The character of Othello has serious psychological issues. The color of his skin makes him self conscious of everything about him; he thinks that Desdemona had some other extrinsic motive to marry him, not just for the love that she had for him. Therefore, he becomes extremely jealous of Desdemona. He thinks that Desdemona does not truly love him, and it's ironic because when Iago first suggests that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio, Othello wants proof that they are sleeping together, rather than dismissing the idea altogether. His psyche is naturally jealous of everything, and so he just needs that little spark to put the jealousy in motion, and Iago gives that spark to him.
He becomes so jealous to the point that he believes circumstantial evidence that he is a cuckold; he does not even have any actually proof that his wife is having an affair. Also, he does not confront Desdemona about anything; he just jumps to conclusions and assumes a lot of stuff that are not true. Iago's plan is working so perfectly that he has Desdemona constantly ask Othello to give Cassio's job back, so this only makes Othello more jealous because he realizes how badly Desdemona wants Cassio around all the time and that is for one reason only: that she is sleeping around with him. When Iago mentions the ridiculous story of how Cassio kissed him that one time on the lips and moaned Desdemona's name, Othello believes it because his jealousy blinds him to reality.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Gender Stereotypes in Othello
There are many instances of gender stereotype in Othello. For the male characters, they fit the perfect cliché of jealous, overprotective, distrustful men. Iago suspects his wife of cheating on him with every main guy in the play; he thinks she sleeps with Cassio and Iago, which is the main reason why he hates both of them. When Emilia gives him Desdemona's handkerchief, he replies with "You have a thing? It is a common thing". This innuendo accuses Emilia of sleeping with a lot of people, which explains why he refers to her as a common thing. Also, Iago is very distrusting in everyone, but he seems to put a lot of trust into thinking that his plan will work. He trusts the stupidity of everyone else to fall into his trap. Othello is a perfect example of a jealous man. He believes Iago's obvious lies because he is so ready to think that Desdemona is not faithful; it's almost as if he wanted a reason to believe that she cheated on him, so that is why he believes Iago with all the lies. He does not even ask Desdemona if all this is true; he just acts upon speculation, and accuses her of something that she clearly did not do.
The major women characters in this play are Desdemona and Emilia. Desdemona is the perfect female stereotype of the time because she gives up so much for Othello, and in return, Othello reciprocates nothing but his fleeting love. She breaks off her relationship with her dad and runs away to Cyprus with a man she barely knows. A normal husband would see all the sacrifices his wife has made and try to make her a happy wife, but he accuses her of cheating the first chance that he gets, and all he has is circumstantial evidence. Aside from Desdemona, Emilia defies the traditional woman cliché . She has a foul mouth when talking about men because she does not talk in the "lady-like" way that women were supposed to talk in. Also, she questions Iago about why he needs the handkerchief, and this shows that she wasn't readily submissive to him; she wanted to know more about what he was doing and that was uncalled for back in the Shakespearean era.
The major women characters in this play are Desdemona and Emilia. Desdemona is the perfect female stereotype of the time because she gives up so much for Othello, and in return, Othello reciprocates nothing but his fleeting love. She breaks off her relationship with her dad and runs away to Cyprus with a man she barely knows. A normal husband would see all the sacrifices his wife has made and try to make her a happy wife, but he accuses her of cheating the first chance that he gets, and all he has is circumstantial evidence. Aside from Desdemona, Emilia defies the traditional woman cliché . She has a foul mouth when talking about men because she does not talk in the "lady-like" way that women were supposed to talk in. Also, she questions Iago about why he needs the handkerchief, and this shows that she wasn't readily submissive to him; she wanted to know more about what he was doing and that was uncalled for back in the Shakespearean era.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
"Sonnet 18" by Shakespeare begins with a doubtful question. The speaker is wondering whether or not he should compare his love to a summer's day, which is temperate in weather. Usually, in a Shakespearean sonnet, he does not refer to his lover as "thee", so he deliberately put that in there to have it relate to the readers. The rhythm of iambic pentameter is evident in this poem because every other syllable is stressed. Starting from line 3, Shakespeare uses personification. It seems as if he is talking badly about summer because he is blaming the strong winds of summer to "shake the darling buds of May." He describes summer in a terminal way, like summer has a time stamp and has to come to an end by the end of the season, even though the season happens every year. He seems ignorant to the fact that summer does not just happen once in a lifetime; it happens once a year. The rest of the poem seems to be taking a turn for the worse, only talking about the negatives of summer.
The speaker complains about how the sun is too hot, but then the clouds cover it up sometimes. Then, he goes on to say how everything that is beautiful in life must eventually lose that beauty and charm; he's declaring that it is inevitable. He has a very pessimistic view towards life and nature in general. Summer is just imperfect in his mind. In lines 7-8, he alludes to the previous lines by saying that even summer has to come to an end; there is nothing that can be done about. Either time takes its course, or things happen by chance, but one way or another, everything has to have an ending. His syntax is quite distinct in this quatrain. He uses phrases like "eye of heaven" and "gold complexion" to describe the sun, rather than blatantly coming out and saying that he is talking about the sun.
The last quatrain shows the turn in this sonnet. He begins line nine with the word "but" which is the ultimate game changer. In the previous quatrains, he was complaining and criticizing summer and saying how everything had to come to an end, but in this line, he's saying that his beloved is safe from all the complaints he has made. Back in the first stanza, I mentioned how the speaker was ignorant to the fact that summer comes back around every year. Well, the speaker's ignorance was intentional because we notice that the "thee" he mentions and the "summer days" he mentions are really comparable. Both can be eternal and personified, and both technically have a time stamp for their ends, but there is a third force. This third force is poetry, and through poetry and Shakespeare's words, both his lover and the days of summer can live on. In lines 11-12, he introduces yet another personification, Death. He mentions how Death will not have the chance to claim his beloved's life because this beloved is immortal. These last two lines of the third quatrain were really confusing. I think what he is trying to say is that there really is no beloved who is a person; he wants his words to be lived on forever and wants them to be immortal. He wants the poem to be read by an audience, and that audience will in turn, make his poem and his legacy eternal and everlasting. The last two lines of the poem, the couplet, sum up the poem in its entirety. "So long lives this, and this gives life to thee" is the epitome of this poem. It is really a confusing circle. The writer is arrogant in thinking that this poem will continue to be read, and his beloved will continue to live on. Shakespeare sums up the worries that humankind faces from the strains of impermanence in a fourteen line poem.
The speaker complains about how the sun is too hot, but then the clouds cover it up sometimes. Then, he goes on to say how everything that is beautiful in life must eventually lose that beauty and charm; he's declaring that it is inevitable. He has a very pessimistic view towards life and nature in general. Summer is just imperfect in his mind. In lines 7-8, he alludes to the previous lines by saying that even summer has to come to an end; there is nothing that can be done about. Either time takes its course, or things happen by chance, but one way or another, everything has to have an ending. His syntax is quite distinct in this quatrain. He uses phrases like "eye of heaven" and "gold complexion" to describe the sun, rather than blatantly coming out and saying that he is talking about the sun.
The last quatrain shows the turn in this sonnet. He begins line nine with the word "but" which is the ultimate game changer. In the previous quatrains, he was complaining and criticizing summer and saying how everything had to come to an end, but in this line, he's saying that his beloved is safe from all the complaints he has made. Back in the first stanza, I mentioned how the speaker was ignorant to the fact that summer comes back around every year. Well, the speaker's ignorance was intentional because we notice that the "thee" he mentions and the "summer days" he mentions are really comparable. Both can be eternal and personified, and both technically have a time stamp for their ends, but there is a third force. This third force is poetry, and through poetry and Shakespeare's words, both his lover and the days of summer can live on. In lines 11-12, he introduces yet another personification, Death. He mentions how Death will not have the chance to claim his beloved's life because this beloved is immortal. These last two lines of the third quatrain were really confusing. I think what he is trying to say is that there really is no beloved who is a person; he wants his words to be lived on forever and wants them to be immortal. He wants the poem to be read by an audience, and that audience will in turn, make his poem and his legacy eternal and everlasting. The last two lines of the poem, the couplet, sum up the poem in its entirety. "So long lives this, and this gives life to thee" is the epitome of this poem. It is really a confusing circle. The writer is arrogant in thinking that this poem will continue to be read, and his beloved will continue to live on. Shakespeare sums up the worries that humankind faces from the strains of impermanence in a fourteen line poem.
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