As we transition to classic Shakespearean tragedy I’ve been paying attention to the reasons in the play that can classify it as so. Is the tragedy in the characteristics or relationships the players form, or does it have more to do with plot points?
One of the most heartbreaking failed relationships is between Othello and Desdemona. The love Othello and Desdemona shared at the beginning of the play seemed like one of the most balanced relationship we have been presented with, making their downfall and Othello’s spin out of control even more depressing to watch. Othello’s sheer hatred of Desdemona comes about so quickly after he is tricked his own fears have become a reality. His awful attitude is so potent, Othello says:
“Minion, your dear lies dead,
And your unblest fate hies. Strumpet, I come.
For, of my heart, those charms, thine eyes, are blotted.
Thy bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s blood be spotted.”
Othello is unbearably angry! His quick to jump to conclusions and disregard for his wife’s opinion reminded of Claudio in Much Ado about Nothing. Hero is quickly ruined by Claudio once he questions her purity and at their own wedding! The issue is resolved on the surface as they later get back together but could Claudio’s extreme disregard of trust allow for his marriage to continue happily?
The past three plays have ended in marriage and Othello is the first text in which we encounter the couple already married. Could this play be Shakespeare commentary on what happens after the wedding? What a morbid thought!
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is the only piece that resolves the play is Puck’s love potion correction and the final happy performance by the rude mechanicals and the wedding night? Lysander is able to completely flip-flop on his love for Hermia but all of the shallow relationships are accepted as true happiness.
Would Othello still be a tragedy if Puck arrived, sprinkled some love potion (or maybe this time sanity potion) so that Othello and Desdemona could live on together?
Even without the downfall of Othello we are still left with one of the most evil characters, Iago.
PS: I would like to give a shout out to Emilia, even though she was critical in setting up the downfall of the characters by giving her evil husband Desdemona’s handkerchief it was great to see someone stand up to Iago! And to have a woman call out Iago on his wicked selfishness gave the tragic plot a moment of good.
3 comments:
I really liked your post and I have to agree with what you said about Desdemona and Othello's relationship seeming like the most balanced in the beginning of the play. Most of the other characters we have read so far their relationships seem all over the place. I also noticed too reading Othello and Much Ado About Nothing that both Othello and Claudio are wrongfully accusing the ones they love about something they didn't do. They also are both extremley gullable and because of that they act on their emotions and it gets the best of them. When I read more into your post and read the part about the last three plays ending in marriage and Othello beginning with marraige it really didnt dawn
on me that this could be Shakspeares way of looking into the future of these characters marriages and the possible outcomes of them. I like that you drew that connection it was interesting to think about.
I agree that there love does seem to be balanced. You have to characters who are equally passionate about each other. In some ways they reminded me of Hermia and Lysander in their equal devotion to one another. I think where you have the real sign that this is going to be a tragedy is the fact that Othello and Desdemona elope. I almost feel like Shakespeare is making a direct reference to people stepping outside of the rigidity of society. Would A Midsummers Night's Dream still have been a comedy if Hermia and Lysander had run off together? Even though the Duke smooths things over in Act I, they have still stepped outside of societal norms and this is why they are both doomed.
I liked your post. It is very interesting that this play, and some of Shakespeare's tragedies including Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet begin in marriage and end in death while the comedies end in marriage.
As much as i like Emilia for standing up to Iago i wonder though if she might be one of the reasons why he's become so jaded.
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