Although Othello was naive and wrong to put his trust in Iago without the presence of any real evidence, he did so partly because of his low self-esteem. Othello is presented as a violent husband who is insecure as he is quick to strike Desdemona when she received news from her cousin Lodovico. "She is kicking, slapping, doing everything her body can possibly do to push me off her," Chong Nee says. He does this through a series of suggestions and hesitations that entice and implant images into Othello's head that lead him to his own demise. For a 21st century audience informed by the findings of the Royal Commission, the pathos of the play comes from how unnecessary and preventable – yet inevitable within the story – are the deaths. Many of Othello's insecurities are derived from his race and from the perception that he is lowlier than his wife. Because Othello is resistant to believing in Desdemona’s guilt, Iago has more fuel to persuade him. Othello may be impressive on the battlefield, but his own personal insecurity leads to the tragic end of the story. "We all agreed that her death shouldn't be softened. "I wanted it to be brutal and violent and messy. In addition, audiences think and reflect their own life after watching the play. Othello describes his courtship of Desdemona, who, when she enters, tells her father and the senators that she has married Othello because she loves him. This also means it has been incorporated into the Dramatica Story Expert application itself as an easily referenced contextual example. …you’re robbed. London: MacMillan and Co., 1919. Handsome and successful Cassio is a threat to Iago’s masculinity. In unusually coarse imagery, Iago then introduces the subject of what kind of evidence would resolve Othello's doubts. His downfall is inextricably tied to the murder of Desdemona - it’s not a romantic moment as I’ve often seen portrayed, he looking away and she passing like a crushed violet. The fact that they are obliged to elope makes the illicit nature of their relationship in … The implication is that if she actually had an affair with Cassio, Othello would have considered the killing justified, and not taken his own life. At the end of Othello – after the deaths of Desdemona, Othello and Emilia – Lodovico describes the tragedy as the result of Iago’s villainy and Othello’s failings, rather than due to societal attitudes towards women, or systemic violence. In consultation with the cast, director Peter Evans made crucial adjustments to the text. No honour here ... Ray Chong Nee (Othello) and Elizabeth Nabben (Desdemona). Othello had to … Othello’s tragic fate is tied directly to his overblown pride and his unwillingness to see the actual truth, only the truth he believes in. Othello tests his wife’s loyalty secretly (“fetch me the handkerchief, my mind misgives”) instead of openly confronting her and attempting real communication. This theme is manifest in the contrast between Cassio and Iago. All these themes are present in Othello. Does Shakespeare’s play suggests that Othello’s gullibility, irrational jealousy, and murderous violence stem from the fact that his ethnicity differs from everyone else in the drama? The bestial images that Iago conjures up reek of base sexuality, for now Iago no longer needs to rely on innuendo. He believes in his own abilities to find the truth so fully that Iago exploits him masterfully, making Othello believe in his lies as perfectly as if they were truth. Updated October 24, 2016 — 3.20pm first published at 2.32pm. Othello's insecurities are so close to the surface that a few words of hint and innuendo from Iago can tear the confident exterior and expose his fears, desires, and tendency to violence. Othello cannot stand uncertainty; it drives him to destroy his sanity. Thieves, thieves! Societal beliefs also affect victims’ perceptions of the criminality of such actions. The tragic sequence of events is triggered by the elopement of Othello and Desdemona. At that point, Iago realized that his plan worked perfectly and that he had Othello in his grips. ’ To what extent is Othello’s own character the cause of his downfall? Playing the scene night after night during the production's six-month national tour has been hard, says Chong Nee, who, by the final show on December 4, will have acted the murder of Desdemona more than 120 times. "From the outset, as a team, we looked at violence against women in this show and how to present Desdemona's death," Chong Nee says. 361) when he knew immediately to ‘smote him thus’, as he was certain of his enemy, but in this case, doubt has impaired his vision and he is unsure who to trust: his new wife or ‘honest Iago’. Shakespeare refutes the idea of mismatch on the surface level with the veracity of the pure love that Desdemona has for Othello. The only rebuke of Othello is made by Lodovico (representative of the Venetian duke and senate) who, observing Othello strike Desdemona, tells him to “make amends” – but makes no other intervention. Othello suicides not because he killed Desdemona, but rather because he killed her on the mistaken understanding that she had desired and loved another man. What does the recent Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence tell us about the Venetian general’s murder of his wife Desdemona, and his subsequent suicide? Killing Desdemona: the domestic violence in Othello. Othello's insecurities are so close to the surface that a few words of hint and innuendo from Iago can tear the confident exterior and expose his fears, desires, and tendency to violence. Desdemona herself adopts the narrative of being the property of others, saying she has preserved her body for Othello “from any other unlawful touch”. “Haply for I am black, And have not those soft parts of conversation That chamberers have…” (Othello, Act 3 Scene 3, Line 267) Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags. ‘A man’s character is his fate. Othello opens at the Sydney Opera House on October 27. Othello Analysis . Othello was one of very few black men in Venice and Desdemona was a very young and very beautiful white woman. Lecturer Dispute Resolution Advocacy, University of Technology Sydney. Working with fight choreographer Nigel Poulton, Chong Nee and Elizabeth Nabben (Desdemona) created a scene that graphically depicts a woman being killed by her intimate partner. By Elissa Blake. Iago’s abuse of his wife Emilia, for instance, is not commented on or apparently even noticed by the other characters. Save. 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