I think that these three quotes from the first act prove that Othello is as Bradley said ‘noble’. However when analysing acts towards the end of the play I found very different results. When Othello is talking about Desdemona to Iago and says “Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her, damn her!” (L473 A3 S4) it shows that Othello is no longer noble.
The words ‘lewd minx’ show that Othello believes Desdemona is a lecherous creature. Othello is being very cruel whilst talking about Desdemona and a noble person would not talk this way about a loved one. The explanation marks also show that Othello is angry and annoyed which is out of character compared to the start of the play. The repetition used by Shakespeare when Othello says ‘Damn her’ also shows Othello’s outrage and that he has changed. The whole of this quote definitely proves that Othello is not noble and that he is very different compared to the beginning of the play.
When Othello physically hits Desdemona and says “Devil!” (L237 A4 S1) towards her it shows Othello is far from noble. A noble man would not even call a loved one a ‘devil’ but to actually hit a woman shows Othello is cruel and vicious.
There are many other quotes that prove Othello is both noble and not but I think there is sufficient evidence to support both points. I think that Bradley is wrong in thinking Othello is noble because I have proved he is at the start of the play but he is not at the end of the play.
From reading the quote by Leavis we can see that he believes Othello is egotistic. I personally agree with Leavis and believe that Othello is egotistic. I will now use evidence to support why I think this.
When Othello says “my parts, my title, and my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly.” (L31 A1 S2) it shows that he thinks his personal qualities, his title and his soul are all perfect. This shows that he is very much full of himself and is as Leavis said ‘egotistic’.
“Her father loved me.” (L128 A1 S3) I think this quote proves that Othello is egotistic. We do not know if Brabantio actually verbally said to Othello he ‘loved him’, and it seems unlikely that he would have. Therefore I believe Othello presumes this and that would show Othello loved himself being egotistic.
When Othello says “Ha, ha – false to me?” I think it shows he is egotistc again. I believe this because ‘ha, ha’ shows that he is laughing and I think this shows his disbelief that someone could be false to him. It seems as though Othello finds it funny that someone would be false to him because he is so wonderful.
I think the stories Othello tells in the Act 1, also show that he loves talking about himself. This is another factor that led me to believe that he is egotistic.
Bradley believes that Othello’s sufferings are so heart-rending, that he stirs….. in most readers a passion of mingled love and pity which they feel for no other hero in Shakespeare. I believe that some readers would feel pity for Othello but I also believe that some would not. I think we feel pity for Othello at the start of the play in Act 1 Scene1 when Iago and Roderigo wake Brabantio and tell him that his daughter is sleeping with Othello. I think we feel sympathy for Othello because Iago and Roderigo refer to Othello as very foul names. For example they call him “an old black ram.” And a “Devil.” And a “Barbary horse.”
Throughout the play we see Iago’s plotting and it makes us despise Iago but I think we begin to either feel pity for Othello or believe that he is foolish. When Desdemona dies in Act 5 Scene 2 I felt that Othello had clearly gone too far. I think Othello acted in a ridiculous way and it was because he was clouded by jealousy. I feel pity for him because he got manipulated but to become that jealous through manipulation and to go and kill your wife is stupid!
Leavis’s final main comment is that one of Othello’s main habits is self-approving, self-dramatization. I believe once again that Leavis is right in thinking this. I will now use evidence to support my ideas.
The earliest point at which we have an instance of Othello being a self-approving, self-dramatization character is in Act 1 Scene 2. It is the point at which Othello, accused by Brabantio of bewitching Desdemona away from him, is justifying himself before the Duke and Senators. From lines 128-50 and 167-69 Othello describes the way in which Desdemona fell in love with him. Othello, describing his courtship, tells the council how he used to tell stories of his adventures as a soldier and a traveller. Othello says that these stories are what won Desdemona. Othello seems to regard this as unremarkable. I did wonder why Shakespeare makes such a point of reinforcing that what Desdemona fell for was not the living man, but a glorified version of himself, constructed through the stories he tells. Here, even as Othello describes his courtship, he re-enacts it, now telling again (in summary) the stories he told Desdemona. Othello reveals evident pleasure in talking about his stories and wooing Desdemona. If he did not like talking he would have not re-told the stories. I think this shows that Othello does have ‘a habit of self-approving, self-dramatization’. When we look at the kind of story he tells about himself, it once again shows Othello has ‘a habit of self-approving, self-dramatization’. Othello recalls that he told Desdemona of ‘The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads/Do grow beneath their shoulders. The ‘story of my life’ which Othello tells, contains some fantasy material which is questionable to us. How did Shakespeare expect audiences to react? I personally believe that Shakespeare found tales of the Anthropophagi and similar stories rather far-fetched, maybe even amusing, and that he included them here to give Othello’s traveler’s tale precisely that feeling of unreality, which I believe it has.
I firmly believe that I have used sufficient evidence to prove my points and in conclusion, I think the two quotes by Bradley and Leavis have evidence to support and go against them. On the whole, I firmly believe that Leavis’s idea of Othello being egotistic and self-approving is correct, but this is my opinion and you must decide for yourself.
