Humerous Themes In Othello :: essays research papers

When the well-known side dramatist William Shakespeare began writing Othello, he had already been educated in the classics and in literature. Although his contemporary Ben Jonson said that Shakespeare knew "little Latin and less Greek," scholars know that Shakespeare knew, at least, some Greek ideas about comedy and tragedy. He was not fabulously educated, but he was aware that his play would comment on ideas about comedy. By looking at a few crucial scenes in the play, this paper will demonstrate that, although most people consider Shakespeares Othello a tragedy, it is actually a black comedy.In Act V, impression I (17-30) lines Iago comments comically on the murder scene he has machinate up himself. This is the sceneIago. O murderous slave O scoundrel Stabs RODERIGORod. O damnd Iago O inhuman dogIago. sweep away men i the dark Where be these bloody thieves?How silent is this township Ho murder murderWhat whitethorn you be? are you of advanced or evil?Lod. As you sh all prove us, praise us.Iago. Signior Lodovico?Lod. He, sir.Iago. I cry you mercy. Heres Cassio hurt by villains.Gra. CassioIago. How is it, br otherwise?Cas. My branching is cut in two.Iago. Marry, heaven forbid,Light, gentlemen Ill bewilder it with my shirt.Iago has the audience and everyone other than Roderigo believe that he is looking for thieves. If you think about it, that is a derisory statement. He has committed a murder, but he pretends that he has not. Further, he pretends that he is looking for the killer and is the only one who cares enough to do so, and cannot believe "how silent" the town is. Even his final gesture, of trying to "bind" the wound with his shirt, is a supremely comic one, perhaps for Shakespeare more than Iago. Iago may be able to stem the flow of blood coming from Cassios leg. But it would be silly for the audience to believe what Iago implicitly asks them to believe, that anyone or anything can stem the tide of destruction that he h as already unleashed on the plays characters, and by implication, in the plays plot. originally in the play, in Act II, Scene I (lines 87-95), a uniform event occurs, when Cassio greets Desdemona and speaks about Othello and IagoCas. She that I spake of, our great captains captain, leave in the conduct of the bold Iago,Whose footing here anticipates our thoughtsA sennights speed. Great Jove, Othello guard,And swell his sail with thine own powerful breath,