Practical Reading of Othello as a part of Cultural Studies

1. Practical Reading
of
Othello
as a part of
Cultural Studies

2. Name: Rajyaguru Dhvani Dipakbhai
Paper Name:
Code: 205
Subject: Practical Reading of Othello written by
Shakespeare
Roll no: 04
Email Id: dhvanirajayguru22@gmail.com
Department: Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji University,
Bhavnagar.

3. 03
Points to Ponder
About Author
Summary of
Othello
Artes visuais
Você pode descrever o
tópico da seção aqui
01 02

4. Who is William Shakespeare !
● William Shakespeare, Shakespeare also spelled
Shakspere, byname Bard of Avon or Swan of Avon.
● He was born on April 26, 1564, Stratford-upon-
Avon, Warwickshire, England and died on April 23,
1616, Stratford-upon-Avon.
● He was an english poet, dramatist, and actor often
called the English national poet.
● He is considered by many to be the greatest
dramatist of all time and Shakespeare occupies a
position unique in world literature.(Britannica)

6. New Historicist Reading of Othello
Impulsive
Decisions
Jealousy
Manipulation
Racism
Gender
Inequality
Feminist
Reading

7. RACISM
● As author Virginia Mason Vaughan notes ,
To talk about race in Othello is inevitably to fall into some degree of anachronism, while to
ignore it is to efface something fundamental to the tragedy.’ As a result, Shakespeare’s Othello has
been appropriated worldwide as a vehicle for the exploration of racial and ethnic tensions.
● In the opening scene Iago refers to Othello as ‘the thick-lips’ (1.1.66) and later he raises a toast
to ‘the health of black Othello’ (2.2.29). Through these and other comments we learn that
Othello is a black African of sub-Saharan origin. (Virginia Vaughan- British Library)
● In 1604 England was not yet formally immersed in the slave trade, but as early as 1565 English
privateers had bought captured Africans, and Shakespeare may well have known some of
them or other people of African heritage.
● Contemporary conceptions of race and racism, influenced by the history of racial slavery and
18th-century pseudo-science, are often based on hard and fast racial categories that were
only incipient in Shakespeare’s England.

8. ● Racism exists today as much as it existed in the 19th–Century. Many people isolate others
just because of their different colors.
● In South Africa, for example, the white government denied the blacks fundamental rights
that other citizens enjoyed. Worse still, there have been cases where football fans have
thrown bananas at black players, implying that there is no difference between them and
monkeys. Almost similar cases happen in Othello.
● Notably, Iago and Roderigo hate Othello because of his complexion. They refer to him using
racially discriminative names such as “the Moor” (Shakespeare Act I line 39) and “an old
black ram” (92).
“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe.”
● This was how Iago described Othello, using racist slang, which seemed to be accepted by
Brabantio. Brabantio, deceived by Iago and Roderigo, started using less than ideal terms
when regarding Othello in the council.
● Therefore, just as Shakespeare wanted to enlighten his audience about the dangers of
racism, today’s audience can also benefit from this knowledge by reading or watching the
play.

9. MANIPULATION
Manipulation is a big part of Othello. Everything was a result of manipulation. Iago’s
poisonous words infected Othello’s brain. Iago let his words misguided and deceived Othello.
Despite being an intelligent general, one unyielding in the field of battle, he let his human nature get
the better of him.
“The Moor is of a free and open nature,
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,”
Iago uses peer pressure to force Cassio into making a mistake, and to his satisfaction, Cassio
took the bait.
“She deceived her father by marrying you;”
Iago’s successful manipulation is credited towards his observation of his surroundings and
adaptability to that certain situation.

10. ● Occurrences like this are commonplace in our unscrupulous society. Politics, the
economy, and many other aspects of modern society all possess aspects of
manipulation.
● Politicians rely on propaganda, unfulfilled promises and manipulation to obtain a
status they desire. Through lies and deception they are able to manipulate the
public and their followers to believe what they spew, and because of the
politician’s pre-established position within society, they are deemed reputable
and authoritative, which enables them to address the public with confidence.
● This was the same tactic Iago used, he was seen as “Honest Iago”, honest and
reputable, this allowed him to address Othello with full confidence in success.
Likewise, the economy contains aspects of manipulation.
● Corrupt businesses will do anything to earn more income, trying to become the
richest while deceiving people to invest in them. Iago went around to different
people, basically ‘making deals’ through manipulation, and then ultimately using
the assimilated lies and consequences of people’s actions to set Othello up. The
environment surrounding Othello, is much like society, built upon and supported
by lies and misunderstandings, which ultimately resulted in his demise.

11. Jealousy
● The play can also help eradicate Jealousy from today’s audience. The society has
both people with health behaviors and those with severe practices. However,
none of them can be exclusively good or bad.
● Therefore, society must have people who are jealous of their neighbors’ or
friends’ achievements. In Othello, Jealousy is the overriding theme.
● Almost all the characters feel jealous of others at one point in the story.
● For example, Roderigo is jealous of Othello because the woman he loves,
Desdemona, is in love with Othello. He hires Iago to do everything possible to
make her stop loving Othello and fall in love with Roderigo. Iago comes up with a
plan to divide Othello, his wife and Cassio.
● The story he concocts makes Othello epileptic, a situation that makes Iago refer to
him as not suitable for his job (Shakespeare Act 4 scene 1). Jealous also makes
Othello kill Desdemona only to realize later that Iago had just made up the story.
Therefore, today’s audience will learn that jealousy is dangerous.

12. Impulsive Decisions
● The play can also teach today’s audience to stop being
impulsive in making decisions. Often, people make impulsive
decisions due to obsessions with some things in life. Such
decisions mostly end up causing regrets rather than the
desired expectations.
● In the play, many characters make impulsive decisions (that
end up tragically) to satisfy their selfish intentions.For
example, Roderigo hires Iago to do all he can to help him
have Desdemona without thinking about what might happen
in case they fail: “That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse”
(Shakespeare Act I line 2).
● Othello also makes an impulsive decision when he kills his
wife on mere suspicion. He later regrets killing her when he
realizes that she was not an infidel. Hence, today’s audience
will learn to be patient and make a keen analysis of
situations before making decisions.

13. Feminist Reading
● Feminist critics highlight the ways Shakespeare portrays gender roles. In Act 1,
Scene 3, Brabantio describes his daughter Desdemona as ‘a maiden never bold’,
yet in choosing a foreigner she has violated the Venetian norm of arranged
endogamous marriages (the practice of marrying within a local community or
ethnic group) and rejected her father’s authority. Still, she honours the patriarchal
dictum that, once married, the wife owes her husband the same respect and duty
she had shown her father.
● Emilia, too, defers to her husband Iago’s wishes. Even after she realises the full
extent of his villainy, she admits, ‘’Tis proper I obey him, but not now’ (5.2.194).

14. GENDER INEQUALITY
● Perhaps one of the most prominent themes in Othello is gender equality.
The play exhibits how women were treated during the Elizabethan era,
particularly through the interactions between Othello, Iago and their
wives.
● Othello treats Desdemona, decently, yet occasionally treats her as less, or
as a belonging. Othello does not trust Desdemona the same way she
trusts him. Desdemona fully trusts Othello, and never showed a sign of
doubt towards him. Othello on the other hand, as allowed arrogance and
lies to severe the love between him and his spouse, which leads to the
question, did he actually love her?
● Undoubtedly, all relationships are built using trust as scaffolding. What
was perceived here was Othello displaying arrogance and misplaced his
trust. If only he had trusted his spouse instead of one of his officers, he
would’ve soon realised the truth.

15. Iago, on the other hand, treats his wife as a servant.
“IAGO: To have a foolish wife.
EMILIA: O, is that all? What will you give me now
For the same handkerchief?
IAGO: What handkerchief?
EMILIA: What handkerchief?
Why, that the Moor first gave to Desdemona;
That which so often you did bid me steal.
From this conversation we can deduce the type of
relationship Iago has with his wife. He uses her to
benefit himself, and Emilia really has nothing to
say about it. She simply submits to Iago asserting
himself as the dominant figure in this relationship,
Relationships like this are common in our current
society, especially in arranged marriages. These
relationships usually are rugged, because neither
the husband nor wife chose each other, this results
in the dominant figure of the relationship to kind of
‘rule’ the other. This just goes to show how unjust
society is, in Elizabethan times, and in modern
time. This said, society is not perfect, and to
neutralise gender inequality is not plausible, at all.

16. Conclusion
In summary, the themes in Othello are very relevant to today’s
audience. Shakespeare addresses racism, jealousy, consequences of
impulsive decisions, war, and love. All these issues are common in the
contemporary world. This work has explored possible lessons today’s
audience can learn from the jealous, impulsiveness, and racism among
Shakespeare’s characters.

17. REFERENCES
Brown, John Russell , Spencer, Terence John Bew and Bevington, David. "William Shakespeare". Encyclopedia Britannica,
23 Aug. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Shakespeare Accessed 7 October 2022.
Forbes-Robertson, Johnston, and Shakespeare, William. Othello: By William Shakespeare. United Kingdom, Nassau, 1902.
Kirschbaum, Leo. “The Modern Othello.” ELH, vol. 11, no. 4, 1944, pp. 283–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2871466
Accessed 7 Oct. 2022.
Ray, Rebecca. Storyboardthat.com, https://www.storyboardthat.com/lesson-plans/othello-by-william-shakespeare.
Su, Kevin. “Shakespeare’s Othello Remains Relevant for a Modern Audience.” Medium.com, Medium, 30 Apr. 2018,
https://medium.com/@ksu7567/shakespeares-othello-remains-relevant-for-a-modern-audience-569cf56d1a1c
“The Relevance of ‘Othello’ by William Shakespeare in the Current Society Essay.” Ivy Panda.com, Ivypanda, 22 Feb. 2022,
https://ivypanda.com/essays/british-literature-othello-by-william-shakespeare/.
Vaughan, Virginia Mason. “Critical Approaches to Othello.” Bl.uk, The British Library, 15 Mar. 2016,
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/critical-approaches-to-othello#footnote3.