Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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In the play Othello, I think you need to know what is going on with the characters to even begin to understand the enotional turmoil Othello is going through. Othello is being lied to and persuaded by throughout the entire play by Iago. Iago is supposed to be a friend and support to Othello, but it is obvious to an audience or reader that Iago is far from honest and trustworthy, which Othello believes him to be.
The character Iago is just plain mean spirited. He had some sort of a grudge against Othello. My opinion is that Iago resented Othello because of his superior position. I think that it also didn't help things that Othello is black. There aren't many hints towards it in the play, but I think Iago may have been a little racist and bothered by the fact that Othello is black and is married to a beautiful white woman. Anyways, Iago definately has a grudge against Othello and screws with his mind.
By acts 4 and 5 Othello is thouroghly confused about who he should trust. He has been listening to Iago and his faith in his wife's monogamy is deteriorating. He is very confused about the events in his life and is close to breaking down. He shouldn't have so little faithe in Desdomona but he may have the idea that she feels superior to him because of her family and the position she was born into.
To answer the first question, I think that when Othello says:
"O vain boast! Who can control his fate? Tis not so now."
He is showing that he is very confused and discouraged whith how his life is turning out. At the beginning of the play he was very confident of Desdemona's love and loyalty. After listening to Iago and witnessing what seemed to be evidence of Desdemona's disloyalty he doesn't know what to think and believes that he has lost his control over his own future. I think it implies that he thought he had control and only just recently realized that he cannot control fate.
Pico Della Mirandola's words completely contradict Othello's. Mirandola states that you can control your future. His theory is that the nature of all other things cannot be changed, but with accordance to these natural laws a person can shape themselves however it is desirable.
The difference between the two is that Othello has lost hope. His destiny is out of his control and he has given up trying to shape it. Pico is a perfect example of an optimist. His future is wide open and waiting for him to take the initiative to shape it as he pleases.
The contrast I have identified explains Lodovicos final judgement because Othello has given himself up and is letting "fate" control his life. When Lodovico says:
"O thou Othello, that was once so good, Fall'n in the practice of a damned slave," He is talking about Othello's forfeit from taking control of his life. Othello is discouraged and is giving up. "What will be said to thee?" What will happen to poor Othello now?
Othello's character and the play question the Renaissance's idea, stated by Mirandola, that a person can control their own fate. Othello has tried to control his fate but because of Iago's influence he feels beaten and cannot live up to this ideal of his time. I think that many people of the Rennaissance times had their own set of ideals but they were not always practical or acheivable. These ideals, at times, put unessicary pressure on people to live up to them. As Othello saw it, Desdemona was not living up to his ideal as a Rennaissance wife and he couldn't deal with the pressure of trying to deal with the situation with Desdemona cheating.
I think that some of these Rennaissance ideals put too much pressure on the people of the time to live up to them. The character Othello is a representation of someone who couldn't handle it or be how he was directed to be.
These ideals are not solely a Rennaissance thing. They remind me of a present ideal that is the cause of many problems in our society. The ideal I am talking about is to be tall, thin and beautiful as a woman and to have the perfect "weight-lifter" body as a man. It really bothers me when I hear about the number of problems that are an effect of these ideals. But, there is no way to erase these problems along with the ideals that helped to cause them.