
Is Iago responsible for his wrong doings?
ReplyDeleteIn the fishbowl discussion I feel most people believed Iago was a psychopath or at least displayed psychopathic tendencies. But if you have concluded that Iago is indeed a psychopath can we really hold him accountable for what he did?
Psychopathy is believed to be a inherited trait caused by a anomalous gene structure, meaning some people are simply born with it. For Iago we have to put this into consideration, by extension he is clinically mentally ill. So should we blame him for being born with a different wiring in his brian? To Iago the lies, manipulating and remorselessness is a way of life.
On top of being born with psychopathy Iago may have experienced trauma from past events in his life we know little about, like his role played in the war. With no knowledge of Iago's life prior to the book we are wrong to assume that Iago couldn't have developed another mental illness under the same umbrella as psychopathy.
Although Iago seems to be painted as the villain in the book "Othello" it is possible that underlying that he's a true damsel. Iago is in need of medical attention where his fate can be sealed by people capable of thinking rationally. Even though Iago left many bodies in his trail portraying him as mentally ill actually takes away from his villainous image. You almost wasn't to feel bad for him because he's so ill that he doesn't recognize his actions as wrong. This is why as much as I want to hate Iago because he reeked such havoc on the characters in Othello I find myself feeling sympathetic for him.
Is Desdemona's Weakness Actually Strength?
ReplyDeleteWhether it be positive or negative, it is indisputable that Shakespeare has a message for us about women in his play Othello. As summarized in the blog post by Mike Sweetwater, different women play different roles in this “Shakespearean world”, and serve different purposes with regards to the show of power.
What Sweetwater fails to take into account is the respective position in society of Desdemona and Emilia. Desdemona is obviously of high position in society, being the daughter of the senator, Brabantio, and the wife of the general, Othello. There are no specifics regarding Emilia’s backstory, but based on the way she acts towards and is treated by other characters, along with her marriage to Iago, it is reasonable to assume that she is not in nearly as high of a position as Desdemona. Although it should seem obvious that social status plays a key role in relationships and interactions between the characters, Sweetwater does not explore this facet of Shakespeare’s portrayal of women.
Sweetwater claims that Emilia is the strongest character in Othello, however he does not take into account that unlike Desdemona, Emilia has no persona, or “PR”, to uphold. Desdemona must represent her father Brabantio (the senator of Venice), and Othello (the general of Venice), and therefore represents Venice in general. If she were to act out against Othello and somehow be seen doing so, this would be detrimental towards the state of Venice. If Desdemona spoke out against her husband, there could have been two possible results. If people did not believe her, it would have showed weakness on her part, and people would have lost respect for the state of Venice. This would have resulted in her being looked down upon by her father, and her husband. If people did believe her, it would have caused great turmoil within the state, and may have resulted in something bad occurring to Othello, whom she still loved to the end. Desdemona exercised a different type of strength in showing that she could remain faithful, and not do anything detrimental to the state of Venice, her father, or her husband. Unfortunately, by not acting, the result was her demise.
I do agree with Sweetwater, however, that women definitely represent power in Othello. From Emilia’s fortitude to Desdemona’s understanding of her social situation, it is without a doubt that women are strong central figures in the play. His points about how “Emilia’s onslaught of truth easily overpowers any strength Iago may have still possessed” (Sweetwater 4) is completely accurate, because it is supported the text that Iago’s downfall only came with Emilia’s actions. Sweetwater also says that “in the end, the women are victorious for several reasons” (Sweetwater 3). While I would argue that nobody is truly “victorious” in Othello, it is certainly true that women do show more strength.
The manipulative man with the lack of feelings
ReplyDeleteIn this blog post, I would like to bring up two aspects that I did not get a chance to bring up and that I was lacking details on. So, the first topic I would like to introduce to help support the authours claim in saying that Iago is a psychopath, is the difference between an average person's IQ versus a psychopath's IQ. In the article, the authour states how “specific psychopathic individuals have demonstrated exceptional intelligence, for instance, the subjects of Cleckley's case studies show a higher than normal intelligence”. I believe that Iago has a very high intelligence level due to the fact he is able to throw plans together so quickly. Not to mention he is also able to manipulate people and can come up with all sorts of lies and evidence against people on the spot. Like when he told Othello about all the things he heard Desdemona and Cassio doing, he was able to get Othello to believe these words in a matter of minutes. He was also able to get people to believe that he was a good whole hearted person who only told the truth and wanted to help them and support them even though in reality he was only doing this for his own sport and enjoyment. To me, this shows someone with a very high IQ and intelligence level. The second topic I would like to touch upon is the fact that Iago lacks feelings. Now, I know that many of you do not agree with this but hear me out. Sure, Iago has emotions and feels emotions, he just does not express them like a normal person does. In the article, it talks about how he does not feel bad or guilty when committing these deeds. After lying to Othello, he does not seem to be affected by the fact that he tore apart someone's life. He did not feel remorse when people around him died due to his actions and decisions. According to the article, this is one of the characteristics of a psychopath and because of the fact that Iago shows these traits, he is a candidate being a psychopath.
Was Desdemona actually strong or was she doing her job?
ReplyDeleteThe author in the article “Shakespeare’s Attitude Towards Women in “Othello” claims that Desdemona showed great strength, much more than her husband, Othello. I do see why the author perceived Desdemona as powerful, since she never swayed away from her vows of marriage and mortal values. But it could also be possible that Desdemona stayed by her husband’s side because she was doing her job, being a wife, which caused her to seem strong.
Desdemona is a perfect image of a wife, she doesn’t dream of cheating on Othello, she stands by his side, and she defends him against others, such as her father. So, this leads to the question did Desdemona not blame Othello because of her mortal strength or is it because of her duty as his wife? I think this is because of her duty. If Desdemona had mortal strength she would fight for her values when Othello called her names, instead she took his abuse. This doesn’t show strength, this shows her doing what her wife duty tells her to do. Desdemona showed her mortal strength when she talks with other characters, yet not with Othello. Desdemona in the beginning shows off her strength with Iago, she fights back when he makes comments about women. But when this happens with Othello slapping her, Desdemona doesn’t even fight back.
A specific moment I want to focus on is the scene where Desdemona dies. The author claims that she showed exceptional strength in this scene. But I feel like this in the scene where Desdemona shows that least amount of strength in the whole play. Desdemona, even when Othello says he plans to kill her, still doesn’t defend herself. I see why some may say that Desdemona showed strength by not betraying her loyalty with Othello. But again, this is because she doesn’t want to be a bad wife, and not because she has strong mortal ideas.
Is Iago a Psychopath, and why does he do this
ReplyDeleteThrough the article Iago the Psychopath, I couldn't help but notice how opposite Iago and Othello are. Othello seems to have no emotions on the outside, yet inside his emotions run free, and are able to break his hard exterior though Iago’s cunning lead. But Iago, though seeming to have a lot of emotion on the outside, has no true emotion on the inside. He feels no remorse as the author had suggested.
In this article, I also noticed how the author states that Iago is made more complex by being a psychopath, but this statement seems to simplify and restrict Iago as a character; restricting him into the role of a psychopath seems to conclude that Iago’s reason for causing all this destruction is pure boredom and lack of conscience. It doesn't allow for other ideas and interpretations. I do believe that Iago’s character definitely shows signs of being a psychopath, such as the author had stated, having no remorse; and upon further research i learned there are different kinds/levels of psychopaths. But in Shakespeare's time society didn't know who a psychopath was. So naturally Shakespeare had no way of knowing. Iago seems to be extremely cunning, charismatic, and since as the reader we are able to see what he truly believes, fake. Although, I believe in order to fully understand Iago’s character, we would have to also examine his history / earlier life. Shakespeare doesn't hint much about Iago’s earlier life except in the beginning of the book that he fought many wars alongside Othello. A person childhood is a window into that person's life, and since this information is exempt from the reader's view, we have no idea what caused this. We all understand Iago was not a normal healthy person, but i believe the greatest question is why.
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ReplyDeleteMike Sweetwater: Bias and Exaggeration Extraordinaire
ReplyDeleteIn his article “Shakespeare’s Attitude Toward Women in “Othello”,” Mike Sweetwater does well to analyze Shakespeare’s idea of women, specifically the power they hold over their male associates. Something that intrigued me while reading his article was his point that “Shakespeare could have either had great admiration for women, a deep-seated fear of them, or just been confused altogether.” I disagree with the last part of this statement, because I feel that Shakespeare couldn’t have been completely confused and still write about women in such a realistic manner.
By saying that females are a “mysterious sex,” I believe that Sweetwater shows bias towards his own views of women, as with his surprise at Shakespeare’s ability to portray women accurately. Sweetwater talks about how men can never fully understand a woman’s thinking, and as a result Shakespeare’s ability to portray women so believably was “uncanny.” However, I think that a person doesn’t necessarily need to completely understand a pattern to observe and replicate it. Shakespeare’s attitude towards women didn’t need either a solid foundation of understanding or a complete lack of one to be accurate.
Sweetwater also claims that the women of Othello have the most power in the play, as Desdemona embodies sexual power women have over men, and Emilia is the punishment men should receive should they take women for granted. My qualm with this claim is primarily with his description of Emilia and her ability to “make men pay for their abuses by channeling her natural feminine strength.” Honestly, what does this sentence even mean? In the play, her actions in regard to exposing her husband and his schemes have nothing to do with her have any “feminine strength,” let alone being a female at all. This exaggeration of her femininity is unnecessary to his main claim of the power of women in “Othello,” and I think it was simply added by Sweetwater to excessively embellish and finesse his claim.
Women During Shakespeare's Time
ReplyDeleteAs seen in Othello, women can be depicted by many different characteristics in society during Shakespeare’s time. His society was built upon Renaissance beliefs which declared women were meant only to marry. Marriage held massive responsibilities of house management and child rearing. Additionally, women were expected to be silent and obedient to their husbands, fathers, brothers, and all men in general. Patriarchal rule allowed for women's inferiority as the natural order because women were thought to be physiologically and psychologically lesser than men.
Marriage was seen as possession during Shakespearean time. In Othello, Iago’s vengeance and his desire to have revenge on Othello is dictated by his view of women as possessions. He believes that Othello has slept with his wife Emilia. This could possible mean Iago has little love for his wife, which can be observed when he insults her in public and ultimately killing her himself. It is simply the thought that Othello, who Iago thinks is a wicked beast, has used a possession that belongs to him that makes him mad.
Women were also submissive during Shakespeare’s time. They feel that they must support the men and defer to them, even if the actions of the men are questionable.
The character Desdemona embodies this idea because every time Othello, her husband, tells her to do something, she complies immediately even if the command isn’t reasonable. Right before Othello kills her, Desdemona tells him he must do it because she has been a dishonorable wife and that she was not able to please him.
Also, women could be observed as being powerful. Not all women submitted to men, such as the character Emilia. Throughout the book, she declares that women are not physically different than men. In addition to this, she says men also suffer from the same emotions and desires as women. She implies, however, that the only difference is that men are mentally weaker. She also suggests that men are simplistic and they are unable to control their emotions with logical thought. This is ironic because the actions of Othello and Iago can help prove her argument.