How do the different critical readings of the play inform our understanding of the key factors leading to Othello's death? What insights do the different interpretations provide into Shakespeare's potential motivation for writing the play?

How do the different critical readings of the play inform our understanding of the key factors leading to Othello’s death? What insights do the different interpretations provide into Shakespeare’s potential motivation for writing the play?

There are many different factors that contribute to Othello’s death. These factors can teach us about Shakespeare’s view of society, the renaissance and the concept of civilisation. Adopting different critical approaches to this issue can help us understand the complex reason’s leading to Othello’s untimely death.

The feminist viewpoint could help us in our understanding of why Othello died. We learn that women are expected to be obedient when Brabantio asks Desdemona in front of the Duke ‘Where most you owe obedience?’ showing that she is expected to choose between her father and husband. This contributes to Othello’s death because if she was disobedient she would have fled and given Othello time to calm down and then he would have seen sense and believed her. Women had subservient roles which we see when Desdemona replies to the earlier question and says that she is ‘due to the moor my lord’ and her reference to her husband as ‘my lord’ implies that she is inferior to Othello and in reference to Othello’s death if Desdemona had not been subservient she would have stood up to Othello and made him see that she didn’t cheat on him. Women are also viewed as property which we learn when Emilia says ‘I nothing but to please his fantasy’ when she steals Desdemona's handkerchief for Iago and the ‘I nothing but’ suggests her only purpose is to please her husband. This plays a part in Othello’s death, as the handkerchief was proof that Desdemona was cheating on him. We also see that women are supposed to possess strong sexual desires when Iago is trying to convince Roderigo to confront Cassio over his intentions he says of Desdemona ‘her eye must be fed’. The ‘eye’ symbolises her desires and the ‘fed’ is a metaphor reflecting her hunger, craving and lucivious nature. This contributes to Othello’s death as it convinces him that he is naïve with regard to women, that they are all unfaithful.

Feminism can explain the tragedy that befell Othello because if women’s views were more respected then Othello would have believed Desdemona over Iago. Stereotypical views of women being lustful meant that Othello struggled to believe that Desdemona was pure and had not slept with anyone else. Emilia’s loyalty to her husband when she took the handkerchief which we see when Iago says to her as she hands it to him ‘a good wench give it to me’ proves that Desdemona was unfaithful to Othello. When Emilia stops being subservient to Iago, as she says, ‘no I will speak as liberal as the north’ which is a metaphor of her rebellion because the north wind is strong, bitter cold and chilling, Othello sees the truth and realises that Iago was lying. However, the suggestion that because Desdemona deceived her father to marry Othello made him believe that she was capable of deceit is questionable as she deceived her father to marry him and she wouldn’t have done so if she didn’t love him. Factors not considered by this approach are that the manipulation done by Iago also made Othello believe that Desdemona had cheated on him. If Iago hadn’t said anything, Othello wouldn’t have suspected his wife.

Shakespeare’s view of society, civilisation or the renaissance for this critical viewpoint was that women were poorly treated, and that society is unfair and uncivilised, which, when you see that the renaissance was supposed to be sophisticated and civilised, shows us that in reality it was all a façade.

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The political viewpoint could help us understand why Othello died. Iago’s duplicity is caused by jealousy which is shown when he is explaining to Roderigo why he is still with Othello after he promoted someone else to second in command instead him and we read ‘I follow him to serve my turn upon him’ showing that the only reason Iago is staying with Othello is to exact his revenge and this contributes to Othello’s death because it shows that Othello is naïve and therefore vulnerable to duplicity as he trusts Iago and listens to him. Iago’s perceived injustice generates hatred for Othello as we see when he also says to Roderigo about not being promoted to second in command, ‘I know my price, I am worth no worse a place’ suggesting that because Iago was not promoted to the rank of second in command, he is angry and this contributes to Othello’s death because this seems to give him justification for his cruelty and allows him to act without a conscience. Iago is envious and jealous of Othello which we learn when Iago is trying to convince Brabantio that Othello is having sex with his daughter but at the same time trying to make himself sound fair he says ‘another of his fathom, they have none’ revealing that Iago knows that Othello is their best soldier and is superior to him which contributes to Othello’s death because Iago feels that if he kills Othello then he will be superior. The political competition generated insecurity in Iago which we see in his soliloquy after telling Roderigo to confront Cassio where he says ‘till I am evened with him wife for wife’ which contributes to Othello’s death because it feeds Iago’s desire to beat Othello and also serves to bolster his cruelty and lack of compassion. When Othello falls into a trance in Act 4 Scene 1 we see that Iago enjoys political or Machiavellian manipulation when we read in his soliloquy ‘my med’cine works! Thus credulous fools are caught’ showing that Iago takes pleasure in what he is doing and this contributes to Othello’s death because it makes Iago feel better because he is destroying Othello. This is his aim and motivation.

This critical viewpoint can explain the tragedy that befell Othello because if Iago had not got it into his head that he was wronged then he wouldn’t have wanted revenge against him. Iago believed that he was the best fighter out there and could not understand why Othello picked Cassio against him; therefore he manipulated Othello so that he would believe that Desdemona was cheating on him and this caused Othello to go insane. Iago was also insecure which we learn in his aside while having a conversation with to Roderigo when he says ‘ if Cassio do remain, he hath a daily beauty in his life that makes him ugly’ showing that he is comparing himself to Cassio which is why he brought Cassio into it and brought him down too. However, the suggestion that Iago wants to be superior to Othello is questionable, as it seems that he wants to bring Othello down for not promoting him to second in command instead of Cassio, and no other reason. Factors not considered by this approach are that the subservience of women made Desdemona keep her mouth shut and not defend herself against Othello’s accusations.

Shakespeare’s view of society, civilisation or the renaissance for this critical viewpoint was that Iago was supposed to be from Venice, which was at the heart of the renaissance, which was supposed to be cultured, but his jealous and vindictive nature shows us that in reality it was uncultured and unrefined.

The new historicism viewpoint could help us understand why Othello died. We learn that Florence is the birthplace of Cassio and the renaissance when we read ‘one Micheal Cassio, a Florentine’ showing that he is from the most refined and sophisticated town in Italy and this contributes to Othello’s death because Cassio is the credible antithesis to Othello, so when Iago claims that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona it is easy for Othello to believe as he is, in Othello’s eyes, a renaissance man. Venetian women had a reputation for their loose morals which we learn when Desdemona tries to protest her innocence but Othello doesn’t believe her and he says ‘I took you for that cunning whore of Venice’ suggesting that he sees her as one of the many prostitutes in Venice, which contributes to Othello’s death because it makes it more credible that Desdemona is unfaithful and lucivious as she is a Venetian women. Cyprus is the brink between civilised and savage and Othello’s job is to defend civilisation as we learn when as Othello stabs himself and says ‘where a malignant and a turbaned Turk beat a Venetian and traduced the state, I took by th’throat the cicumcisèd dog and smote him- thus’ showing that Othello saw himself as the threat to civilisation that he fought against all his life and this contributes to his death as it is his justification for suicide. Venice is the centre of the renaissance which makes an outsider vulnerable which we learn when Brabantio is trying to accuse Othello of bewitching Desdemona and he says ‘so opposite to marriage that she shunned the wealthy, curled darlings of our nation’ showing that Brabantio does not understand why she would marry an outsider when she refused the elegant, beautiful sons of Venice and this contributes to Othello’s death because he trusts Venetians words and judgements and this is why he believed Iago.

This critical viewpoint can explain the tragedy that befell Othello because if Iago had not come from Venice then Othello might not have trusted Iago to the extent that he did; and if Cassio was not from Florence then Othello would not have viewed him as a threat and believed that he would sleep with his wife. However, the suggestion that Othello was intimidated by the sophistication of the renaissance is questionable as we see that Othello is self-confident when Brabantio accuses him in front of the senate. Factors not considered by this approach are that the manipulation done by Iago also made Othello believe that Desdemona had cheated on him. If Iago hadn’t said anything, Othello wouldn’t have suspected his wife and that the subservience of women made Desdemona keep her mouth shut and not defend herself against Othello’s accusations.

Shakespeare’s view of society, civilisation or the renaissance for this critical viewpoint was that Venice was seen as sophisticated and refined but underneath it is corrupt and immoral. This is a classic case of Appearance vs. Reality. In Othello’s view people from Venice where good but as Iago says ‘there’s many a beast then in a populous city, and many a civil monster’ we see that in reality it wasn’t based on appearance, it was based on character. These two have no relationship. Therefore Shakespeare was trying to tell us that society was a façade, was superficial and was illogical.

From the feminist Viewpoint we see that if Venetian women did not have such bad reputation as we learn when Othello makes Iago lieutenant and he says, ’damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her!’ showing that he was quick to believe that Desdemona was capable of cheating on him. From the Political viewpoint we see that if Iago had been promoted to second in command over Cassio then he wouldn’t have wanted to seek revenge which we learn as he says to Roderigo at the start of the play, ‘and I, whom his eyes had seen the proof at Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds’ showing that he feels that he has been overlooked even though Othello has seen him fight many times and so he felt that it was his place to try and convince Othello that Desdemona was a cheat. From the New historical viewpoint if Cassio wasn’t from Florence then Othello wouldn’t have believed that he would sleep with his wife behind his back. In my opinion, Othello’s death was his own fault. He chose to believe Iago over Desdemona. He chose not to confront Desdemona over the allegations. His complete and utter loss of composure and logic, which we see when he discovers the handkerchief is lost and says ‘but if she lost it or made a gift of it, my father’s eye should hold her loathed,’ which shows that he has regressed to a belief in pagan charms.

2005