Shakespeare creates Othello’s nobility to portray his own views, however Othello’s downfall is to reflect the common opinion that moors were bad people.
However, despite Othello’s initially positive presentation, Shakespeare makes Iago question Othello’s good nature, this though is undermined by the fact that it is presented by Iago, who is not trusted by the audience. Iago opens with the curse of ‘sblood’5, which causes the audience to immediately question his character. Iago makes the audience aware that he is a deceiver as he only follows Othello to ‘serve my turn upon him’6. As well as misleading other characters, he is also controlling the audience with layers of deception; this heightens the anticipation of Othello’s entrance as we are not quite sure what to expect. Iago skilfully manipulates the characters, so they become his puppets. Othello descends into jealous and chaos, because he believes Iago, who’s every utterance, is deceptive. Surprisingly Othello becomes consumed by jealousy in such a short time. Othello knows that he cannot be in doubt or else ‘woe upon my life’7, and so it shows how powerful Iago is. It is ironic that Othello recognises ‘when I love thee not, chaos is come again’8 just before he loses his trust in his wife. Iago does not have to prove himself for Othello to trust his every word. Iago has managed to make Othello believe that he knows more about Desdemona than he is letting on. This is only the beginning for Othello for he is only starting to become suspicious and jealous. Iago corrupts Othello with jealousy, which causes the beast within him to be liberated.
Dramatically it is clear to see that Othello descends, in Act III, into chaos and confusion. In his rage he curses ‘death and damnation’9, which is quite different from his earlier clam and noble nature. The use of blank verse in Othello’s speech helps to establish his heroism. This is due to the rhythm and flexibility, which allows Othello to speak purposefully and with clarity. Through this he is able to command authority. After his fall, his verse changes into disjointed prose, and becomes more straight forward and less figurative. His stately styles of grammar and syntax have both broken down, which amount to a sense of insecurity. He has allowed jealousy and passion to take over from reason.
By the end of the scene Othello has descended into chaos through his jealousy of the perceived relationship between Desdemona and Cassio. Shakespeare presents the change in Othello by transferring to him some of the characteristics of Iago’s speech. This technique emphasises the fact that Othello’s language has broken down and he has lost control over what he is saying as Iago’s character remains the same. The full extent of the chaos becomes clear when, talking about Desdemona plots to ‘tear her all to pieces’10. Quite graphically Othello has become like a beast and he knows himself that he has fallen as he bids ‘farewell tranquil mind’11. After smothering Desdemona he accuses her of being as ‘false as water’12. The image of water is apt, because as a soldier Othello would have spent a lot of time travelling by water and so has learnt of its misleading and dangerous nature. Othello feels that Desdemona has managed to deceive him just as water can. Having been the subject of Iago’s trickery and becoming jealous Othello feels compelled to kill himself after having murdered Desdemona.
Some may say that the racial tension sparks Othello’s jealousy and causes it to manifest into chaos. The opposition of black and white, light and dark imagery and the theme of race are central in Othello and it marks Othello out against all the other characters. There is an assumption that Othello is bad, because he is of a different race, however Shakespeare has twisted tradition and has made evil represented by white. This is either simple irony or Shakespeare’s attempt to make a bold political statement. In Elizabethan literature, a man of African heritage is typically portrayed as a bad person, yet this is not the case for Othello, Iago’s absolute evil takes that role. The Elizabethans held this view, because it was thought that black people posed an economic threat to the state. This meant that they must be bad. A.C Bradley explains that Iago’s annoyance stems from ‘Othello’s eminence, Othello’s goodness’13. Even though Othello is black he has a fair mind, but by the end of Act III his mind has also become black.
Another common Elizabethan belief was that all life had an order and that everyone and everything had its own place for a particular reason. At the very top of the chain of being was God, followed by angels, and at the bottom were animals and plants. This left human beings in the middle as they possess both qualities of those higher and lower14. In the early stages of the play Othello is clearly guided by rationality and reason. However Iago uses sexual imagery as a way to place Othello below his position in society, so he is now with the animals and beasts. The use of animal imagery to present Othello as a beast reinforces the underlying racism of the play and in itself holds sexual connotations. He cannot wait to ensue ‘the fruits’15 of Desdemona after they are married. In the beginning Iago refers to Othello as being ‘an old black ram’16. By offending Othello Iago is causing jealousy and anger to take control.
Using A.C Bradley’s description of Othello is accurate, because he started as a calm and confident leader, but his character became eroded by Iago. Consequently his speech became excitedly flooded with animal imagery and death, which is highlighted though the use of exclamation marks. He finally acts upon his words and kills Desdemona. The hero was taken in by false words and tragedy was the result. If it was not for Iago, the beast within Othello would not have been liberated and his premature death would not have happened.
