Shakespeare associates Iago with the Roman God Janus, whom is two faced; his treachery and cunning ways earned him that comparison. This is because he uses trust as a key to Othello’s and Desdemona’s downfall. By gaining Othello’s trust he can “abuse Othello's ear” with lies by manipulating him to do actions that went against his graciousness, such as murdering Desdemona. This shows that Iago is skilled at portraying the most innocent of people guilty and the most loved, hated.
Apart from the reason he is a solider; Iago’s language contains a lot of short commands. He orders Roderigo even Brabantio, for example “put on your gown” and “Rouse him/ Poison his delight/ Proclaim him…etc.” This shows that Iago is a powerful and dominating character, if he can control a senator like a masterful puppeteer, then he is capable to do anything.
Shakespeare portrays Venice as a racist society but also, a highly developed city. This is shown through its democratic and justice system, where everyone has the right to express their opinions despite their colour or sex. The fact that Othello is a General in the Venetian Army and of great value to Venetian Government proves this. Also, he is treated by the Duke, the highest authority in Venice with great respect calling him “Valiant Othello,” shows that colour of ones skin wasn’t considered as a disadvantage in that society in certain roles. However, in Act 1 we notice that this is a different case. Shakespeare uses the words of three Venetians to emphasise the differences between Othello as a character from the other Venetians. Shakespeare chooses these characters to highlight Othello’s differences because they are full of anger, hatred and jealousy towards him, therefore their descriptions of Othello can be misleading. The playwright uses these characters to paint a picture of Othello as a black stereotype of his time, labelling Othello as an “alien” in Venice.
Firstly, Iago’s language is very sexual, racist and contains a lot of animal imagery. People would say he has a filthy mind and very crude and vulgar with his descriptions. He portrays Othello and Desdemona’s relationship to Brabantio as “an old black ram is topping your white ewe.” This suggests that Othello is a beast. The thought of an old black man topping a white innocent girl sparked Brabantio’s racial prejudice towards Othello; this shows that Iago is skilled at using sexual and racist imagery in animals, which gives the impression of a cynical, egotistical and a very intelligent villainous character to the audience.
As well as Iago, Brabantio wants the downfall of Othello’s and Desdemona’s relationship, and he has his reasons. Brabantio is furious that his daughter Desdemona is in love with a “sooty bosom.” He is convinced that his daughter’s actions were unnatural and she was spell bounded by him “That thou hast practised on her with foul charms.” this statement shows that he is racist towards Othello, he thinks of Moors as practisers of witchcraft, which is ironic as to what Othello said in his speech in Act 1 Scene 3, “Her father loved me, oft invited me,” this shows that Brabantio accepted Othello as a guest and a friend, but not as a son-in-law. He tries to convince the Duke that Othello has used witchcraft and stolen Desdemona to forcefully marry her, but his plan backfired; the duke and senators were very sympathetic towards Othello because they need him. Brabantio thinks that his daughter has committed “treason of the blood” by marrying Othello. He thinks of Othello as a devil from Iago’s descriptions, “The devil will make a grandsire of you” which put Brabantio at unease and hate towards Othello. He clearly can’t accept the fact that his “tender, fair and happy” daughter would love a man who she should “fear, not to delight.” He has explained that a mixed race wedding would be “incur a general mock,” because it wasn’t acknowledged at the time the play was set.
Wanting to sow seeds of doubt into Othello, Brabantio told him “She deceived her father and may thee.” This shows that even though he gave up on his argument against Othello; he’s still persistent about ruining their relationship. It’s also a giveaway to the tragedy to come.
Similarly to Brabantio and Iago, Roderigo isn’t pleased that his Desdemona has gone to a man he loathes. Brabantio even said “she shunned the wealthy curled darlings of our nation” in this he is referring to Roderigo. Even though Roderigo has more money than sense and Brabantio has endlessly refused Rodrigo’s proposals for Desdemona, he had wished that she had married him instead.
These characters all speak about Othello with contempt and disrespect, undermining Othello’s position in the Venetian army and the respect he receives from the Duke. Not only that, they are declining any possibilities of pure love between Othello and Desdemona, suggesting that he has stolen her with Brabantio’s repeated references of robbery and witchcraft, such as “prison/abused/corrupted/spell/medicines,” and the excessive use of sexual imagery interpret Othello as very sexual, wild and violent monster.
The play moves from Venice, a city with walls to an island where there are no boundaries. Cyprus is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, which is a place the war commenced at. The connotations of war such as chaos, is expressed in the move of Othello and Desdemona to Cyprus which changed their relationship dramatically to the extent that neither will survive. It can be argued convincingly that being in the open spaces of Cyprus allowed Othello's insecurities to surface, such as the big age difference and the difference between the races that he had successfully kept at bay in Venice’s ordered system.
It could alse be argued that the reason to Othello’s and Desdemona’s relationship downfall was Othello’s fault due to gullibility and willingness to put all his trust on the word of his “honest”-advisor Iago, and gave a blind eye to what others had to say. He even begins to distrust Desdemona. He should have accepted her word at least or let alone confirmed, her infidelity. This gives the impression that Othello is too naïve. As a result, his actions were to blame; Iago only planted the seeds of jealousy and anger while Othello did the rest. If Othello has taken time to re-consider his doubts, he would have avoided the tragic ending. Therefore, this could be considered as an example of a dramatic irony which played an important role in the climax of the play and resulted in tension and conflict between characters such as Othello and Desdemona.
Othello’s friendship with Iago is based on trust which can be expressed in his emotions and actions. Othello calls Iago his “ancient” and refers to him as “honest Iago” which is obviously contrasting to the real Iago, the audience know. As a result, it will engage and excite the audience.
In the sixteenth century, women were chosen husbands by their family. In Desdemona’s case this was different; she has chosen to marry her husband, Othello “The Moor of Venice” and fled with him without her father’s permission. This shows she is self-willed and she has played an important role to prove herself as a character. Not only that, she stood up for him in the council chamber against her father’s claims, surfacing her “divided duties”. Her speech to the senators and the duke was very strong and commendable; this was her act of independence in a male authorised period.
She tries to balance both sides of the scale, that she highly respects her father by calling him “noble” as to him she is “bound for life and education.” However, the balance has tipped to one side, in this case her husband referring to him as “my Lord.” This indicates that her respect for her father stems from her duties as a daughter, however these duties have shifted once she became a wife of Othello. Moreover, she has clearly shown to the council chamber her love for Othello. She said that she “saw Othello’s visage in his mind,” she married him because his stories of his battles and adventures which won her heart.
We also notice that, Venetian women in the play were treated as a possession or a trophy; this happens when Othello says “I won his daughter,” and calls her “My Desdemona,” this shows that what men only gained out of women was the pleasure of owning them.
In conclusion, the real meaning of the play Othello is the battle between: love and hate, the black and white, and good and evil. The play addresses lots of issue concerning the mixed race couples in the Elizabethan period. Othello and Desdemona insecurities and jealousy lead to the death of both of them. Othello found it difficult to accept or question his claims regarding Desdemona’s disloyalty. On the other hand, having Janus as you’re advisor was a disadvantage to Othello.
Also in the play, not everyone was against their wedding. The Duke and the senators were sympathetic to Othello. But, it could be argued that Othello was much of great importance to the Venetian army, since they were in war with the Turks. However, you could also argue that Othello has given a well balanced argument that was very convincing to the Council chamber which earned him more respect and acceptance. Also, Othello’s and Desdemona’s upheaval move from Venice to Cyprus intensely contributed to their downfall.
Furthermore, I think Shakespeare wanted the lover’s relationship to end in tragedy because if it didn’t, the play wouldn’t be approved by the Elizabethan parents, since their daughters might take Desdemona as an influence to get married on their own will.
