Sunday, April 24, 2011

Aspects of Vision and Location in Othello

There is a contrast of location seen in Othello between Venice and Cyprus. Why does Shakespeare choose to locate some of the action in one and some in the other place? I believe the Othello portrays two types of genres and each location respectively correlates with the theme. In Venice it seems like the play is a political tragedy because there is a strong emphasis of political and military issues. Although personal problems between the characters are illuminated and discussed, the main weight of the play is guided by political activity. This is true because when Brabanzio wants to discuss his anger about Othello and his daughter, the Duke of Venice decides to put the military predicament first. In Act II the play is transitioned into Cyprus as well as shifts into a domesticated tragedy. Iago is the main force driving the play into tragedy while everyone else seems to be completely unaware or even blind of their own surroundings. It is believed that Othello is metaphorically blind because his passion and towards Desdemona emphasizes his own imprisonment since he is in his private residence in Cyprus but still does not know Iago’s tactics and tricks of manipulation. There is a correlation between physical and emotional references to sight. In both Act I and Act II an aspect concerning the limitations of sight is noted. When the men are traveling on boat from Venice to Cyprus they cannot see lies ahead of him. This layers in to the notion that Othello is metaphorically blind since he does not catch himself being deceived. The ironic sense of Othello’s metaphoric blindness is his metaphoric vision. Othello is blinded by actions that are actually occurring such as Iago deceiving people by plotting against him, but at the same time he makes false speculations without actually ever seeing things happen. When he accuses his wife for cheating on him he never actually caught saw her partaking in the act. The play relies on the act of not seeing something. Is Shakespeare indirectly hinting to the audience and society the importance of understanding and seeing something rather than making false assumptions under blindness?

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