Marginalisation of Principle Characters in Othello by William Shakespeare

Two of the pivotal features of Othello by William Shakespeare are the rampant fear and insecurity spawned by the ?unknown other? in society. Set during the wars between Turkey and Venice, Othello operates not only on the fear of Turkish invasion, but on the premise of fear of other characters. Throughout the play, different characters come to regard each other as an ?unknown other?, generating fear in social insecurity. In response, characters seek power over each other, causing the marginalisation of certain characters in the play. Othello?s race marginalises him from the beginning of the play, first as pure racial prejudice, and later with a perceived lack of understanding of Venetian culture. Desdemona, along with Emilia and Bianca, is marginalised purely because of the dominant patriarchal system. They are very much the property of men, often objectified and silenced within the discourse. The racial aspect of her marriage to Othello doubly disempowers Desdemona. Female sexuality is also established as an ?other? in the text and questioned as such. In each case, the characters respond by trying to re-establish power, either through discourse, or setting, in an attempt to re-naturalise their perceived ?unknown? nature. It is the sense of ?other? which allows Iago, the central antagonist, to effect his manipulation of characters and events. It is through the establishment of ?unknown others? in the population of Othello that both marginalisation and the reassertion of power is explored.

From the very beginning of the play, the character Othello is defined first and foremost by his racial background. When first introduced he is not given a name but instead referred to as ??his Moorship?? (1:1). This constant emphasis on race is what allows him to be marginalised in Venetian society. The audience of Shakespeare's writing would have held the same racial prejudices towards Othello as acted out in the play. Brabantio?s reaction to the news of Desdemona and Othello?s marriage would therefore have been expected. The means used by Iago to incite Brabantio?s rage against Othello are again racist:
?an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe? (1:1)
The preoccupation with Othello?s colour and the animalistic imagery which signify the lower dignity and humanity own by the Moorish race are Iago?s major weapons in his marginalisation of the General. Othello is referred to as neither a fellow military man nor a fellow Venetian citizen, but is instead regarded as the ?unknown other? which is to be feared. These fears becomes evident when Brabantio accuses Othello of crimes supposedly stereotypical of his race, those of ??witchcraft?? (1:3). It is not really witchcraft that Othello is accused of, but of being different, inferior and of another belief system, ??Bondslaves and pagans?? (1:2). Othello respond to these attempts of marginalisation through his discourse. He emphasises the common ground between himself and Brabantio:
Her father loved me; and oft invited me;
Still questioned me the story of my life? (1:3)
In this way he is naturalised in Brabantio?s eyes, and no longer as the ?other?, is able to reassert his power and position in Venetian society. By setting up the notion of a racial ?other?, Shakespeare induces the means for Othello?s marginalisation in society, also showing the ways in which Othello may reassert himself in that situation.

The racial side of Othello works in another way, as a difference in cultural and social understanding between Othello and other Venetians, which makes Othello insecure about his position in society, leaving him open to the manipulating hands of Iago. The idea of being neither worthy of nor understanding of a particular society because of race is raised by Iago in Act 2 Scene 1:
When the blood is made dull with the act of sport, there should be a game to inflame it and to give satiety a fresh appetite, loveliness in favor, sympathy in years, manners, and beauties; all which the Moor is defective in.
Othello doesn?t appear to fit the Venetian standards of what constitutes a lover and worthy match for Desdemona because of his race (not regarded as having ??manners?? nor ??beauties??) combined with his age. This is used to marginalise Othello, as Iago begins to convince him that he really doesn?t know the details of Venetian society and has been used consequently. In the fall scene, Act 3 Scene 3, Iago states:
In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks
They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience
Is not to leave?t undone, but kept unknown.
This accomplishes several steps towards Othello?s marginalisation. It emphasises the cultural background of Venice and insinuates that it is more detailed in reality than Othello understands it to be. It thereby makes Othello insecure about what he doesn?t know. Iago talks with supposed authority about the actions of women, another ?other? in the text, and thereby make Othello insecure for not being able to speak with the same authority. Further, as it insinuates the infidelity of Desdemona, it turns Othello?s mind to the points noted in Act 2 Scene 1 which make Othello an unsuitable partner for Desdemona. Othello slowly becomes convinced that the racial prejudices of Iago are cultural insufficiencies in reality, and therefore gives undue credibility to them. Othello becomes very aware and self-conscious of his racial background, referring to himself as ??black?? and ??the slave??(3:3). He is left in a ??savage madness?? (3:3) where, because he is convinced of the reality of his racial faults, he can not defend himself with temperance as he did in Act 1. The decline of Othello from ??Valiant??(1:3) to ??slave?? (5:2) is one for which there is no agnorisis. He never recovers from the recognition of his own inferiority, he continues to consider himself as an ?other?. The central protagonist Othello is marginalised most of all as he becomes convinced that his racial interiorities are inherently true. This causes him to distance himself from Venetian society and leaves no hope of redemption for the character.

Due to the dominant patriarchal society of both Shakespeare?s audience and in the society within Othello women are marginalised. The male ownership of women is a central premise of Othello. In the play?s opening tension arises from Desdemona?s ??divided duty?? (1:3) between Brabantio and Othello. Women are given little voice within the Duke?s scene unless spoken to by a man. They are marginalised within the male discourse, ensuring male dominance in such fields of leadership. The censorship of female action by men who own them is also made clear:
Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters? minds
By what you see them act? (1:1)
Even within the loving relationship between Othello and Desdemona, there is a strong sense of male ownership, as Othello speaks fondly of ??My Desdemona?? (1:3). On the couple?s parting Othello remarks ??We must obey the time?? which is ironic when considered with a feminist reading, as Desdemona must only obey the time because she obeys her husband who tells her to. Due to this ownership, women in the text tend to be objectified as male possessions. With the combination of this ownership and Othello?s racial make-up, Desdemona is further marginalised. Her relationship and love for Othello is never fully respected nor acknowledged in the text, because of its racial implications. Therefore, Roderigo continues to hope to win her affections despite of her married status. Hence Desdemona is only notable in her relationships with notable men, her powerful father Brabantio, her husband the General, sought after by the rich Roderigo, and supposedly seduced by the charming Cassio. The tensions between men, which form the basis of the plot, thereby rest entirely on the marginalisation of one woman, Desdemona.

As the play is very much male oriented, it also comments on female sexuality and its lack of understanding within male society. From the play?s beginning, it is female sexual morality, rather than that of men, which is called into question. Act 1 ends with the presumption that specifically female infidelity is easily manipulated, as one can be ??framed to make women false??. This thinking is further expounded with Iago?s declaration that women are:
Players in your housewifery, and housewives in your beds. (2:1)
accusing women of being more dedicated in their beds than around the house and in other work which constitutes a marriage. No mention is even made of the similar actions of men, for male fidelity is either implacable, or, more likely, their infidelity is acceptable. It is this prejudice against female fidelity that leads the principle characters to suspicion and to further marginalise their women by locking them out with jealousy. Iago is led to believe that Emilia has slept with Othello:
For that I do suspect the lusty Moor
Hath leaped into my seat? (2:1)
just as Othello is led to believe in Desdemona?s adultery with Cassio. These leaps in suspicion are entirely due to the ?unknown? nature of female sexuality. This undermines male rule by creating an arena over which they have neither understanding nor authority. Men may have ownership over women, but feel that they are powerless over female sexuality:
?O curse of marriage,
That we can call these delicate creatures ours,
And not their appetites!
However, because this takes place within a patriarchal society, the men react with the further marginalisation of women. The women are verbally demeaned, being labelled ??a whore?? (3:3), as well as physically marginalised ([Strikes her.] Act 4 Scene 1; [Smothers her.] Act 5 Scene 2), and disempowered within the discourse of the play (Desdemona is interrupted Act 3 Scene 4; is sent away, ??out of my sight?? Act 4 Scene 1). The one female character who remains alive at the play?s conclusion is Bianca. Most editors introduce her character as a courtesan, and as such, she perfectly fulfils male presumptions of amoral female sexuality. Whereas Desdemona?s purity and Emilia?s practical love challenge male ideas of female sexuality, Bianca doesn?t, and there is therefore no need for her marginalisation in the text, as she is already marginalised in her conformation to male notions of the female. The play becomes extremely male oriented, especially with the eavesdropping shown from Othello?s perspective. Female characters are merely seen as exterior images, with little revelation of their interior thoughts and emotions. In response to this marginalisation in the text, female characters start to establish female scenes in which they are empowered. This occurs in the middle of Act 4 Scene 2, and in Act 4 Scene 3. In these scenes, the purity of Desdemona is set off by her antithesis, the practical Emilia. Their reflections on female sexuality is more balanced, as it acknowledges the role of the husband in determining the fidelity of the wife, but it comes too late in the play to stop their husbands from ??peevish jealousies/Throwing restraint upon us?? (4:3). This realisation and statement of the reasons behind female marginalisation in the text serves to reposition readers away from Othello, and into even closer empathy and pity for Desdemona and the other female characters. Readers are aware of the hopeless situation which first creates the notion of male ownership of women and then administers punishment of women for the jealousies caused by the sense of incomplete ownership (complete ownership being impossible). It is again ironic that in the final scene Desdemona is labelled as ??O ill-starred wench?? (5:2) though it was not really her fortune that killed her, but the fortune?s of her father and her husband, as in many ways her death is merely an extension of their own. Women are firstly marginalised in Othello as a result of the patriarchal system of male ownership of women, yet this is exacerbated by the portrayal of female sexuality as an ?unknown other? in the text, leading the principle characters to the death of Desdemona and her ultimate marginalisation.

Othello by William Shakespeare, is a drama based upon the fear of an ?unknown other? and the marginalisation of that ?other? in society. Othello is marginalised on the grounds of racial prejudice, sentiments commonplace at the time os Shakespeare. Though Othello is able to reassert himself against this power at the play?s beginning, he begins to marginalise himself as he becomes convinced that he really is the ?other? in society. Though he had previously mastered the precepts of Venetian society, he starts distancing himself from them, leading to a downfall without redemption. Women in the text are marginalised according to the Elizabethan patriarchal system, and are therefore excluded from the powerful discourse of the text. They are further marginalised by the ?unknown? nature of female sexuality, a nature that undermines male authority, eliciting the male response of further physical and verbal marginalisation of women. Though attempts are made for women to reassert themselves with female settings and discourses within scenes, this is never accomplished, with the women meeting the same fate as the men who owned them. Shakespeare?s play relied very heavily on the predispositions of its audience to create the sense of ?other? in the text. Through the utilisation of audience mentality, a deeper discussion is made on the impact of race and gender in societal power relations.