Shakespeare Fans discussion
Group Readings
>
The First Read of 2015: Othello!
Ooo, I think I may actually have time to join in! I read this last month but it should be fresh enough ...... I hope.Thanks for the information, Lea!
Mod
And I'm so glad to see Lea and Cleo already organized!
Mod
January 15-22, Act 1
January 23-30, Act 2
January 31-Feb.6, Act 3
Feb. 7-14, Act 4
Feb. 14-22, Act 5
Mod
...the second link is working great! I love love love the artwork within the article!
Yeah it's often been my favourite play. I'll follow discussions and possibly make time to read along...? Shouldn't miss the opportunity.
Those articles are terrific, and respond to some of the questions I ever had about the authenticity of this play. And, also, made me wonder more about Shakespeare's Dark Lady...the one whose hairs be wires.
Welcome Cleo, Tracy, and Bryn - I'm so glad everyone's going to be able to join us!Tracy - excellent point about the Dark Lady. I can't believe I didn't put that together myself! I always pictured the Dark Lady as a sort of Mediterranean Spaniard, but why on earth was I picturing it that way?!?!
Candy - will post that first article in a second, and thanks for sharing one yourself!
Candy - Here's Part I of the article. I have it as a pdf file so it may not have copied perfectly. Anyone who would like the pdf with all the images too, just email me at: lea@learachel.comWhat's in a Name?
In her 1995 book Things ofDarkness the historian Porter, a seamester' was baptised on June 3rd, 1597. In John Blanke/the black trumpeter'from Henry Vlll's Kim Hall says the African in Early Modern Plymouth, 'Bastien, a Blackmoore of Mr Willm
Westminster Tournament
England is 'too accidental and solitary to be Hawkins' was buried on December 10th, 1583 and
Roll of 1511, and the given a historical statistic'. But in Tudor England 'Anthony, John, a Neyger' was buried on March 18th, Exchequer roll of 1507,
Africans are described in parish records. For example, 1587. In the same parish there are baptism records on which shows he was paid 20 shillings for November.
the burial of'Christopher Cappervert a blackemoore' May 2nd, 1593 for 'Helene, daughter of Cristian the at St Botolph without Aldgate in London is listed on negro svant to Richard Sheere, the supposed father October 22nd, 1586; while'Mary Fillis, a black more, binge Cuthbert Holman, illeg.' being about xx years old and dwelling with Millicent As these examples show, Africans are referred to by a variety of words such as Blacks, Moors, Blackamoores,
Negroes (Negars, Negras, Negyers, 'Neygers, Nigers,
Nigros) and Ethiopians (Aethiopians). Why was
such a range of words used and what were their
different meanings? William Shakespeare offers a
pointer in Juliet's famous lines 'What's in a name?
That which we call a rose/ By any other name would
smell as sweet' (Romeo and Juliet kcX II, Scene II).
This speech written in the 1590s reflects an idea
rooted in the Classical'laws of identity' espoused by
Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, who believed that all
living things had their own intrinsic identity, no
matter what they were called. Humanist scholars of
the 16th century, such as John Colet, William
Grocyn and Thomas More, had a similar idea which
they called 'substantiality'.
However, from the 1950s to the present, a number of historians have contended that the word Moor in Tudor documents was not capable of describing dark-skinned Africans. Such a view is propounded in the UNESCO Statement on Race (1972), an anthropological commentary issued by the United Nations educational wing, which says that Moors and Ethiopians are Hamites, essentially 'black Caucasians', ethnically separate from other Africans. Though written 40 years ago, this statement still provides a frame of reference for ideas on ethnicity followed by many historians and antliropologists.
Certainly, if used with the word 'tawny,' Moor could describe the complexion of a range of people of a 'brown or yellowish-brown colour', as the Oxford English Dictionary of 1998 states. 'Tawny' is one of the descriptions that the English traveller and explorer George Best uses in his 1578 book True Discourse to describe Native-Americans and otherpeople who come from the 'Equinoctiall in America ...the East Indies; and ... the Hands [of] Moluccae'. Since tawny was applied to people irrespective of their culture or religion it was also capable of describing lighter-skinned Africans, as the Tudor writer Richard Eden does in The History of Travel in the West ( 1577). In Titus Andronicus Shakespeare uses the word 'tawny' to refer to the skin complexion of the child of the 'Moor' Aaron and his white 'Goth' partner Tamora; while in The Merchant of Venice 'tawny' is used in the same way to refer to the skin colour of the Moroccan ambassador.
Yet 'tawny' seldom appears in 16th-century parish records and by far the most popular term used for Africans in Tudor England is Blackamoore. The conjunction of the words Black and Moor was used to describe Africans in documents, books, letters and parish records throughout the period. I believe that, without the addition of the words tawny or white, the word Moor was descriptive of Black 7\iricans and that it appears in Tudor parish records not only to define the ethnicity of those being described, but in many cases indicates that these people were dark skinned.
George Best uses the terms 'Black a Moor' and 'Blackamoore' to describe Africans whom he says live among white English people and produce children with them. Best emphasises the 'blacknesse' of the Blackamoores that he has seen and says they are as 'black as cole'. This way of emphasising blackness is also used by the English writer Philemon Holland, translating from Pliny's work, who states that Africans are 'the blackest people in the world,' 'so blacke' that 'no one would believe' it, unless they had seen them, or as the author Andrew Boorde (c.1490-1549) says 'blake More[s] ' have 'nothing white but their teth and the white of the eye'.
The same terms are also used by 16th-century clerks and priests to describe Africans buried and baptised in their parishes. Recording a baptism on July 1st, 1596 at St Andrew's Plymouth, the entrant
An open letter of Juiy 1596 (ieft) written in the name of Elizabeth I (above, in a miniature by Nicholas Hilliard) called for the deportation of 'divers blackmoores brought into this realme'.
Tudor Africans
Susan is described as a 'daughter of a Blackmoore', while 'Cornelius Blacke a More' was buried on March 2nd, 1593/4 at St Margaret's Lee, Deptford, London. This record does more than tell us what Cornelius' name was. It reveals that for the writer the words Black and More were the most appropriate descriptions of his ethnicity.
'Blackmoore' and 'Blackamoore' appear in three documents drafted apparently on the instruction of Elizabeth I and signed by her but probably written by an English merchant called Thomas Sherley (15641634). These are two letters of July 11th and July 18th, 1596 and an unsigned proclamation drafted in 1601. The aim of these papers was to have groups of Africans deported and exchanged for white Englishmen who had been captured in Spain. The first letter states:
Her Majestie understanding that there are of late divers Blackmoores brought into the Realme, of which kinde of persons there are all ready here to manie.
In the second letter the writer:
desireth to have [a] lycense to take up so many Blackamoores here in this Realme [England] and to transport them into Spaine and Portugall.
The proclamation declares that the queen is:
Blackamoore to describe Africans in Tudor England probably derives from how the word was used as a description of Africans in Africa. Alberto Cantino's world map of 1502 shows the coast of West Africa after the voyages of Columbus and Vespucci.
discontented to understand [about] the great
Numbers of Negroes and blackamoors ... who are fostered and powered here to the great annoyance of
her own liege people that which co(vet) the relief
which these people consume.
It is doubtful that these documents led to a mass deportation of Africans from England, but they do show that Africans were present and were referred to in such terms.
'A blackish swartie colour'
The use of Blackamoore to describe Africans in England probably derives from how it was used as a description of Africans in Africa. In The Eirst Boke of the Introduction ofKnowledge (1550) Andrew Boorde describes the 'black More born in Barbary'. In 1600 the writer John Pory uses 'Blackamoore' in a similar way to describe Africans present in Africa in his translations ofthe work ofthe Moorish historian Joannes Leo Afi-icanus (c.l494-c.l554).
However in Europe during the medieval and Early Modern period, 'Moor' could be used to describe Africans without the addition ofthe adjective 'Black'. This is because, as John Minsheu's Dictionarie in Spanish and English (1599) notes, the word'Moor' originates from Mauros from the Greek, meaning Black; Maurfirom the Latin, meaning the same; and another word Mudarra, which is used to describe
Tudor Africans
Africans from Spain. Similar ideas are stated by Boorde, Leo Africanus and the bookseller and translator Edward Blount (1562-C.1632).
Writers including Pory and Blount often use the colour Black to define and describe those who were Moors: 'Moro - a blacke Moore of Barberie or a Neager ... Moronez - a blackish swartie colour'. This seems to have been a common practice even up to the 18th century. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of 1755 offers: '(Maupos, Niger, More ... ) A Negro a blackamoor'.
Muslim and Moor
Being black in complexion appears then to be the prime qualification for being described as a Moor. However modern editions of The Oxford English Dictionary and some historians, such as Emily Bartels, have suggested that people who were called Moors in Tudor England were automatically therefore also Muslims. Evidence in some historic documents appears to support this notion. For example the 1601 proclamation cited above states that the Blackamoores in England have 'no understanding of Christ and his gospels', which could mean that they follow any religion other than Christianity. And Andrew Boorde claims that Moors are 'infydels and unchritened' and that they 'do kepemuche of Maconites lawe as the Turkes do'. Minsheu's dictionary, meanwhile, defines Africans as: 'Moro - a blacke Moore... that followeth the Turkish religion [Islam].'
None of these state that Moors are Muslims, merely that they maybe. Parish records of the 16th- and early-17th centuries indicate that the words Blackamoore and Moor could be used to describe Africans no matter what their religion. Leo Africanus states that there are Moors of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and the Animist persuasions. Certainly Africans who are Christians are also described as 'Moors' and 'Blackamoores'. For example a 22-year old woman called Julyane, who was christened on March 29th, 1601 at St Mary Bothaw, London, is referred to as a 'blackamore servant'. And James Curres was identified as 'beinge a Moore Christian' when he married 'Margaret Person a maid' on December 24th, 1617, in the church at the parish of Holy Trinity, London. In this respect the words Blackamoore and Moor are both similar to another word 'Negro,' which is also used to describe Africans in Tudor sources.
Negro, Negyer, Niger
In Richard and Ernest Kirk's Return of Aliens Dwelling in the City and Suburbs of London (1907) 16thcentury subsidy rolls are quoted revealing Africans living in England and mentioning 'Clara', who is described as 'a Negra at Widdows Stokes'. Another woman called 'Maria' is referred to as 'a Negra at Olyver Skynners,' while another person 'Lewse' is called 'a Negro at Mitons'. A fourth called 'Marea or Mary' is noted as 'a Negra at Mr Woodes'. All of these African women were taxed as aliens and were present in the parish of Tower Ward, London, on October 1st, 1598. A year later, Clara and Marea were still there, recorded in a similar way and still taxed as aliens.
Inigo Jones' costume
design for a nymph in
Ben Jonson's Masque of
Blackness, 1605, in which
the people of the Niger
travel to find a more
moderate sun. It was
written for Queen Anne
and this part played by her
with a painted face.
Maria and Lewse do not appear in these latter records
possibly because they had ceased to be registered as
aliens, had left the parish or died.
The word 'Negro' used in this way seems to have a difterent meaning from that offered in some more recent modern publications, such as The Oxford Dictionary ofEnglish. The latter says that the words Negro and Niger only define those Africans who come from West Africa.
Part II (and final part) of article:However it seems from the records that the word Negro was interchangeable with other words such as Moor, Blackamoore and Ethiopian. The explorer John Lok, whose 1554 journey to Guinea is cited in the work of Richard Hakluyt (1598), certainly uses the word 'Negro' to describe the West Africans he brought to England in 1555, but he uses the word 'Blackamoore' as well. This pattern is followed in the writings of Best, Boorde, the English translations of Caelius Augustinus Curio (1538-67) and in Minsheu's books. So both the words Blackamore and Negro describe black Africans, a point acknowledged by the early-20th-century scholar J. A. Rogers writing in 1931 and more recently by William Wright in his book Black History and Black Identity (2002). Nevertheless, though the words Moor, Blackamoore and Ethiopian were interchangeable with Negro during the 16th century, by the end of the Tudor era it appears that Negro was used more frequently. The reasons for this are complicated.
The term Negro derives from the Latin word Niger, meaning Black. The latter was used before the term Negro to describe Africans in England and this may be one reason why the word Negro only later became popular. Both Richard Eden in 1555 and the dramatist Ben Jonson in 1605 use the word Niger and Nigrite to describe Africans, who in Johnson's words are now 'called ... Negroes and are the blackest in the world'. Similar phrases are found in translations of Curio's A Notable Historie of the Saracens. So in Tudor times Negro was probably a new word that only gained popularity in England as the older word.
Niger, became unfashionable. Perhaps this was due to increased Spanish and Portuguese influence on English culture, as the popularity of John Minsheu's Spanish Dictionarie suggests.
Barbary and Barbarian
Another word that is often associated with Negro and Moor in Tudor documents is Barbary. However when it and its derivatives, such as Barbarian, are used it is not always clear whether it refers to where a person is
Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby d'Eresby (15551601 ) in an anonymous oil painting. His African servant Is following from the right carrying a skull, suggesting this was a posthumous portrait.
St Clement Danes parish register of 1601 records the burial in January of Fortunatus a 'blackmore' servant to Sir Robert Cecil.
Tudor Africans
The Sondes coat of arms from the 16th-century family tomb in the church ofSt!V\ichaelandAII Angels,Throwiey, Kent, bears'three blackmores heads' and is topped by another.
From the Archive
^ Black People in Tudor Engiand
Marika Sherwood reveals the state of our knowledge - and ignorance
- about a period of our multiracial past.
www.historytoday.com/archive
from, or something else about their ethnicity. For example, in the baptismal record for 'Lambert Waterson' dated between March 20th and July 30th,
1568 at St Ciles in the Fields, London he is described as a 'barbaryen'. But it also says he 'goeth to his parish church,' so in a similar way to James Curres, Lambert is probably an active Christian. This may indicate that the word 'barbaryen' is not a reference to his religion but to something else about his ethnicity, such as his African origins. This theory is supported by Boorde's use ofthe word 'Barbary' to describe where 'a blake More' is 'borne'. He says in 'Barbary ... the inhabytors ther be called Mores'.
These quotes imply that the word Barbary could describe where an African is from and 'barbaryen' could describe an African. The historian Ivan Van Sertima quotes from the Classical works of Pliny and Herodotus, which say the same thing. However the issue is more complex as Curio states that the word Barbary only describes specific areas of North Africa including modern-day Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Nevertheless other contemporary evidence from writers such as Best and Pory's translation of Leo Africanus, suggest that by the mid- 16th century the word Barbary could refer to other parts of Africa as well.
As well as Barbary the word 'Ethiopian' is sometimes used in conjunction with 'Moor' to describe the ethnicity of Africans in Tudor books, such as Eden's Decades ofthe New World. In these documents Ethiopian is used quite differently from its more modern definition in The Oxford English Dictionary and Oxford Dictionary of English, which state that there are different types of Africans such as 'Hamites ... Forest Negroes, [and] Bantu speaking Negroes' and the term is now only applied to Hamites. In medieval and Tudor England Ethiopian could be used to describe all Africans and this probably comes from its classical Greek origins, where it referred to all of'those kindes of people,' not just natives or citizens of Ethiopia.
Throughout the Tudor period the word Ethiopian retained its popular meaning where it was used to describe Africans. For example in 1501 the future Lord Chancellor Thomas More (1478-1535) uses the word in a letter to his friend John Holt to describe the Africans who came to England with Katherine of Aragon. He says they looked as if they were'barefoot pygmies ... from Ethiopia'. George Best uses the word Ethiopian to describe Africans in England in 1578; as does Barnabe Rich, translating Herodotus in 1584. Moreover, in Minsheu's Dictionarie: ' [a] Negrillo - [is] a little black More somewhat blacke, [a] Negro ... also a blacke Moore of Ethiopia ... Negror'.
It appears, then, that descriptions of Africans as Blackamoores, Moors, Negroes and Ethiopians in documents, parish records, books and letters from the 16th to the early 17th centuries could be used interchangeably. Of course this does not resolve all the issues related to these meanings. Did Africans choose the various terms that were used in parish records to describe them or were they imposed on them? Did the terms Blackamoore, Moor and Negro really 'smell as sweet,' investing those described tlius with status and respect or did they have pejorative connotations that reflected perceptions of Africans as dejected strangers, immigrants and perpetual slaves? The evidence uncovered so far suggests that at least some Africans had a sense of their own ethnic identity and not all were slaves.
As the English merchant and trader Thomas Sherley says in 1600: 'All the Blackamoores in England are regarded but only for the strangeness of their nation and not for service to the Queen.' But the evidence uncovered so far suggests that his view is not reflective of how most people felt in Tudor England.
Onyeka has been researching the history of Africans in England for over 25 years. His works include The Phoenix (Narrative Eye, 2008) and the plays, The Whirlwind and the Storm and Young Otheiio.
Further Reading
Anthony Gerard Barthélémy, ß/ac/t Face, Maiigned Race: The Representation of Blacks in Engiish Drama From Shakespeare to Southerne (Louisiana State University Press, 1987).
Cheikh Anta Diop, in Ivan Van Sertima (ed.), Goiden Age of the Moor (Transaction Publishers, 1992).
imtiaz Habib, Biack Lives in the Engiish Archives, 1500-1677: imprints oftiie invisibie (Ashgate, 2008).
Kim Hall, ThingsofDarkness:EconomiesofRaceandGender in Eariy Modern Engiand (Cornell University Press, 1996).
Richard B. Moore, The Name Negro its Origin and Evii Use (Black Classic Press, 1960).
Tracy wrote: "Those articles are terrific, and respond to some of the questions I ever had about the authenticity of this play. And, also, made me wonder more about Shakespeare's Dark Lady...the one whose hairs..."Yes, and your post is also making me reconsider the beautiful lines describing Romeo's first look at Juliet: "It seems she hangs upon the cheek of the night/ Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear"...
I continue to be impressed Tracy. You really tie this stuff together well.
Mod
I love the topic.
I love these observations Tracy.
All suggesting a great group read in our future!
Lea wrote: "I continue to be impressed Tracy. You really tie this stuff together well."Thanks, but I just read that last week with my ESOL class...that whole speech is a beauty.
One thing that has changed over the years is the actors who play Othello on stage and on screen. In the mid-20th century, for example, a movie version of Othello starred Lawrence Olivier in blackface, which would be unthinkable today. Now of course, actors such as James Earl Jones, Samuel L Jackson, and Laurence Fishburne have all played Othello on stage. It has become a signature Shakespearean role for black actors.
This will be my first read with the group. It's been many years since I read Shakespeare, and this is my year to revisit the Bard. I'm looking forward to it!
Welcome Tina! I'm glad you're joining us.Joseph: the portrayal of Othello has also changed over the years, from what I understand. From him being portrayed as a frightening character, to one more sympathetic. How the times change...
Lea wrote: "Hi Everyone,Looks like I am going to be the discussion leader for Othello starting later this week. I am very excited to do this, as I've recently begun a tangential research project into the pr..."
Ok. James here (in Canada now). I am going to join in on this read and discussion of Othello. Last year I did Taming of the Shrew and The Tempest with the group. Looking forward
to it.
Welcome James!I think the reading officially begins today, so...
I'll come up with a comment on it in a bit.
The first Act seems pretty straightforward so far. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am particularly interested right now in the portrayal of Othello as a Black man. So, while reading, I noted all the myriad (mostly derogatory) ways he is described in Act I. For your summarized pleasure (line numbers in ()):
thick-lips (1.1-68)
old black ram (1.1-90)
the devil (1.1-93)
Barbary horse (1.1-114)
a beast (1.1-119)
a lascivious Moor (1.1-129)
sooty (1.2-71)
more fair than black (1.3-292)
brave Moor (1.3-293)
These Moors are changeable in their wills (1.3-349)
erring barbarian (1.3-358)
Mod
I hope there is also some good in his portrayal...I have to imagine there is some worth because it really is produced a lot isn't it?
The first act has Iago and Brabantio doing a lot of the talking. I'm sure that's why there's so much negativity. If more of Othello's military companions had been doing the talking in the first act, I'm sure the portrayal would have been much better! Indeed, the positive things that were said about Othello came from the Duke and Senators. context, it's all context.
Lea wrote: "The first act has Iago and Brabantio doing a lot of the talking. I'm sure that's why there's so much negativity. If more of Othello's military companions had been doing the talking in the first a..."I think this is very true. It is certainly important to examine exactly who is speaking about Othello when we see derogatory comments. And then ask ourselves why. Is it really because the person is being derogatory about his race or is it for some other purpose?
Oh yes; my impression is, when Othello walks onto stage, the badmouths are swept away in his sheer presence. I believe Sh was going for this effect? His presence belies what has been said of him.
Some Shakespeare productions like to take the text and set the play in other situations. I could almost see this play being set in the US Civil War or the American South in the 1950s. Not to spoil a plot point, but the fact that Othello is in a relationship with a white woman would definitely resonate in those settings. Another example of this is the movie O starring Mekhi Phifer and Julia Stiles, where the setting is translated to an American high school.
I would like to see that production of Othello during the US Civil War!I have never seen the movie O, but I'll look into it...
Well, in the first long speech Iago gives, you find the origin for his sense of injury: Othello chose Cassio over him for lieutenant. His speech shows that he finds Othello arrogant, and Cassio, "a mathematician" I think is meant as an insult of him being sort of the desk jockey variety of soldier: bookish, like a spinster. He admits his ill feelings for "the Moor" right away in his first speech. It's not as direct to the audience as Richard III's opening confession, but it's not far off. He is also seemingly obsessed with the symbols of obsequy . He seems resentful of a life of knee-bending, cap in hand, other images of being a follower and being mastered..
Honestly, I think there is no speech(and the intent behind it), in Shakespeare, as offensive as Iago's "Even now, ver now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe." What sort of crass individual says this to a father who loves his daughter? I think Shakespeare wants us to feel the offense, the vitriol, in that speech.Maybe, Lady MacBeth's image of dashing her own child's brains out is as bad, but at least it's against herself.
Tracy wrote: " What sort of crass individual says this to a father who loves his daughter? I think Shakespeare wants us to feel the offense, the vitriol, in that speech. ..."Oh, absolutely. Iago doesn't just want to expose Othello's marriage and set Desdemona's father against Othello, he endeavours to be cruel and callous to the old man as well. However this approach works well in getting Brabantio's dander up.
I'm not reading the play now since I read it last month, but if I remember correctly, it was interesting that Brabantio listened to Iago, who was spewing vile accusations, yet he refused to listen to Roderigo's more moderate statements. Does anyone have a guess as to why he acted this way? Was it because he'd already rejected Roderigo as a suitor for his daughter and therefore discounted his words, or was there some deeper purpose?
It's a good first word. Two people walk onto stage in argument: "Tush, never tell me --"Then the other's first word is, "'Sblood, but you'll not hear me --"
Both oaths: 'tush' is noted as mild, yet removed from certain play-texts as profanity; while 'sblood' was expurgated in F. [my Arden 3rd notes]
But then Othello is likened to Jesus.At least, my note on 1.2 when the officers enter says:
Cf. John 18.1-11. Like Jesus, Othello is challenged by enemies in the dark and is led off to a higher authority. Compare 59 ('Keep up your bright swords') and John 18.11, 'Jesus said unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath.'
Love it.
Tracy wrote: "Honestly, I think there is no speech(and the intent behind it), in Shakespeare, as offensive as Iago's "Even now, ver now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe." What sort of crass individu..."Tracy, I hate you. Ever since you wrote this, for some reason, it's stayed on my mind. You're right - I CAN'T imagine telling a father something so lurid about his daughter. Who DOES that? I've been thinking about this for the last day or so I think because I've been trying to come up with a scenario where it wouldn't be quite so offensive, but nope, it really always is. It wasn't until I actually pictured telling someone this to their face (like my neighbor, say), that I realized quite how offensive it was.
Bryn wrote: "But then Othello is likened to Jesus.At least, my note on 1.2 when the officers enter says:
Cf. John 18.1-11. Like Jesus, Othello is challenged by enemies in the dark and is led off to a higher ..."
Good catch on the Jesus reference, I'd missed that...
Lea wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Honestly, I think there is no speech(and the intent behind it), in Shakespeare, as offensive as Iago's "Even now, ver now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe." What sort of ..."
Clearly, Iago targets the offending statement to Brabantio's bias against Moors, but even without the color reference, the idea of his innocent daughter running off and having sex would upset any father. Brabantio fears that his child has been taken against her will because he cannot fathom that she would elope or that she would choose to marry outside her circle. The reference to color/ethnicity is an indication of the bigotry against all outsiders, not just black people.
However, when Brabantio finds out that his daughter loves Othello, he makes peace with the marriage, though he does not forgive her for not asking his permission. He speaks highly of Othello's military successes and character, and reminisces about the pleasant times they have spent together over many years. It seems to me that Othello is generally held in high regard, and the slurs are evidence of a pervasive bigotry in society.
Clearly, Iago targets the offending statement to Brabantio's bias against Moors, but even without the color reference, the idea of his innocent daughter running off and having sex would upset any father. Brabantio fears that his child has been taken against her will because he cannot fathom that she would elope or that she would choose to marry outside her circle. The reference to color/ethnicity is an indication of the bigotry against all outsiders, not just black people.
However, when Brabantio finds out that his daughter loves Othello, he makes peace with the marriage, though he does not forgive her for not asking his permission. He speaks highly of Othello's military successes and character, and reminisces about the pleasant times they have spent together over many years. It seems to me that Othello is generally held in high regard, and the slurs are evidence of a pervasive bigotry in society.
Mod
And wow again, because I think the opening scene is so extraordinary. The whole first Act is so well written and fast paced it's just plain exciting. I prefer Shakespeare's comedies overall...but I have to really say favourites aside...the writing in this play really might be the most perfectly conceived and executed.
The way the scenes cut between each other is so much like a contemporary paced script. Often the comedies have criticism for being obtuse, or slow or scattered (not by me but by other group reads I've been in). I am so transfixed by Iago's bitterness and his anger at his position in life.
I think Iago could be a very good example of the mind of a terrorist. In pundits on the news and in books one of the things I think people get wrong about terrorism is that it has a political or religious motive. I do not at all believe terrorists are motivated to kill by religion. I believe they are motivated by alienation and disenfranchisement. I believe in the same way iago is. I believe when we acknowledge the base motives in terrorism...that an individual feels left out, scorned, not valued by his community, unemployed (all ways to feel left out) a bitterness surfaces. The bitterness was likely already there...from childhood as a resentment building up. Raising children who can process resentment and anger....is probably one of the most under-developed skills families teach many children. Often families punish a child who has acted out with bitterness...rather than teaching the child that is a base response to conflict and disappointment.
Iago....he is so well-spoken it's intimidating. He is so intelligent even in the first scene! And how we are introduced immediately to his bitterness...without evidence of his relationship or example of his history, or his history with Othello...is so immediate and exciting. And frightening. I really believe he is one of the great fictional portrayals of terrorist mentality (and I put "The Secret Agent" by Conrad in that camp too)
I just have to post some of the lines Iago said...that especially captured me in first scene here...
And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds
Christian and heathen, must be be-lee'd and calm'd
By debitor and creditor: this counter-caster,
He, in good time, must his lieutenant be,
And I--God bless the mark!--his Moorship's ancient.
Why, there's no remedy; 'tis the curse of service,
Preferment goes by letter and affection,
And not by old gradation, where each second
Stood heir to the first. Now, sir, be judge yourself,
Whether I in any just term am affined
To love the Moor.
I follow him to serve my turn upon him:
We cannot all be masters, nor all masters
Cannot be truly follow'd.
You shall mark
Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave,
That, doting on his own obsequious bondage,
Wears out his time, much like his master's ass,
For nought but provender, and when he's old, cashier'd:
Whip me such honest knaves. Others there are
Who, trimm'd in forms and visages of duty,
Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,
And, throwing but shows of service on their lords,
Do well thrive by them and when they have lined
their coats
Do themselves homage: these fellows have some soul;
And such a one do I profess myself. For, sir,
It is as sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:
In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so, for my peculiar end:
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.
Mod
Preferment goes by letter and affection,
And not by old gradation, where each second
Stood heir to the first. Now, sir, be judge yourself,
Whether I in any just term am affined
To love the Moor."
Iago is so bitter about the time he has spent in service. He says how he fit in, he did what he was "supposed to do" as a soldier and servant to his country, to his leader. This idea that a person follows the rules of society...and when they don't get what they feel is their just deserved rewards...how they will turn is a mystery of our society...of civilization.
I, too, feel that Iago is bitter and resentful. He also relishes how he can manipulate people. His manipulation of Roderigo at the very beginning makes his growing ability to manipulate all the other key characters believable.
Candy wrote: "...I really believe he is one of the great fictional portrayals of terrorist mentality..."Candy, I'm going to read with that thought in mind. People have been so perplexed by Iago, his 'unmotivated evil'. Under-motivated in the text.
I've always paid more attention to Othello, so I'll keep a close eye on Iago this time, his "alienation and disenfranchisement" as Candy says, because I think that's an interesting way forward. It may also fit in a play with Othello, the foreigner in Venice for whom alienation is a thing. So we have Iago, internal to Venice but disenfranchised, next to Othello, whom he might hate simply at this point as being the toast of the senators and his foreignness glamorous I think, not just to Desdemona. Hey I must look more at them two together this time...
On Iago's intelligence and talking ability: yes, his speeches are a joy to read. I liked 'Mere prattle without practice,' which is off the cuff from him (my note says, unrecorded before).
Iago is in great contrast to Roderigo who addresses Brabantio politely even in the circumstances. Iago is being a 'profane wretch' -- in the cloak of anonymity, since he hides his identity from the house -- therefore, perhaps his hideously insulting or confronting 'tupping your white eye' is meant to stand out as Iago letting loose. Only Iago... or a total rascal of the streets, which he isn't; he at least has the station of an Ancient. The way he differs his talk from addressee to addressee -- he has a great range of speech -- maybe here he's enjoying being vulgar beneath his station, and few others might have said this to the father's face. 'You are a senator' is gratuitous and not even on the topic, just joy of insult, as if he's happy for the opportunity.
Candy wrote: "I think Iago could be a very good example of the mind of a terrorist. In pundits on the news and in books one of the things I think people get wrong about terrorism is that it has a political or religious motive. I do not at all believe terrorists are motivated to kill by religion. I believe they are motivated by alienation and disenfranchisement. ..."Hmm ..... I'll have to think about this. From your description, it sounds like Iago could be redeemable and I'm not sure about that. Is he redeemable or is he pure evil, that is the question!
Candy - great comments! Two things:1. I like your take on Iago having the mind of a terrorist. I agree with you on what motivates terrorism, so, you may be right here... I too will have to read further with that in mind.
2. Your point about the tight, well paced structure of this play is a good one. This morning I read a little bit of commentary about the play from Harvard scholar Marjorie Garber. We haven't gotten through all the acts yet, but she says that the structure of this first act - starting in the dark (and amidst confusion and passion), and ending in light (and amidst understanding and reason; i.e. the senators knowing what the Turks are doing) - is apparently repeated three times in this play. In addition, what will be repeated is Iago's mean voice coming out of the dark - where you can't initially see him. So I look forward to more of the symmetries and tight structure of this play as we move forward reading it!
Lea wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Honestly, I think there is no speech(and the intent behind it), in Shakespeare, as offensive as Iago's "Even now, ver now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe." What sort of ..."Unfortunately, there are people I can picture saying that to someone's face. Usually they're wearing white hoods and burning a cross on the front lawn. This is especially relevant today, Martin Luther King day in the US.
Mod
I can not imagine anyone saying such a thing...I know it's out there....but I don't come across it. I have only run into a couple of people here in the U.S. who have said the n word. They have been either drunk...or they forgot I was in the room. And they have looked nervously at me. When a topic comes up and someone tries to say a stereotype about anything....but especially about skin colour...I have been very clear to others that I don't believe in labeling people by skin colour, or religion, or gender. I say it very kindly....but I always qualify how I feel about that behavior...within a social setting or work setting. I am glad to say I haven't had to do that very often since moving to the States...
Cleo, I don't want or mean to let Iago off easily. By saying that I feel he was raised with bitterness...I don't mean to make an excuse for him or others.
What my rambling intended was to say I was trying to understand how he could be like that....by "reverse engineering" but not physically but by psychology or patterns of behaviour....that I feel create that kind of malignant bitterness.
I was though...associating Iago with the experimental theory of malignant narcissism. Like Bin laden. Like the people in the world who seem to want to destroy community and don't seem to experience the bonds that most us experience with each other....even through our jobs or neighbors.
" From Wiki....Social psychologist Erich Fromm first coined the term "malignant narcissism" in 1964, describing it as a "severe mental sickness" representing "the quintessence of evil". He characterized the condition as "the most severe pathology and the root of the most vicious destructiveness and inhumanity"
Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, aggression, and sadism.[1] Often grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines organisations he/she is involved in, as well dehumanising the people he/she associates with.
Malignant narcissism is a hypothetical, experimental diagnostic category. Narcissistic personality disorder is found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), while malignant narcissism is not. As a hypothetical syndrome, malignant narcissism could include aspects of narcissistic personality disorder as well as paranoia. The importance of malignant narcissism and of projection as a defense mechanism has been confirmed in paranoia, as well as "the patient's vulnerability to malignant narcissistic regression"
Erich Fromm postulated eight basic needs:
Relatedness
Relationships with others, care, respect, knowledge.
Transcendence
Being thrown into the world without their consent, humans have to transcend their nature by destroying or creating people or things. Humans can destroy through malignant aggression, or killing for reasons other than survival, but they can also create and care about their creations.
Rootedness
Rootedness is the need to establish roots and to feel at home again in the world.
Productively, rootedness enables us to grow beyond the security of our mother and establish ties with the outside world.[5] With the nonproductive strategy, we become fixated and afraid to move beyond the security and safety of our mother or a mother substitute.
Sense of Identity
The drive for a sense of identity is expressed nonproductively as conformity to a group and productively as individuality.
Frame of orientation
Understanding the world and our place in it.
Excitation and Stimulation
Actively striving for a goal rather than simply responding.
Unity
A sense of oneness between one person and the "natural and human world outside."
Effectiveness
The need to feel accomplished
Lea wrote: "Candy - great comments! Two things:1. I like your take on Iago having the mind of a terrorist. I agree with you on what motivates terrorism, so, you may be right here... I too will have to rea..."
Oh, I don't think I noticed the repetition of light /dark motifs that run throughout this play...thanks for pointing that out!!
And now it makes my favorite lines from the end of the play fairly howl at me...No, I'm not going to quote them here (spoiler), but they are so ingrained in my mind, I probably repeat them every two months or so, steal them in my writing etc.))))
Mod
Yes...Othello is compelloing...but a bad guy is also compelling!
Anyone else out there love crime mystery stories? Like Sherlock, or Law and Order, or all those BBC/PBS ,mysteries? I love them...and this feels as if we ar watching them inside as it happens rather than as a crime who daunt...we know...as it unfolds...
Candy ~~ absolutely! With a character as inhuman as Iago, we all want to know why. What made him that way? I think psychologizing can be helpful if there is something to go on in the text. Sadly though, I just don't think Shakespeare gives up much with regard to background for Iago --- I'm assuming that's on purpose. Even with Desdemona, from her words, we can get a sense of her development but Iago .... not much, which is why I see him as pure evil from what I've been able to mine from the play so far. BTW, do we have a schedule for this read? I'm assuming it's a month long read but I'm not sure how the group works. Do we have to be careful with spoilers?
Shakespeare Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
Art Made Tongue-Tied By Authority: Elizabethan and Jacobean Dramatic Censorship (other topics)The Life of Elizabeth I (other topics)
Paradise Lost (other topics)
Looks like I am going to be the discussion leader for Othello starting later this week. I am very excited to do this, as I've recently begun a tangential research project into the presence of Blacks (or, as they would have been called in Shakespeare's time Blackamoores, or Moores) in England in Tudor times. Many people think there simply weren't any, but recent research shows there were! Here's a few side articles on the topic, should you be interested:
xxx
xxx
Lea