Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Shakespeare - Essay Example Since Desdemona belongs to this society, Iago successfully redirects Othello’s suspicion towards her. Othello subconsciously supposes that Desdemona is one of the members of the society that would rather enslave him, if he did not have the military skill. As a result, he thinks that Desdemona could betray easily because of his racial inferiority. So, in a sense, his respectable position in the white society is also the platform of his own destruction. Indeed Iago knows this the race-induced anxiety of Othello’s mind very well. Therefore, he successfully manipulates it to bring about his destruction. The following speech of Othello is quite emblematic of his inferiority-induced distrust for Desdemona: This fellow’s of exceeding honesty And knows all quantities, with a learned spirit, Of human dealings†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Haply, for I am black And have not those soft parts o f conversation That chamberers have, or for I am declined Into the vale of years—yet that’s not much— She’s gone, I am abused, and my relief Must be to loathe her.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Look where she comes If she be false, heaven mocked itself. I’ll not believe ’t. (Shakespeare Act III, Scene iii 257-278) In this soliloquy, Othello expresses his wavering belief in his wife Desdemona’s chastity. ... He compares himself with other courtiers who are civilized and well-conversed than he is. He also touches on another possibility that Desdemona might cheat on him because he is old. But immediately, he dismisses such possibility and retains his earlier assumption that Desdemona might have betrayed him because of his race. But at the end of this soliloquy he reasserts his faith in Desdemona: â€Å"If she be false, heaven mocked itself./ I’ll not believe ’t.† (Shakespeare Act III, Scene iii 257-278) Here one thing is vividly remarkable that Othello never doubts Iago’s rumor. Throughout the whole play, it seems that he hears and believes Iago’s words without any much question. Even more, he attests that Iago is an extremely honest man who has a deep insight into human nautre, as he says, â€Å"This fellow’s of exceeding honesty/ And knows all quantities, with a learned spirit, / Of human dealings† (Shakespeare Act III, Scene iii 257-278). In this regard one may ask why a wise general fails to question Iago’s integrity and whether Iago is expert enough to deceive the experienced general. Indeed there is no doubt that Iago is an expert manipulator. Though as an experienced general Othello should have questioned Iago prior to doubting his wife, he fails to do so because he might have been blindfolded partly by the fact that Iago belongs to the white society for whom he nourishes a sense of revere from the very starting of his free life in it. But he is mainly blindfolded by his distrust for the society. Though he never condemns the society directly, he holds himself his racial status responsible as an inborn sin or guilt of him. Such racial inferiority complex makes him insecure in the face of Iago’s manipulation. In a racially-fragmented society, Othello have