|
READ THIS
Othello launches a throughly disgusting attack on Desdemona, invoking the most outrageous language
to describe her. Yet never at any point does he attempt to answer any of her legitimate questions.
Desdemona again invokes Iago to intercede on her behalf but, instead of doing so, Iago reunites with
Roderigo to bring the fiendish plot to its conclusion.
COURTING RITUALS & GIFTS
Courtship in medieval times and into the Elizabethan period was a very complex affair, using rituals which
we today would find very strange.
Unmarried men and women were never to be seen alone together. It was too dangerous. The hormonal
drive, then as now, would rouse the couple towards sex but this in turn would lead to pregnancy.
A woman who fell pregnant outside of engagement, however, was a scandal. Indeed, she became a lost
soul because no-one worth his or her salt would associate with her. She was a fallen woman.
Courtship, however, was a secret affair which involved Go-Betweens and clandestine gifts. The couple
would first meet at social events but they would always be in the company of others. They would become
attracted to each another, usually for superficial reasons.
Othello often met Desdemona at dinner functions at her father's house. She became attracted to him
because of his magical stories. He became entranced by her attention to his stories. He was infatuated
by this young Venetian woman.
Remember that he was an aging Moor and would as a rule not be able to captivate anyone such as she.
Indeed, in those days, a Moor would probably seldom even have been in the presence of a young
Venetian woman.
There would, however, be an immediate problem. Othello could not approach Desdemona openly or
directly. First, it was not considered etiquette to do so. Second, her father would almost certainly have
disapproved.
Then again, what would have happened had Othello approached her but had totally misunderstood the
meaning of her apparent attention? There would be embarrassment, possibly even anger great enough
to cause a social rift.
Elizabethan society had found a way around this delicate issue: the use of Go-Betweens. In Othello's
case, it was Michael Cassio who would approach Desdemona on Othello's behalf, carrying messages,
bearing small gifts and asking the important questions.
There was an advantage to this because it meant that no-one would be publicly embarrassed. Indeed,
the Go-Between could find out things that the would-be suitor could not. For example, was Desdemona
in any way interested in Othello? She could safely tell Cassio, "Yes!" or "No!"
If her answer was "No!", Cassio would relay this to Othello who could give up the quest without his having
been publicly rebuffed. If the answer was "Yes!", then Othello could begin to send little gifts, still using the
Go-Between as messenger.
The courtship would therefore remain a secret, important because it gave the suitor the opportunity to end
the affair without offence and without anyone ever having known what had taken place. There was only
one rule: the suitor had to return all gifts she had given him, although she was allowed to keep all his gifts!
When the courtship had reached an advanced stage, serious gifts were made which acted as official
engagement presents. One of the most common was a blue garter which she would wear on her thigh
at all times, a secret place so no-one would know except her maid-servant with whom she shared all
secrets.
This is the origin of our quaint although very silly modern tradition where the groom stands his bride on
a chair and removes the garter amidst ribald comments from the guests. In Elizabethan times, of course,
this was to announce that the couple had been engaged without anyone knowing.
Othello appears to have given Desdemona an ornate handkerchief as his engagement gift. This makes
sense in terms of the plot because it is easier for Desdemona to lose a handkerchief than to misplace a
garter which she should have been wearing on her thigh.
This, however, is the reason for Othello's obsession over the handkerchief: it represents their secret
engagement. Losing it would be tantamount to a modern woman carelessly losing her engagement ring.
What happened next? The couple would often then find some secluded bower where they could have
sex. Indeed, it was considered all right for the woman to offer her body once she was engaged.
It was precisely this moment in Othello -- Act 1, Scene 1 -- where Iago finds out about Othello's
secret tryst with Desdemona and he blows the whistle on them.
The woman always ensured that her maid-servant was present to act as a witness. Should she fall
pregnant but the man then got cold feet, the witness would immediately make public his promises and he
would be obliged to marry her.
On the other hand, it was still not too late to break off the engagement provided she was not pregnant
although there had to be a serious reason for doing so. Because the romance was still a secret and
she was not pregnant, nobody would know that she was no longer a virgin.
This ritual did at times go horribly wrong when the Go-Between himself became attached to the woman
and wooed her in his own name.
Iago suggests that Cassio had perhaps done this and had probably therefore had sex with her, and that
Cassio and Desdemona were still having an affair despite her having in the meantime married Othello.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
|
TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"What, did they never whisper?
Nor send you out o' the way?"
- What does this cross-examination of Emilia reveal? (2)
[Need help?]
The cross-examination reveals the obvious: Desdemona is innocent and Iago's insinuations are lies.
Emilia has seen absolutely nothing that could substantiate any of Othello's accusations against
Desdemona.
|
- What then should Othello's conclusions be? Why does he not come to these
conclusions? (4)
[Need help?]
Othello should conclude that Iago's insinuations are baseless, should he not? The problem, however, is
that Othello somehow wants to believe that his wife is having an affair. He will therefore believe
anything or anyone who might confirm it, but he will dismiss any firm evidence to the contrary.
|
"She says enough; yet she's a simple bawd
That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,
A closet lock and key of villanous secrets
And yet she'll kneel and pray; I have seen her do't."
- Why does Othello not believe Emilia's testimony? (2)
[Need help?]
Othello dismisses Emilia's testimony on two grounds: first, she is a woman, and one whom he regards
as being of low class ("a simple bawd"); second, he does not see her as an intelligent member of
the higher classes ("she's a simple bawd that cannot say as much").
|
- What is the implication of Othello's words, "This is a subtle whore". (4)
[Need help?]
Othello believes that his wife is a "whore". Up till now, he has been given no concrete evidence
to substantiate that belief but has accepted Iago's insinuations about Desdemona and about all women
being unfaithful to their husbands.
Because Emilia has indeed given him some substantial evidence that Desdemona is innocent, Othello
has to dismiss her testimony because he wishes to continue believing in his wife's guilt.
He concludes, therefore, that Desdemona is "a subtle whore", i.e. she is finding ways of seeing
Cassio which the ignorant Emilia is just incapable of noticing. He gives the example of how she prays in
his own very presence while being a whore behind his back.
|
"Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell."
- Would you like to comment on this condemnation of Desdemona? (2)
[Need help?]
Othello is wrong, isn't he? Yet, with absolutely no evidence to substantiate a single accusation, he
accuses Desdemona as being as evil as the Devil ("thou art false as hell").
|
"To whom, my lord? with whom? how am I false?"
- What is Othello's response to these sincere and legitimate questions which Desdemona asks? What
does this reveal about Othello's questioning? (4)
[Need help?]
Othello has made accusations against Desdemona. She then has every right to demand his evidence.
When she asks the important questions, however, he simply dismisses them out of hand and carries on
accusing her.
Ultimately, therefore, she will go to her death without knowing of what she is accused and without being
given the option of defending herself. This is warped justice indeed!
|
"Alas, what ignorant sin have I committed?"
- How could a sin be "ignorant"? (2)
[Need help?]
The Catholic Church always taught that there were sins of what it called "culpable ignorance", i.e.
the person should have known it was wrong but had not taken the trouble to listen when it was being
explained. (Would you agree with this concept?)
There can surely, however, be no "sin of ignorance"? It is surely fundamental to any interpretation
of guilt that someone has to be aware of the guilt?
|
- What is Othello's answer to this question? (4)
[Need help?]
Othello makes no answer but merely continues to abuse her, calling her "'whore", a "public
commoner" and "impudent strumpet". He says his cheeks would burn to cinders in
embarrassment if he were even to mention her crime.
None of this, however, would stand up before any jury. But, alas, Desdemona is not going to be given a
chance of a fair trial. She has been accused by her husband, he will then try her in his own mind, find her
guilty and execute her with his own hands.
|
"I took you for that cunning whore of Venice
That married with Othello."
- In the light of accepted Elizabethan courting rituals (read the note in the left column), comment on
Othello's words. (4)
[Need help?]
Othello remembers that Desdemona was prepared to have sex with him outside of marriage while they
were courting. This, he thinks, is sufficient reason for her guilt. After all, she has done it once and so she
will do it again.
In the courtship rituals, a woman was usually prepared to have sex with her partner once it was clear that
he was going to marry her. In this, however, both parties are equally to blame, for both have committed
the same deed.
And yet the male often appears to hold the woman guilty and not himself. Indeed, medieval theology
made it very clear that the woman was the temptress and was always the guilty party.
Eve caused Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. Adam, said medieval theology, would not have been tempted
if the serpent had approached him rather than approaching the woman.
And so Othello's reasoning appears to be this: Desdemona had sex with him outside of marriage. How
many other men, therefore, did she have sex with, even after their marriage?
|
"You, mistress,
That have the office opposite to Saint Peter,
And keep the gate of hell!"
- What is the implication of Othello's words to Emilia? (4)
[Need help?]
Othello accuses Emilia of being equally guilty as Desdemona. Emilia, he says, is the gatekeeper to hell.
As such, therefore, she is not to be believed and her evidence may be dismissed out of hand.
|
|
