Shakespeare takes us beyond our limited experience of life and the moral blindness we live in to show us the lives of other people at other times. He stirs us intellectually and emotionally; he deepens our understanding of our history, our society, and our own individual lives. He gives us lessons in the art of loving and shows clearly the mistakes of our civilization that we sometimes fail to recognize. The main goal of his tragedies is to reexamine the wrong moral choices of his heroes and characters and show the consequences of their errors.
In his great tragedy Othello , Shakespeare set out to examine the “enormous pressures operating within society to ‘prove love a whore'” 27 As a play, Othello encompasses many things but more than anything else it is a study of loss of faith in, and rejection of the Female. The play presents us with Iago as the dominant force which causes Othello to see the infidelity of his young and beautiful wife, Desdemona, with his favorite lieutenant, Michael Cassio.
Othello portrays himself as a tested, honorable warrior, and indeed is such. However, this view of himself will prove troublesome when he is hard pressed to recognize his jealousy and his lust; his inability to reconcile himself with these two aspects of his personality means that his punishment is almost certain. Othello's lack of self-knowledge means that he will be unable to stop himself once Iago begins to ignite his jealousy, and set into motion the less palatable aspects of Othello's personality, which he himself cannot recognize.
Othello's speech before the assembly shows what he believes Desdemona's love to be; he thinks that Desdemona's affection is a form of hero-worship, and she loves him for the stories he tells, and the things he has done:
“She loved me for the dangers I had past;
And I loved her that she did pity them.
This only is the witchcraft I have used.” 28
More than any other Shakespearean tragic hero, he commands respect and radiates authority as the drama begins, and also embodies the values of aristocratic chivalry. Although Othello is portrayed as an extremely honorable and intelligent general, he appears incapable of detecting the falsity of the vindictive and cruel monster Iago. Through Iago's motives, and Othello's weaknesses, the tragedy of the play takes its course.
As already said, Othello is revealed to have many more faults and weaknesses than a man of his stature should posses, providing a reason for his downfall. From the great lover at the beginning of the play, whose soul's joy, content absolute and the true treasure reside in his love for Desdemona, Othello sinks into decay by failing to recognize Desdemona's true love for him.
27 Ibid.
28 William Shakespeare, Othello (Act I, iii)
25 Ljiljana Bogoeva-Sedlar, O Promeni : kulturoloski eseji:1992-2002 , (Prosveta, 2003), p. 118
26 Ibid., p.119
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