Othello

Desi and the Prince - (from Creating Harmonious Relationships)

This classic story depicts a judge’s (ego's) insidious destruction of a relationship.

Desi was a talented, happy, and very beautiful young woman. She was much sought after by the most eligible men in the splendid capital city in which she lived.

One day her father invited a prince, who was a famous military commander, to visit. While the prince told his war stories to her father, Desi sat off to the side listening. Over the duration of his many visits to her father, Desi got to know all about the prince’s fascinating life, and also his personality. She came to deeply appreciate his noble character, his modesty and self-restraint, and the respect he showed to other people. She fell in love with him, and they eloped. They were wonderfully happy.

Shortly after their wedding Desi joined the prince on a military campaign. They went with two of the prince’s officers, his trusted aide-de-camp, “honest Iago,” and his lieutenant, Cassio, who was a friend of Desi’s.

Almost immediately the prince began acting irrationally toward Desi. First he complained of a headache. Then he berated her for misplacing a handkerchief, and, not long after that, for no apparent reason, he struck her and ordered her out of his sight. Later he demanded to know if she had been faithful to him. She said “yes” but he didn’t believe her and called her a whore. In their bedroom he accused her of sleeping with one of his officers. She denied it, but he refused to believe her, and, in a rage, killed her.

Shortly thereafter the prince found out he had been completely mistaken, that Desi really had been faithful to him all along. He was so deeply stricken with remorse for killing his wife, whom he loved very much, that he killed himself.

What caused him to behave in such an irrational way?

            The prince’s name was Othello. This play by William Shakespeare has been famous for four hundred years for some excellent reasons. One is that people can identify with Desdemona (Desi) and with Othello. We all know how agonizing it can be to have others misunderstand us and get angry with us for no apparent reason. And we can also identify with the prince: getting angry with someone we love and then feelingsad when we realize we made a mistake.

What makes the play Othello so pertinent to our understanding of the unconsciousis the character responsible for Othello’s irrational behavior, his judge, Iago. Iago is the unconscious (ego) personified. Shakespeare has given us a clear picture of how Iago influences Othello’s thinking. Although he has an “honest” exterior to Othello, the audience gets to see Iago’s fearful thoughts:

·        I may be of humble origins, but I have had a great deal of military experience. I am furious that Othello promoted the less experienced, upper-class Cassio over me to the rank of lieutenant.

·        I feel inferior to and jealous of Othello and Cassio.

·        I want to possess Desdemona.

·        I fear that Othellomay have slept with my wife. [This thought indicates that Iago has projected his own desire to sleep with another man’s wife onto Othello.]

Iago deliberately plans to destroy them by introducing suspicions “to abuse Othello’s ear.” Iago sets the stage by persuading Cassio to drink too much and get into a fight, which results in Othello demoting him. Iago then prompts Cassio to ask Desdemona to plead to Othello for his reinstatement. Desdemona agrees to do this for her friend.

The stage now set, Iago begins to color Othello’s thoughts by telling him that he sees Cassio acting guilty about something. Iago pours “pestilence” in Othello’s ear. He insinuates that Desdemona lusts for Cassio and that they have been having an affair. The first jealous thoughts seize Othello.

Iago goes on to lead Othello “by the nose,” telling him, “Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio.”

By now, Desdemona has begun pleading to Othello to reinstate Cassio as lieutenant. But Iago has so warped Othello’s thinking that he interprets her pleading as an attempt to gain advancement for her lover. The more Desdemona pleads to Othello to reinstate Cassio, the more Othello suspects that she has been unfaithful.

Iago reminds Othello that Desdemona deceived her father when she eloped, so deceit is in her nature. As a clincher, Iago tells Othello, who is black, that Desdemona would naturally prefer a man of her own complexion.

Finally, Iago “proves” Desdemona’s infidelity to Othello. He swipes a handkerchief from Desdemona, which Othello had given her, and plants it on Cassio. When Othello sees that Cassio now has this love token he is convinced of her guilt. Iago’s comment, “Trifles light as air are to the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ,” demonstrates his understanding that a jealous mind finds what it is looking for. Othello, convinced he has been betrayed, kills Desdemona.

This classic tragedy speaks to all of us. Why are people drawn to tragedy as an art form? In a tragedy “the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow… as a consequence of a tragic flaw, a moral weakness or an inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.” Many of us identify with tragedies because, when a conflict occurs that affects our well-being and we most need to do or say the right thing, our internal judges take over and we self-sabotage. This is no idle concern. Your judgeis an integral, unconsciouspart of you, leading you to tremendous pain and loss over a lifetime. Your judge (ego) is your tragic flaw.

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