Part 1:

 

During the 16th century and the broader Renaissance, reason was esteemed supreme. Never before had reason reached such heights, overstepping the ancient’s regard and achieving a pinnacle which may never be surpassed again. A couple hundred years later, postmodernism would shake the throne of reason, and propagate theories of relativity and uncertainty. These weeds have required careful picking. And as Hegel’s dialectic theory would imply, the pendulum of philosophy is moving towards a balance. Nonetheless, in Elizabethan England, reason dominated emotion and all that followed in its train.

The dominance of reason is wonderfully displayed in the Earl of Monmouth’s translation of Senault’s work,  De l’usage des passions, which is based on St. Thomas Aquinas’ identification of the eleven passions (Hall 316). The piece argues the sovereignty of reason and the subjugation of the emotions. This is clearly seen in the title page. The illustration on this page depicts reason enthroned in the top right corner. Below her, every passion is chained together. Queen Reason holds the chains of the passions. This imagery explicitly implies the dominance and superiority of reason. No emotion is allowed free reign. For the Elizabethan man, reason ought to sit resolute on the throne of one’s being, commanding and ruling the lesser emotions.

However, emotions were not only regarded as lesser, but were also considered remarkably dangerous and tending towards destruction. Elizabethan theologian Thomas Wright states that passions (or perturbations) “trouble wonderfully the soul, corrupting the judgement and seducing the will, inducing, for the most part, to vice, and commonly withdrawing from virtue; and therefore some call them maladies or sores of the soul” (Wright 321). This bitter description ascribes a distinctly negative connotation to emotion. These condemned feelings are not neutral. The Elizabethan citizen viewed emotions as tending to vice. This added to their weariness of outward displays of emotion and their tendency to favor stoicism in most personal, and certainly pubic, affairs.

Elizabethan suspicion of emotion and reverence of reason produced a sundry of mixed benefits and disadvantages. Positively, the focus on reason led to increased mathematical and scientific innovations. It was also manifested in the brilliant political writing of the time. In regards to sovereignty, reason’s position of authority discouraged rash actions based off temporal or impulsive passions. Although this was a good thing, it was one-sided. The supremacy of reason demonized emotion. Passions were considered wholly unreliable and deceptive. Sometimes this principle is true. Other times however, emotions are necessary to make ethical and beneficial decisions. The danger is that we throw the baby out with the bathwater. Thus, the inequality of reason and emotion during the Elizabethan era and the larger Renaissance resulted in mixed outcomes.

Part 2:     

Pierre de La Primaudaye wrote, “no living creature was worse to man than man himself, because, albeit he hath dominion over all things, yet he cannot rule himself, nor his desires.” (Primaudaye 324). If Othello is anything, he is man ruled by desire. For the majority of his life, Othello’s passion for honor and justice helped him. It aided his ascension to the position of a respected and powerful general. Nonetheless, the emotion which served his warrior ethos was also the emotion which consumed him. Specifically, Othello succumbed to a self-depreciating obsession fueled by the fear of losing Desdemona.

Although Othello allows his emotions to dominate, Iago plays a crucial role is sowing the seeds of destruction. In act three, Iago questions Desdemona’s love for Othello in an innocuous manner. He states, “I may fear / Her will, recoiling to her better judgement, / May fall to match you with her country forms / And happily repent” (III. iii. 252-255). Iago’s so called “fear” is surrounded by deceptive flattery and advise. However, this small passage is a clear attack on Othello’s marriage. Iago is insinuating that Desdemona truly realized Othello’s foreign nature, regretted her decision to marry him, and ran to Cassio, who is more aligned with “her country forms”. This accusation indirectly attacks Othello. It shifts the blame of the supposed affair from Desdemona to Othello. It is his fault she is unfaithful. Their relationship was unnatural and always doomed because he is a fundamentally incompatible Moor. Iago pushes Othello to blame himself.

This inner destruction is fueled by fear. Othello loves Desdemona and is often characterized as overly jealous. Surely, there is truth to that. Nonetheless, behind his jealously is fear. The fear that he lost Desdemona. The fear that she never really loved him. The fear that it was his fault. This inner battle manifests itself in external acts of violence. Being the sword of the state, Othello is accustomed to physical action. When faced with the new situation of love, he tries to resolve relational problems physically, murdering Desdemona and Cassio. To the hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Although Othello’s fear drives the majority of his internal conflict, it is not enough to prompt his dramatic action. Othello doesn’t exclaim, “I’ll tear her all to pieces” without Iago’s compelling and diabolical deception (III. iii. 448). The lie that he births and incubates matures into a monster in Othello’s head. The imaginary affair becomes Othello’s reality. In act four, Othello says, “I’ll not expostulate with her, lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again (IV. i. 190-191). Othello believes that Desdemona’s appearance will deceive him. In order to prevent this, he ignores her and discards what he sees. Ironically however, Othello is rejecting reality. Desdemona’s “body and beauty” are physical and real. Yet, Othello’s imagination has become his reality. He castoffs sincere actuality for the conceived falsehoods of Iago. Othello’s self-destructive fear and unbridled passion, stoked by Iago, creates an alternate reality where good Iago is honest and the lovely Desdemona is foul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Hall, Kim E., ed. Othello: Texts and Contexts. By William Shakespeare. Boston: Bedford/St.          Martin’s,

2007. Print.

Primaudaye, Pierre de La. Othello: Texts and Contexts. By William Shakespeare. Ed. Kim E.          Hall.

Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. Print.

Wright, Thomas. Othello: Texts and Contexts. By William Shakespeare. Ed. Kim E. Hall.

Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. Print.