So my English teacher says she has too much work to do but I really need some advice on my essay so that I can improve. I would really appreciate some advice on this. I had someone comment before that they would if I paid, but I don't have any money to do that I'm sorry. I'm not asking you to give up your free time but please for 5 minutes could you just say whether it's good or bad? I would be so so so gratefull!
How does this scene contribute to the tragedy in the play as a whole? (scene when Desdemona and Othello are re-united in Cyprus)
Shakespeare’s many tragic heroes all have ironic, unnecessary deaths, with heartfelt soliloquys and unfortunate downfalls. Yet none are more tragic, nor beautiful, than the fall of the graceful ‘Moor’. In this scene, Shakespeare establishes his tragic hero, Othello, in a position of our admiration through his beautiful language, which founds Bradley’s view that Othello is Shakespeare’s ‘most romantic figure’. This is integral to the tragedy as Othello’s romantic life must take a disastrous turn to get the full effect of Shakespeare’s tragic irony; Othello kills Desdemona on their marriage bed. Furthermore, the scene creates a foreboding atmosphere wherein Shakespeare establishes the external and internal conflicts that will be later used as plot devices to move the tragedy onward.
Othello is Shakespeare’s most passionate romantic, his character mirroring the traditional knight in shining armour from fantastical fairy tales. He’s a ‘valiant’ strong soldier, yet his language is pure and tender like an ardent lover. In this scene, his unique imagination is established as he wills the seas to ‘waken death’ so long as he can feel Desdemona’s presence, suggesting the profound strength and depth to his endless love with imagery of the immeasurably wide and powerful ocean. Othello’s imaginative and romanticised language differs from the language of the other male protagonists in the play, such as the brutal words of Iago or the dismissive voice of Cassio. Thus, Shakespeare builds Othello almost as a rare and beautiful jewel, a fanciful fairy tale lover, whose expression is often exaggerated but full of heart and not concealed with an egotistical coolness. Furthermore, in Act 1 Scene 3 at the senate, he explains how he wooed her with the ‘dangers he [had] passed’, which develops his depiction as a valiant knight who toils through a great ‘pilgrimage’ to reach his fantasy princess. As Shakespeare builds up this extended metaphor, it makes their love seem picturesque and pure, like a child’s image of love, untainted but perhaps unrealistic. Shakespeare forewarns us that their innocent relationship will not sustain itself against the corrupted and malicious powers of Iago’s intent.
The mythical theme that defines Othello’s characterization does not define the characterisation of his mind, which effectively gives an even more ominous undertone as Shakespeare forewarns us of its’ future. The ‘tempest’ which has controlled the path of Desdemona’s journey and arrival in Cyprus in this scene could also foreshadow Othello’s violent emotions that will control her fate. Othello’s forces are too, extreme but completely natural, not unearthly. It is most unusual in Shakespeare’s tragedies for the tragic hero to have no influence from magic or the supernatural. Othello certainly does not come into contact with witches like Macbeth, nor with ghosts like Hamlet. By comparing Othello’s mind to the natural storm, Shakespeare could be trying to stop us from brushing off Othello’s tyranny as the spell of Iago’s seduction, maybe he wants us to know that Othello’s fall is his own doing, not the mark of magic. This makes his self-destruction even more pitiable, because it is more realistic.
However, Shakespeare presents this idea with prolepsis, and chooses to character Othello at present in this scene as the admirable captain before he falls from grace. Although Othello and Desdemona’s relationship is fashioned by old-school fairy-tales, Othello does not appear to want to dominate his wife, contrary to the military prowess and overpowering masculinity often presented by the brave knight. He refers to her as his ‘fair Warrior’ and relates to her as a partner. Not only is this unusual in a patriarchal society, but it also suggests that they are equals, which explains why they can run so harmoniously together. This contrasts to the ending, when Desdemona lovingly and loyally submits to the enraged will of her husband, she submits herself to masculine pride. He dominates her with his physical strength and they are indefinitely separated, their innocent harmony and virtuous relationship destroyed. Shakespeare’s use of irony here is so heart breaking that Dr.Johnson found it too moving; he described it as ‘unendurable’. Moreover, along with their unity, Othello’s elegant and incomparable language is reduced to single word lines as his mind is corrupted and he turns into a ‘mad man’. His violent and abusive language is so surprising because his love was expressed so profoundly in the scene of Desdemona’s arrival, now it mirrors that of the misogynistic Iago and he no longer favours her as an equal. Othello’s change is so profound and unnerving that Lodovico questions after meeting the man he called a ‘noble Moor’ again at the end of the play, ‘Is this the same Othello whom passion could not shake?’.
By establishing the setting of Cyprus, Shakespeare creates an ironic atmosphere for his tragedy of love. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite supposedly rose from the seas near the coast of Cyprus, and so by association the Island has been celebrated as the Island of love by poets over the past few centuries. It is also ironic that Shakespeare centres the timing of the play in the middle of the Turko-Venetian war, and so he immediately entrenches the conflicting ideals of love and war into this scene, ideals which will subside into Othello’s competing private and public lifestyles. It is in this climate where his private identity as a husband, and his public identity as a soldier for the state, are blurred as they are inextricably intertwined, and he ends up a military lover; he kills the wife he loves with the same hands used to kill his enemies in war. This is an example of Shakespeare’s remarkably clever tragic irony, and the setting renders its impact even more powerful for the audience. Moreover, the setting of Cyprus also creates an atmosphere for Shakespeare to increase Iago’s influence and control. The characters are not only isolated, but they lack protection from the social and political order of the progressive state of Venice, and it is fitting that here is where the civilized ‘lord’ will go to die, and where his lawful status will be influenced by the unfamiliar power of evil.
So, it is in this scene wherein Shakespeare has founded Othello’s greatness, both as a romantic lover and a linguistic one. It is at this point where he feels ‘not another comfort like to this Succeeds in unknown fate’, suggesting that their relationship is at its pinnacle point, which Shakespeare shall use as a reference to track Othello’s downfall. It is by contrasting the ‘Malignant Turk’ at the end of the play to the ‘dear’ Othello in this scene, that we can truly see the tragic effect of Othello’s self-made destruction. Furthermore, Shakespeare defines the tragedy for the play through the setting of Cyprus and his characterization of Othello’s mind and circumstance in this scene, which will facilitate the plot to move forward and will prove central to the tragic elements of external and internal conflict.
