elope, knowing that Brabantio would disapprove of his daughter
marrying an older man of another race, class, and country.
To hear Othello's story up until the elopement with Desdemona is
almost to hear a fairy tale- the story of a handsome warrior
sweeping a beautiful young princess off her feet, away from the
clutches of her possessive father, and on to happiness. One reader has
said that it's almost as if Othello has appeared from wonderland;
his stories of his past are that rich and magical. Shakespeare,
however, has made Othello a human being, not a character from a
fairy tale.
Unlike other Shakespearean tragic heroes, Othello is not a prince or
a king, although he is descended from "men of royal siege".
In Venice he is seen as a professional soldier, a fine and
courageous one, but still a hired general. By placing him closer to
the common man, Shakespeare makes Othello easier to identify with,
more sympathetic. His story could be our story, and his faults our
faults.
Othello's good qualities easily outweigh the bad. We know he's
powerful, brave, and authoritative; the respect given to him by the
Venetian Senate tells us that. He's also gentle and romantic. The
story he tells of courting Desdemona is rich and poetic, and his early
scenes with his wife show him full of love and devotion. Cassio's
loyalty to him shows that Othello is well-liked by his soldiers.
OTHELLO
When Cassio feels he has lost Othello's respect, he is broken-hearted.
There are also qualities about Othello that have a good side and a
bad side. One of these is his open and trusting nature. Othello
believes that others are honest and sincere until he has proof that
they're not. This open-hearted love of his fellow man makes Othello an
attractive and generous friend. But it also leaves him susceptible
to Iago's scheming; Iago knows his plan will work because Othello
trusts him and has no reason to suspect that his loyal ensign would
scheme against him. Having spent most of his life in army camps,
Othello knows little ofwomen and love. This naivete has charm in
the first act, where thestrong and powerful general admits to
being a shy and cautiouslover. In the third act, however, Othello's
inexperience allows Iagoto convince him that he doesn't understand
Venetian women, that theyare known for cheating on their husbands.
As a professional soldier, Othello has gained a strong reputation.
The discipline he has learned has earned him the respect of the
Venetians, who badly need his help. When he fires Cassio, it's to make
an example of him to the rest of the soldiers. And he refuses to
reinstate him as a matter of principle. Sadly, it is this strict
code of honor- both military and private- that forces Othello to
kill Desdemona. When a man's honor is lost, according to this code, he
must win it back. For Othello, this means Desdemona's death, which
he sees as an act of justice, not of revenge. As painful as it is
for him, he doesn't see that he has a choice. He is a soldier, trained
to live by the rules.
The last of these "double-edged" virtues is Othello's powerful
poetic imagination. The stories he weaves for Desdemona are rich and
impressive. As Othello retells the story of his courtship in the
Senate office, the Duke is so struck that he understands how his
daughter was won by such stories. Othello can weave magic with his
tales and transform the truth into poetry. Yet this rich imagination
has a handicap: it makes Othello vulnerable to Iago's stories of
Desdemona's infidelities. Othello's imagination runs wild with
Iago's invented details and "proofs."
