Marginilisation of Characters in Othello
An analysis of the ways in which principal characters are marginalised in Shakespeare's Othello
The crux of Shakespeare?s Othello is the tragic fall from grace of ?valiant Othello? and the rippling destruction that occurs as a result of Othello?s psychological decay. However, among other themes, of significance to this play is the stratification and marginilisation of individuals and groups. Through the events of the plot and an examination of themes, it is evident that dominant social ideologies expressed through various characters, are the basis of the marginilisation, exploitation and disempowerment of individuals within the play. When considering the marginilisation of principal characters, it is essential to understand not only how characters are marginalised in terms of the plot, but also to what extent the marginilisation of characters acts as a conduit of expressing Shakespeare?s support or questioning of dominant Elizabethan ideologies.
The character of Othello is an intriguing one, in that he is a black Moor, who the audience sees to hold a position of power, commanding respect as a result of his military position and apparent human nobility. Othello?s human nobility is evident through his: ?language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament.?(Aristotle)
Keep up your bright swords,
For the dew will rust them.
Othello?s rich dialogue aids in Shakespeare?s presentation of Othello as a man in a position of powerful command, deserving of much respect. It is evident through Othello?s military rank and dialogue, that an audience is positioned to see him as a man of greatness and nobility. Othello is also portrayed as a character that is intrinsically good, who loves passionately and is honest and trusting. In this sense, Shakespeare challenges Elizabethan ideologies and presents Othello as humanly equal if not superior to all the white characters. Shakespeare?s presentation of Othello does not marginalise Othello on the basis of his race, rather it is social elements that result in his downfall. Social ideologies and their contribution to Othello?s downfall are evident by examining the ways in which an Elizabethan audience and the play?s characters perceive as a result of his race. Elizabethan ideologies that perceived black races as sub-human species produce a cultural context that forces Othello?s marginilisation. This cultural context results in Othello?s standing in society being marginalised, conspicuous within the text through the Duke?s discourse. The Duke?s discourse serves to propagate Elizabethan values concerning the audiences understanding of race, as black skin colouring is presented as automatically being associated with negativity: ?Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.? By seemingly complimenting Othello and saying that his qualities are of a white person, the Duke depersonalizes people of black skin, insinuating that they are not equally human and it is in this way that Othello?s character is severely marginalised.
The plays cultural context breeds the marginilisation of black characters, and consequently Othello feels extremely insecure about his social standing. It becomes apparent that Othello is depersonalized significantly and valued in Venetian society solely as a result of his military importance. While Othello?s military rank would usually associate him with the upper class, it is evident that Othello?s race leads him to viewed as a, ?damned slave.? As a result of his evilness, Iago?s perception of Othello is hardly credible when examining the social status of Othello. Rather it is the fact that as a result of social conditioning, Othello accepts this slanderous branding, to the extent that he describes himself as a ?slave? and perpetuates cultural myths. Othello?s marginilisation is evident in his description of the limiting and somewhat insignificant nature of a Moorish existence.
?little of this great world can I speak
More than pertains to feats of broil and battle
As a direct result of social conditioning and the marginilisation of blacks within society, Othello feels insecure about his position in society. Adhering to an Aristotelian analysis of Othello, it is possible that it is Othello?s insecurity that is his hamartia or ?fatal flaw.? This insecurity is further heightened by his marriage to Desdemona. Desdemona?s beauty, youth, ?whiteness? and affluence causes Othello to perceive Desdemona as a prize that he has fortunately and unexpectedly, ?won.? It is this human imperfection, being insecure, that leads Othello to be consumed by a ravenous jealousy and fear of being thought a cuckold. Othello?s insecurity overwhelms his personality and the audience is positioned to perceive Othello no longer speaking with a sense of previously characteristic nobility, rather his dialogue becomes very similar to Iago?s, consumed with brutal animal imagery. Thus, through Othello?s racial marginilisation, one implicitly gleans an understanding of Othello?s insecurity and can begin to understand how he is so easily manipulated by Iago.
Othello?s downfall is directly determined by the exploits of Iago, who seeks to marginalise Othello. Iago?s seemingly ?motiveless malignity? (Coleridge) fools Othello into believing that he has been cuckolded. A resistant viewing of this play offers the possibility that Iago is consumed by a racist hatred for black people. This universal hatred evident throughout history in the Hitler?s?, Milosevic?s and Pol Pot?s of humankind, gushes throughout the text in the form of Iago?s often brutal, vulgar images and dialogue that focus upon blackness: ?an old black ram/is tupping your white ewe.? However, to analyze Iago?s character in terms of acting solely upon racism, is to undermine the universal evil that Iago possesses, encompassing racism, misogyny and jealousy. Rather, as a result of the cultural context, Iago is able to adopt racist rhetoric in order to demean and marginalise Othello. This racist rhetoric is evident when examining the communication between Iago and Brabantio when Iago states, ?you?ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse.? Therefore it is evident how Iago?s universal evil, conveyed through racism seeks to further demean the way other characters perceive Othello.
Merely examining the ratio of male to female characters of the play, it is evident that the male characters clearly outweigh the female characters. This dominance is indicative of patriarchal society and is in many ways reflected throughout Othello. On another very broad level, women in this text are condemned to positions of wives, servants and prostitutes. By contrast the male characters are Dukes, Senators, Governors, Generals and men holding other military positions. This class imbalance clearly reflects the locus of power within the text, indicating that women are marginalised in their social standing and therefore have very limited amounts of power and influence within the text.
The marginilisation of female characters is expressed primarily through the character of Desdemona and the associated notions of the female role and rights in marriage. As soon as the Duke approves the marriage of Othello to Desdemona, one of the first comments made to Othello is: ?use Desdemona well?, thus, undermining the role of a woman in a marital relationship, debased to roles of being ?used? and serving her husbands wishes. In compliance with the cultural context, women are marginalised and perceived as the unknown other, a different type of being. It is largely because of society?s misconception of women, that women are marginalised and depersonalized as objects. This understanding and perception of women (or lack of it) as an object results in the male characters not being able to communicate and relate effectively with women. How can a person communicate with what they believe to be a mere object? Is an object not incapable of producing a credible and trustworthy answer? Consequently, an audience is able to discern the marginilisation of female characters as a direct result of women being perceived as an unknown other within the cultural context.
The ultimate price of this marginilisation of the unknown is Desdemona?s life. Othello?s decision to kill Desdemona on the basis of scant evidence reflects the marginilisation of the unknown female characters. After all, Othello concludes that he has been cuckolded without confronting Desdemona, and is consumed with mistrust for women. The marginilisation of the unknown other mirrors the social stereotypes that male society and indeed Othello associate with women, extremely limited to two antithetical understandings of women as either chaste pure angels, or simply ?whores? and ?strumpets? with a sole purpose of providing men with sexual gratification. Thus, when Othello?s perception of Desdemona as pure and therefore good changes to a perception of Desdemona as a whore and therefore evil, Othello?s actions in killing Desdemona are in compliance with one of man?s universal quests, to protect good, and destroy evil. Therefore demonstrating that the misunderstanding of women as human beings in Elizabethan culture, results in the marginilisation of females, and in the case of this text marginilisation causes the loss of Desdemona?s life.
Scene three of act four is a specific scene that relates directly to a discussion of the play?s representation of gender. The setting of the scene is the citadel, wherein, Desdemona and Emilia are left alone. The scene represents the only significant time in the play which female characters dominate the stage, free from the presence of male characters, and furthermore, is used as a vehicle for comments upon gender marginilisation. Alone, Desdemona and Emilia uncover, for both themselves and the audience, the reality of human and sexual relationships in terms of infidelity and gender-based bias, to eventually resolve to the recognition of the inequality of gender-based misrepresentations of power and respect:
Why we have galls; and though we have some grace,
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have senses like them. They see, and smell
These lines of Emilia?s speech cultural notions of femininity and the social beliefs of the stereotypical woman of ?grace.? Emilia recognizes and reveals that though ?we [women] have some grace?, females are not exempt from the demeaning aspects of human behaviour, which in effect is a criticism of the naivet? of society to believe women exempt of ?galls and revenge?. Therefore, it is evident that Shakespeare?s representation of women challenges cultural notions of femininity and na?ve social beliefs, which grossly segregate and marginalise women.
Within this scene, Shakespeare has implemented various controlling techniques that seem to undermine the challenge of gender marginilisation, but in actuality serve to strengthen them. The singing of Desdemona in this scene gives a sense of melancholy, and in conjunction with the song?s content and the fact that someone ?died singing it?, acts as a foreshadowing of the death of Desdemona, which is a display of the inevitable dominance of males over females. The isolation of the female characters demonstrates that nothing will come of Emilia and Desdemona?s recognition since they are indeed alone and isolated from the dominant voice of society. While seeming to undermine the challenge of gender marginilisation, Shakespeare has simply presented an attack to an audience and undermined it in order to present the extent to which society has assimilated this most unnatural division of the sexes and misrepresentation of power.
