The Three Key Characters in Othello

Explore and analyse the ways in which Shakespeare presents his key characters to an audience in the rising action of his play “Othello”. To what extent does this reflect the world in which the play was first made?

The play Othello essentially revolves around three key characters: Shakespeare’s eponymous tragic hero, his beautiful wife Desdemona and the manipulative Ensign Iago. Shakespeare often uses the judgements and descriptions of his other characters to create conflicting views of these, such as introducing Othello through Iago’s eyes before he has even made an appearance. This is coupled with the theme of reputation and, as the play develops, the superficiality of relationships between characters who never truly know one another.

The title character of Shakespeare’s tragedy is depicted as a ‘wheeling stranger’, a black ‘Moor’ distinctly different to the white Venetian society around him. The term ‘Moor’ is a loose one, used during the Elizabethan period to refer to the people of North Africa, and although slavery had yet to exist these people were often the subject of prejudice and discrimination. As seen through Brabantio’s claims of his ‘chains of magic’ in wooing Desdemona, belief in their dark arts and strange magical abilities paired with their unique customs was commonplace at the time. This racism is woven throughout the play, most often seen in relation to animal imagery to describe his lustful nature. The ‘lascivious Moor’s accused of ‘topping (Brabantio’s) white ewe’, or ‘making the beast with two backs’. This combination of sexual and bestial imagery presents Othello as a savage, base character before Shakespeare has even revealed him. While this continuing contrast of light and dark imagery runs throughout the play, Othello’s first scene shows him to be noble, if a little guilty of over confidence – ‘my services which I have done the signiory shall out-tongue his complaints’ – and undeserving of the language Brabantio and Iago use. This contrast between how he is spoken about and how he is actually portrayed is used by Shakespeare similarly with Iago, combining to suggest a profounder meaning: that depth of character is exceedingly important and often these first impressions can be deceiving. The dramatic irony of the repetition of ‘honest Iago’ alone is proof of that.

Further influenced by the opinions of other characters, Shakespeare often presents Othello through the use of epithets. These, like ‘valiant Moor’, reveal him to be brave and powerful. Indeed his battle prowess and ‘warlike’ attributes are what causes him to be revered above a black man’s usual status in the Great Chain of Being. By using the most senior character in the play, the Duke of Venice, Shakespeare explains that Othello is to be admired, despite his hamartia. The Duke shows him great respect when the matter of Desdemona is brought to him, allowing Othello to speak and describing him as ‘far more fair than black’ While a compliment, there is an underlying link to the inherent racism in Elizabethan society. However, this tragic flaw cannot be ignored. It is aptly put by Iago, claiming he ‘will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are’; this further use of animal imagery denotes his over trusting and even naïve nature which Shakespeare begins to develop in the rising action.

The second major character is Desdemona, a key microcosm of the many views of women in society. Despite how she later becomes the victim of adulterous rumours, she is first presented as bold and deeply in love with Othello, defying her father in his favour: ‘so much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my lord’. This never changes and proves how Othello is flawed in believing the manipulations of Iago, being convinced of her infidelity before any real proof is produced. She reflects the patriarchal society in a number of ways; firstly, she is seen as the fruits of a trade, linked to the overlying semantic field of wealth or merchants with women and romance – “the purchase made… the profit’s yet to come’. Even her husband uses such terms, claiming ‘I won his daughter’, reducing her to a prize to be bartered between father and spouse. It highlights the traditional societal view of marriage being an exchange. This contrasts Cassio’s presentation of Desdemona, who sees her as something to be idolised. He uses heavenly imagery, woven with hyperbole, to create a description claiming that her creation ‘does tire the ingener’. By comparing her to a goddess, Shakespeare uses classical allusions, such as ‘Jove’, to show how they can also be the cause of chaos. In this play, although entirely innocent, it is a beautiful woman which drives the men around her into a blood-soaked frenzy. Iago, on the other hand, conveys very negative perceptions of women. He labels her ‘full of game’, saying that ‘her eye must be fed’. With this label he brands all women, using an epigram to infer they are good for no more than mothering and gossiping, while stating they ‘go to bed to work’. These implications of all women as whores is argued and contradicted by the other characters, which suggests Shakespeare did not share this view. Perhaps the storyline of the play signifies a belief that love, beauty and possibly women are often the catalyst for chaos.

Finally, the devious antagonist Iago. The ‘Janus’-like role of lago shows a misspent genius, creating chaos for chaos’ sake. While claiming he plans to be evened with him, wife for wife’, his actual actions span far beyond this, transpiring his desire for the Lieutenant role he believed rightfully his. Using his ‘web’, he ensnares each of the characters, proving the difference between words and their meaning. He says exactly what each character wants to hear, manipulating each of them to his own means – sucking money from Roderigo, blaming Cassio and framing innocent Desdemona. ‘Knavery’s plain face is never seen til used’ – Shakespeare presents him as immediately duplicitous, inciting Brabantio against Othello while pretending to defend the Moor. Although claiming he did not want to get Cassio into trouble, he swiftly proceeds to use the name ‘Cassio’ six times in one speech, condemning him forever. Shakespeare uses his soliloquy to reveal the character’s true intent, to ‘pour this pestilence into [Othello’s] ear’ and slowly drive him to ‘madness’, a punishment rather unbefitting the loss of a promotion. It shows what a twisted character Iago is, with no true purpose and no true friends, merely an appetite for destruction. His speech in blank verse signifies that he is in control not only of his language, but also the people closest to him, and implements a certain amount of prolepsis for his success later on in the play.

Thus Shakespeare presents his characters in a number of ways in the rising action of his play; while relying heavily on the words of others and the importance of reputation (“the immortal part of [oneself]’), he balances it with a need to look beyond the surface of a person. Throughout, his use of dramatic irony proves very clearly that appearance is not everything.

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