New Paltz Shakespeare

The parallels between Much Ado About Nothing and Othello have been something that has always fascinated me. While the stories are placed into two completely different genres, the first being a comedy while the second classified rightly as a tragedy. But what makes these two things to be so similar? It’s quite simple. With the exception of the ending, the general plots are almost identical.

In Othello, the villainous Iago wants revenge and decides that he’s going to get it no matter the cost. He’s going to take down Othello and conspires against not only him, but against Cassio, the one who took on the promotion that he wanted. Deception is something that Iago seemed to pride himself in. He created a ploy to trick Othello into thinking that his wife, Desdemona, was being unfaithful to the Moor by having an affair with Cassio. He plants on Cassio the handkerchief Othello gave his wife, solidifying Othello’s jealousy. His plan was fool proof. “Honest Iago” as he is called by the titular character. By the end of the play, he succeeds in his plan at the result of Desdemona’s murder and Othello’s suicide. Tragedy at its best.

The comparison to the comedy of Much Ado About Nothing is something that proves just how fine the line between comedy and tragedy is. Don John wants a similar taste of revenge by going after Claudio and Hero. He sets them up in a similar fashion, to trick Claudio into thinking that his betrothed was unfaithful. By having Claudio and Don Pedro spy on one of Don John’s men in the window having sex with Hero’s chambermaid, calling her Hero to trick Claudio. He goes on to shame Hero at the wedding resulting in her almost dying of a broken heart. What makes this a comedy with a happy ending is the band of bumbling watchmen who learn of this crime and turn the villains in.

How easy it could be for Othello to have turned into a comedy. What would have happened if in Othello, we had a similar group of people catching Iago in his plotting? What would have happened if it had turned out that they all learned Iago was lying? Simple. We would have had a comedy. Othello would not have killed his wife, they would have gone on to have children, Emilia would still be alive and Iago would have been caught and arrested for his crimes. All a happy ending.

But do you honestly think that Othello could work as a comedy? I personally do not. In all honesty, the work in itself is deemed as one of the most important tragedies because it shows off the human condition, specifically in regards to the world of jealousy. Granted that Othello takes things to the extreme, we have to see that the ending of this could only end in tragedy.

On an unrelated note, a comedic look on the tragedy of the Moor. One of my personal favorite segments from The Complete Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abriged).