Othello and Desdemona, Othello: Why, what art thou? … “Othello,” act IV, scene II / drawn by C. Gregory ; engraved by E. Bure.

In this post, I’d like to explore a different artistic depiction of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. The artwork I’ll be analyzing is a wood engraving from the 19th century that depicts Othello and Desdemona is Act IV, Scene 2. At this point in the play, Iago’s done some significant damage to Othello’s view of Desdemona. Othello is absolutely convinced that Desdemona is a whore. There is nothing she can say to him to change his mind. Othello is simply convinced, and simply disgusted by any of her attempts to sway him.

I’d also like to point out that the depiction of Othello, as opposed to the painting in the previous analysis, subverts the physical placement of Othello and Desdemona. The previous painting depicted Othello as what I’ve dubbed the “Oriental Menace”, come to tempt Desdemona’s virtuous Venetian ways. That painting doesn’t point out a particular setting within the play, although it’s fair to assume that this was a depiction of his wooing of Desdemona. This engraving, on the other hand, has Othello looking rather gracious and handsome, like something to be revered. This is especially interesting in the context of this scene, since Othello is not in a good way at this point. He is in a bad and jealous frame of mind, he is set on righting this sin of Desdemona’s, and he has just furiously questioned Emilia about Desdemona’s loyalty, and dismissed Emilia’s assertions of Desdemona’s faithfulness. And yet, the artists have depicted him as a pious and calm figure, one that Desdemona is on her knees worshiping, even asking forgiveness from, as if he is the lord her God. They do this even though his only negative traits in this drawing are his pulling his arm away from Desdemona and furrowing his brow at her. They’ve depicted him as a Christ-like figure. They do this even though it does not match the temperature of this scene, and they do this as if he is not soon about to have his revenge.

(http://talesoffaerie.blogspot.com/2013/02/solomon-jinn-and-arabian-nights.html)

In a previous post, I analyzed an image that had clear Orientalist undertones in its depiction of Othello. That was fitting for the period it was painted in, during the height of Orientalism, in the 19th century by a Frenchman; France being a European epicenter for “enlightened” Orientalist thought and theory. In this post, I’ll explore the in-text references to Orientalism, as well as draw connections to The Arabian Nights, a text that introduced us to Orientalist theory. First, what is Orientalism? According to Edward Said, via Wikipedia, it “is the source of the inaccurate, cultural representations that are the foundations of Western thought and perception of the Eastern world, specifically about the region of the Middle East. The principal characteristic of Orientalism is a “subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arab–Islamic peoples and their culture…”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism_%28book%29). Shakespeare wrote in England, and Othello was produced in approximately 1603. Exploration to the “East” had been long underway, and there was an understanding of Oriental life amongst Europeans since way before that, simple and misguided as it may have been. Some of the earliest European translations of The Arabian Nights had come into widespread circulation in the early 1700s.

There are interesting similarities and differences between the portrayal of Oriental peoples and culture between Othello and The Arabian Nights. The similarities have to do a lot with mysticism. The Arabian Nights depicts magic and a lot of the supernatural. Othello reflects that, and the Italians of this play make their first accusations against Othello in this vein. Brabantio accuses Othello of enchanting Desdemona (1, 2, 82). In the same passage, he accuses Othello of things that only the lowliest of men do. He says she is bound in the chains of magic, implying that Othello has bewitched her against her will. He accuses him of having used “drugs or minerals” (93), and generally things of “Moorish” nature. He does not refer to Othello as “Othello”, but as “Moor” in previous passages, implying that this is the very thing he sees him as, and that this nature is foul and loathsome.

In a different light, Shakespeare does something interesting to the character of Othello. In this play, this foreigner is in a position of great power and command. He has renounced his Moorish identity and religion, and looks down on it. Now, this COULD be seen as a subversion of Orientalist thought in Europe by Shakespeare, but it’s not that. Mostly because this isn’t a welcoming and acceptance of Eastern culture, but a depiction of assimilation into European identity and hatred of the foreignness of the East. Othello is instead associated with the supernatural and barbaric elements seen in The Arabian Nights, like the Jinn who steal women and keep them for themselves. This can be seen in the frame story as well as the Story of The Second Dervish. This also keeps in line with Iago calling Othello a “devil”.

(Fedora from here: http://www.ikrush.com/fashion-atoz/Fedora, Movie screencap from here: https://cinephiliamedia.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/the-iago-effect/, poorly Photoshopped by yours truly)

“Lay thy finger thus, and let thy soul be instructed.” (2, 1, 242)

In this passage, Iago’s begun to set another part of his master plan into action. He needs Roderigo to be completely convinced of Desdemona’s alleged love for Cassio. In doing so, he lays out an interpretation of Desdemona’s nature, of a woman’s nature. Even though he’s actively trying to convince Roderigo of something as ridiculous as her supposed attraction to Cassio in this passage, it’s still clear that he truly believes what he says. He’s had to have thought about it long and hard in order to figure out what he’d say to get Roderigo to be thoroughly convinced. His view of Desdemona’s sexual nature then cannot be ignored and passed over, because Iago’s interpretation is undoubtedly a reflection of, and is informed by, a greater cultural opinion.

Essentially, Iago lays out Desdemona’s attraction to Othello as base desire, innate to a woman’s wretched nature. She was first attracted to Othello for his stories, but stories, in Iago’s opinion can only go so far in satisfying her, for “her eye must be fed” (2, 1, 246). Desdemona’s sexual appetite is so vain to be dependent on the appearance of her partner, and Othello, in Iago’s mind, is the “devil” (2, 1, 247). Iago believes that the longer she stays with Othello, the more her “delicate tenderness will find itself abused, begin to heave her gorge, disrelish and abhor the Moor” (2, 1, 253-255). Iago even says that her “nature will instruct her in it and compel her to some second choice” (2, 1, 255-256). He then proceeds to paint Cassio as the perfect subject of her attention — someone handsome and young. The most important part of his description of Cassio though, is his insistence on calling him a “knave”, which means villain. This is of course a reflection of Iago’s personal hatred of Cassio’s taking over the coveted military position, but it also serves to further reflect Iago’s hatred of Desdemona, who represents his view of all women. First, he says she was attracted to the devil, and now she is attracted to a villain. He believes that she is willing to shed her own good character and virtue for a good fuck from some nightmarish and evil figure, whether it be a Moor or a conniving military man.

Iago’s smart, so it may seem on a first read that this is him just trying to convince Roderigo, who is nowhere near as insightful as himself, of these “facts”. But in a series of actions that will be reflected in later posts, it becomes clear that Iago seriously doesn’t like women, and it just so happens that Roderigo is  impressionable enough to let Iago go and speak freely about it. Simple, stupid Roderigo, who’s lovestruck and is ripe ground for Iago’s musings. Roderigo, who is not privy to the master plan, and is simply a cog.

(Desdemona by Alexandre Cabanel. Photo credit to @sof01 on flickr.)

This adaptation by Oliver Parker was really enjoyable to watch, and as some of my classmates have already noted in their respective posts, it was successful in its presentation due to the cutting and addition of certain lines. I think it worked well for the most part, though I was disappointed to see these lines cut:

“She wished she had not heard it, yet she wishes/That heaven had made her such a man. She thanked me,/And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her,/I should but teach him how to tell my story,/And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake.” (1, 3, 187-192).

I think these are important lines that give Desdemona some depth beyond the story of the adaptation; the unfortunate wife of a jealous husband. These lines don’t so much alter the story or her character, but inform her motivation to be with Othello beyond her faithfulness due to her religion. In these lines, it’s revealed by Othello that she expressed her desire to endeavor on such adventures, and getting close to the source of this journey, namely himself, pleased her to no end. The stories made her want to be with him and they were the key to her seeing more to Othello than “the Moor”. Her motivation to be with Othello is closely related to her lack of stories, his make up for her void. He completes her, and she, in listening and accepting these stories through his eyes, completes him. Not including these lines in the film simply makes for a character that goes unexplored, a character in Desdemona that would have been really interesting to see. In the same way that Othello’s tales give depth to his character in Desdemona’s eyes, these lines give Desdemona depth in Othello’s eyes and in our reading of her.  I think the addition of these lines would have been more valuable than it may at first let on.

(Othello and Desdemona in Venice)

This painting is by French artist Theodore Chasseriau, from the 19th century. It particularly resonated with me at first glance because the artist puts it on the viewer to determine how Othello as a subject of this painting is supposed to be seen. Whether it is a deliberate choice, bad lighting, or simply the artist’s style, Othello’s face is undoubtedly supposed to be hard to make out. I’ve looked at different versions of this painting, and in each one, even when the lighting seems to be better and the image clearer, Othello’s face and the details of it are difficult to see. Othello is a Moor, he is dark-skinned, but something tells me that the artist did not look upon this fact to make the artistic decision he ended up making. The artist clearly looks to represent Othello as darkness, as shadow, as an overwhelmingly bad presence, corrupting Desdemona’s pure image. This is evidenced by the way the shadow falls over the top half of Desdemona, while her white, flowing gown is in the light. The artist wants to show that part of Desdemona is still uncorrupted by Othello’s influence. This is highlighted especially by the contrast in Othello’s clothing. His clothing is rich and dark and he wears a turban. The play however makes no mention of it, and the play itself makes Othello’s character clear to be a Venetian who has cast away his Muslim roots.

All in all, this is not a positive depiction of Othello. The influence of Orientalism was the strongest factor that influenced the artist to make these decisions. Orientalism was a popular theory among the Western world, particularly Western academia in the 19th century, and though our study of it has only applied to the reading of The Arabian Nights, there is undoubtedly a mark of Orientalism on this painting. Othello, even though he has canonically turned away from his former religious identity, is still depicted in this painting as “one of those”. The artist doesn’t seem to care about canon, the artist portrays Othello here as a dark, evil Muslim who corrupts fair Venetian girls.