What’s it about? Othello, Shakespeare’s one clear character of color (unless I am mistaken), is deceived by Iago, who he sadly trusts. Iago stirs up trouble involving Othello’s love, Desdemona. The play ends with Othello, completely consumed by jealousy, killing Desdemona and then killing himself.
What is it really about? It’s a jealous lover story that is a tragedy. That about sums it up.
No, really. What’s it ACTUALLY about? Othello is about jealousy, trust, and belonging.
My thoughts:
Othello addresses some very difficult issues. It is intensely uncomfortable to watch as Iago, who is pretending to be a friend to our main man, twists and twists and destroys Othello. He doesn’t even do this for redeemable reasons. He does it just because he can. There’s something so cold-blooded and calculated about it all that just sends chills up my spine.
As uncomfortable as it is to watch Iago, the play is also heartbreaking, including when recognizing the racial tensions that still exist. Race is at the heart of the play and the subtexts are impossible to ignore. I think it speaks volumes that Shakespeare’s only character of color very clearly faces issues regarding belonging and acceptance. I can’t help but think how hard Othello must have worked in order to achieve everything he had. And then to have someone so clearly take cruel advantage of his background–exploit it to increase his anxieties, uncertainties, and make him question the people that meant most to him. That represents a callousness on par with what we see in Macbeth. It even rivals the Judas of Julius Caesar: Brutus.
This play also brought to mind all of the racial prejudice and stereotypes that still persist. A great deal of progress has been made in this realm since Shakespeare wrote the play, but the remnants of racism are very clear today, and the fact that a play like Othello feels so relevant and topical more than 400 years later is almost as heartbreaking as the play itself.
The play speaks to a need that each of us have on a very deep level to feel as if we belong somewhere, and it places in front of us the tragedy of those who, no matter what they may do, never feel that sense of belonging. And that is Othello. The story of a man who would always be an outsider.
