Since Shakespeare can be interpreted in thousands of different ways, let’s explore the sexuality of Iago. Yes, he has a wife, Emilia. But, what respectable man of that time was not married to a woman? We can throw that point out fairly quickly, as Emilia might have been a clever decoy in order to hide Iago’s homosexuality. Iago shows clear signs of being extremely cold towards her throughout the play as well. Iago's homosexual desires could be the reason he seems to harbor some form of hatred for all women in the play.
Perhaps Iago was not motivated by the jealousy of Cassio over a promotion to lieutenant, but by the jealousy of Othello’s love for Desdemona. This is evident in Act 3 Scene 3, in which Iago tells Othello "I am your own forever." Isolate that quote for a second. It strikes a particular romantic chord, doesn't it? While that could just be a pledge of loyalty to his general, it sounds extremely similar to vows said during marriage. When Iago speaks with Othello, he occasionally uses such romantic undertones. Iago's undertone becomes clearly sexual when he speaks of his relationship with Cassio. He tells Othello, "I lay with Cassio lately" (III.iii). On the surface, this could refer to sleeping together in the barracks. Iago mentions that Cassio supposedly kissed him passionately in his sleep, throwing his leg over Iago's thigh and kissing him again. Iago doesn't mention resisting Cassio or trying to wake him up at all Now, we know this whole scenario is a lie. It's clear that Iago is making up this story to anger Othello at Cassio. However, why did Iago have to make up the gayest story? There are endless possibilities of made up stories that we're all sure trusting Othello would believe. It's funny that Iago's initial reaction is to make up an extremely homosexual story involving himself. Iago's homosexual tendencies are not blatant, as some special interpretation of the text is to be involved. Perhaps that's the point! Iago could deal with unconscious homosexual desires. Iago's sexual thoughts might have been suppressed because both Othello and Cassio have wives, and Othello clearly shows that he is in love with Desdemona (aside from killing her). The identity of being a homosexual man was perhaps lost on Iago, as he grew up in a majorly heterosexual environment. Once you begin to form the thought that Iago might be a suppressed homosexual, reading Othello becomes quite the different experience. When you're open to many different interpretations of the play, the world presented to you can begin to shift and transform before your own eyes.
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Everyone’s favorite thing to do is play the blame game. And when reading a play like Shakespeare’s Othello, the game’s level of fun gets increased exponentially as you keep reading. How come? Because everyone is to blame for the tragic outcome of the play. Initially, your first instinct is to say that the outcome of the play is the result of Iago’s manipulation. While his tomfoolery and escalation of certain dramatic scenes are major plot devices used to push the story further, it’s important to see that nearly all other characters do their part in causing the play to end tragically. They all do it in the same wayㅡthey don’t openly communicate with each other. COMMUNICATION IS KEY Let's start with Desdemona. She needed to do two things, and two things alone: tell Othello she wasn’t cheating on him and tell him that she did not give the handkerchief to Cassio when he asked about it (III.iv.). Roderigo needed to make a forceful, clear point that he wasn’t going to be pushed around by Iago more than one time in the whole play (IV.ii.). And Cassio just needed to talk to Roderigo (or yell, or cry, or whatever someone would do when they’re drunk).
Othello’s faults with communication come from his lack thereof between Brabantio, Iago, Cassio, and Desdemona. In the first act of the play, Othello nearly gets himself in trouble for not telling Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, that they were married (I.i.). He also doesn’t do the responsible thing and explain to Iago why Cassio got the promotion instead of him. When Iago gets Cassio drunk and makes him get in a fight with Roderigo, Othello denounces Cassio’s lieutenancy immediately without hearing his side of the story (V.i.). Othello’s most notable lack of communication is between himself and Desdemona. When Othello suspects her of cheating on him with Cassio, he doesn’t do what any other adult would do in that situation and ask her about it, he decides to kill her (V.i.). Instead of talking about the situation openly and resolving the problem, Othello allows his jealousy to eat up at him from deep inside him. Now, everyone’s first choice of who the blame should be dealt to: Iago. In the very first scene of the play, Iago complains to Roderigo that he was not promoted by Othello, but that Cassio was. Instead of confronting Othello himself about the issue, he decides to vent to Roderigo about his discontent towards Othello, bottling up his anger (I.i.). Iago’s rage at Othello continues to stay buried deep down while he puts on a second face and pretends to be on Othello’s good side to manipulate him. Iago’s hatred also includes Cassio, who he also pretends to be good friends with (IV.i.). Iago’s lack of proper ability to deal with situations like an adult also ends up causes a fight between Cassio and Roderigo, resulting in Cassio his position as lieutenant (V.i.). Once Iago’s plan has gone farther than he expects it toㅡwhen Othello becomes so enraged at his allegations of Desdemona cheating on him and confides in Iago about how he will murder herㅡhe escalates the situation further instead of preventing the death of Desdemona (III.iv.). His inevitable incarceration at the end of the play is definitely the result of his lack of proper communication skills with Othello (V.ii.). However, imagine a play in which Iago calmly addressed his issues with Othelloㅡdoesn’t seem very interesting, does it? Each "major" character in Othello contributed to the spiraling tragedy of the play. Had any character at any point in time just spoken to another that there was conflict between, then perhaps the major catastrophe at the end of the play could have been avoided. But perhaps this was the lesson Shakespeare had intended for us to learn. The number one thing I have learned about Shakespearean plays are that they’re annoying. No one really wants to spend hours reading in some version of English nobody uses anymore. Anyone who tells you they like doing that has a 99% chance of being a jerk who wants to shove your face in that they’re reading Shakespeare and ew why would anyone want to read anything else? The other 1% might be nice, but I’ve never met them.
However, I’ve also learned that Shakespeare is a necessary evil. His works of literature are incredibly important to... well, basically everything. He introduced new plot devices, phrases, and thousands upon thousands of new words (we still use a LOT of them today!). It's sometimes hard to appreciate his works, though, because he oftentimes used so many unnecessary details and metaphors lost on our time in his plays, such as this quote from Othello in Shakespeare's Othello: "And say besides that in Aleppo once, / Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk / Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, / I took by th' throat the circumcised dog and smote him thus." (V. ii. 342-354) I mean, anyone would have trouble deciphering what that meant. And even though reading Shakespeare can be a chore, it’s important to recognize what he did for the English language. And you don’t have to read his plays in your free time to do so. The thing is, Shakespeare is hard to read. For everyone. Even when you have to read it for a grade in school. And a lot of people (myself included) think they can just tough it out while reading. But sometimes you need to swallow your pride and get some help. It’s perfectly normal to need it! There are tons of resources that will help you out if you aren’t understanding Shakespeare like a whiz right off the bat. Here are some techniques that I use to help me comprehend Shakespeare’s plays: Find a Visual Have you ever heard the phrase, “It sounds better on paper”? Well, the opposite usually applies to Shakespeare. Movies, skits, or live action plays are SUPER helpful to create visuals about Shakespeare’s works. For me, the most important part of comprehension is seeing the scene unfold in my head. But, Shakespeare provided very limited stage directions, it can be hard to form a visual of the scene. This can hinder the comprehension of the scene or the entire play itself. When you find a visual, a whole world literally opens up to you. The characters actually become distinguishable once you can see their faces and hear their quirks as they talk. The scenes playing on screen are much easier to understand and remember than on paper. Read With Someone As I mentioned before, everything is easier to understand not just when you can see the characters, but when you can hear them, too. And sometimes, just hearing different voices talking to each other is enough to get the Shakespeare-gears in your head turning. I find it helpful when you’re able to get together with a larger group of people for scenes with more characters. Even if you’re only able to get together with one or two other people, this experience will definitely help you keep track of characters and will aid your comprehension. This can even be really fun! When you give characters goofy accents or funny talking quirks, the plays become much more interesting. If you’re unable to get with a group of friends or your classmates, I also find it helpful to use an audio-book. Different voices will be used for different characters, so you can still get a feel for the tone of the play. One thing I would not recommend is trying to do different voices by yourself. When you encounter scenes with more than two characters, that might prove to be quite difficult and confusing. Double-Check Your Comprehension Sometimes, no matter what you do, you don’t understand the play as it’s meant to be understood. This is very easy to do while reading Shakespearean English, as it's structured differently than our current version and can often include extraneous details. I’m definitely not a natural when it comes to Shakespeare. I often initially interpret scenes in a completely different way than they’re meant to be. So, I take extra care to make sure I’m understanding the play correctly. When I read a Shakespearean play, I normally have a 4-step system to fully comprehending the text. I read the play, go on SparkNotes to double-check my interpretation, re-read the text with my updated knowledge, and then actively participate in classroom discussion about the text. It sounds like overkill, but sometimes you need to really push yourself if you want to get better. This system has helped me get through more than four of Shakespeare’s plays, so it does help! Reading Shakespeare is bound to be an unpleasant experience for most. Going out of your way to make it easier for yourself? That works wonders for your comprehension and maybe even enjoyment of the text. If you put some elbow grease into understanding Shakespeare's works of literature, it's bound to get easier. No matter how hard it gets, just keep on reading! |
AuthorI'm Nicole and I have a moral obligation to be against Shakespeare in every way. ArchivesCategories |