Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Othello's Insecurity
We talked in class about how such a rational and noble character such as Othello could be driven to such horrible extremes under the influence of Iago. It seems to me that Othello is largely responsible for destroying his own happiness (of course with the baiting of Iago). Though he says at the beginning that he completely trusts Desdemona, I think in the back of his mind, he was expecting something bad to happen. Othello told Desdemona stories of how painful his life had been before he met her. Perhaps he's just used to pain and suffering so when happiness comes along, he cannot fully believe in it or he doesn't think he trully deserves it. He expects this bliss to be temporary and in doing so, he creates an issue that could've easily been resolved with help from Iago.
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No matter how much outside forces tend to conspire to bring down a tragic hero, I think you're correct in seeing that Othello is to some degree responsible for his own fate. Does this increase, decrease you sympathy for him?
ReplyDeleteFor me, this decreases my sympathy towards him. Yes, I feel bad that he is this insecure, but for such a "noble" man, Othello never seeks true proof or talk freely with Desdemona. He kind of had it coming if he's that ignorant to believe Iago's crazy lies (i.e. Cassio's dream that involved Iago playing the role as Desdemona). Iago is extremely clever, but a trully "noble" man would never kill his wife without some real proof. I know Othello is driven by passionate emotions, but c'mon, really?
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