One of the main concerns with plays is figuring out who a
character truly is. While it can be clear of their names, looks,
and even actions, knowing what drives this character to be who
they are is an more in depth look. Some characters are more easy
to analyze, but there are those that are complex at first glance
but once one realizes the key powers that drive that character,
one can understand the play even more. Such a character is
Othello from Shakespeare’s Othello, a play about a man in
conflict with his self identity and social interpretation of who
he is. This essay will look further into the character of
Othello and bring out the crucial obstacles and objectives that
form him into the man that he is.
The first step in analyzing the character of Othello is to look
at his relationship and interaction with the other characters
and their reaction in return. From the very beginning there is a
strong sense of distance and ostracism. Othello’s Moorish
descent leaves him in an odd situation with the other
characters. He is almost a distant, figurative character at
first, a kind of shadow in the play. There are hints at his
presence and importance, but it’s hidden well. The actor must
note this and give their own interpretation of the character
with mystery and withdrawal from the busyness and interaction of
earlier parts of the play. The character must be withdrawn from
the rest but in a subtle way that the audience does not dwell on
it too much.
It is also important for the actor to understand the perception
that much of the cast has of Othello. There is a lot of name
calling and prejudice attitudes thrown towards him. The
character, though obviously not always present to hear such
statements, has a kind of fire inside that is built from these
opposing views to his heritage. But there is no overwhelming
defiance or exhibit of his pain. There is a calm fury and
restraint that Othello must possess. The actor must get a sense
of feeling different and being viewed with numerous eyes but
mixing this feeling with the mystery and creating a more relaxed
and contemplating figure.
While Othello is looked over by his peers, it is also key to
note that some of the ostracism is self-given. Whether it be
because he feels too different or understands the views of
others, Othello withdraws himself at times. The actor must get a
sense of this internal struggle, that this man is not welcomed
and feels the urge to accept this. This combination of lacking
acceptance and subduing to the treatment he endures is what
makes Othello such a powerful and tragic character.
Despite the distance that is presented between Othello and most
of the cast, it is clear that he is valued as a soldier and
leader more than man in the play. This is important for the
actor to understand as it puts emphasis on Othello’s duties and
requirements while giving him a great sense of worth and
responsibility. It can be looked as a man being broken into two
pieces. First there is the social aspect where the man is
welcomed by his peers and creates friendly bonds. Then there is
the government aspect where the man fulfills a void in his life
through political, economical, militant or other means. In
Othello’s case this is his war duties. This kind of honor and
worth allows the character to still “stand on his own” and
appear as a strong and undivided man.
The vital struggle that the character Othello faces is trying
to discern the truth to believe in. His own self pity and
suspicions of others allows Iago to even make Othello question
the truth that his wife speaks. This struggle within himself
shows the weakness of Othello. It shows how his own doubts and
questions of how is view allowed for evil and deception to
easily overrun his mind. The actor must understand that this is
not because Othello is slow or easily influenced, but rather
partly worn and broken by his isolation from his own town. Iago
is able to awaken these feelings of rejection and confusion that
feed the feelings of evil and betrayal. By this it is how
Othello grows able to murder his own wife. His mind is clouded
and overwhelmed with years of feelings building up until the
seal is broken by a wise and malevolent plot. The actor can not
just assume that the character is able to do such sinful things
without provocation. Instead the actor must be able to grasp
that through the play the mentality of Othello gets more and
more intense and with constant withdrawal and questioning of
those around him, he grows almost this sense of paranoid that
the acceptance he believes people are giving him is only a front.
The essential scene that depicts this would be Act IV, Scene I.
It is here that Othello reaches his breaking point and the
darkness that consumes him continues on throughout the play,
past him murdering his wife and questionable up to or even after
his own suicide. It is in the beginning of Act IV that the
audience gets a true realization of just how overwhelmed by his
struggle that Othello truly is. This is the scene that the rest
of the play has been building up to, slowing adding more and
more weight onto the character until he breaks. And the audience
understands this by physical showing. The evil and pain in
Othello’s mind has brought his own body into suffering and this
trance he goes into shows this.
The actor must understand the true extent of this breaking down
of character. As Othello says his speech that starts “Lie with
her! Lie on her!…” the actor needs to realize the self climax
of darkness that is going on in Othello’s mind at the time. It
is a mirror of the play’s own climax. It starts off with normal
speech, but as the character loses his grip on his own mentality
more and more, his words get confusing, slow to say and random
to an extent.
To emphasize the power of this scene the actor and the crew
must hint at all the right elements. The actor must draw out the
character’s pain, a slow realization of himself that he is not
well but helpless to stop it. There is a great sense of
confusion, a loss for what to think or say, and a tattered link
between thought and speech. It is only right that the actor
stumble on his words and change speeds to express this. The
beginning will be of normal talk with a few instances of quicker
dialect, but as it continues the speed will become much faster
as Othello tries to keep up with his thoughts. But at the end it
is clear he can not fully function or comprehend all of this at
once and he starts to babble and speak in incomplete sentences.
While the actor is doing this, the crew should play with the
lighting to bring out the sad and eerie feeling of the speech.
All lights on the stage will slowly dim, leaving only those that
shine on Othello and Iago at their full brightness, casting an
almost spotlight on the two. It will put emphasis on the primary
good, Othello, and primary evil, Iago, of the play. The light
should not only be on Othello for it is key for the audience to
see Iago’s own reactions to Othello’s break down.
In the end, Othello is really just a normal man trying to find
acceptance in the world. He doesn’t go about it the most
expected way, but it is hard to say how one truly can achieve
such acceptance. He suffers, enjoys, and endures life for
whatever it brings him. In the end, though, his own weaknesses
are sprinkled with salt until his wounds become too much and he
becomes delusional to what is truth and what is dishonesty.