The Significance of War in Othello

Clark Chen
English 117S
Jeffrey Knapp
It was noted from Professor Knapps lecture that something had
gone amiss in Shakespeares life around the time that Othello was
written. According to historians, Shakespeare had obtained a
gentlemans status and secured a well-established celebrity status,
perhaps leading him to represent himself in a sordid manner.
Othello may have been inspired by the playwrights personal conflict
between irrational emotions and rational peace of mind. Whether this
is the case, it is certain that this turmoil of two sides, raw emotion and
logical reasoning, is illustrated through the transformation of Othello.
Jealous passion, the victor of this battle between reason and emotion,
ultimately consumes Othello and transforms him from a beloved,
respected war hero into a crazed man who kills his beloved and
innocent wife. Though most may argue that the evil Iago, the sole
disseminator of lies and malicious intent, is the only component setting
the stage for this tragedy, the Turkish-Venetian war is the true catalyst
of Othellos transformation and the heartbreaking catastrophes that
occur. Without the imminent threat of war changing the setting of the
play from peace-time Venice to Cyprus, the tragedy that unfolds in
Othello would not have occurred; thus it was essential that
Shakespeare frame the tragedy of Othello and Desdemona with this
war, which despite never explicitly happening, stages the emotional
pyrotechnics necessary for the plot.
The first step in proving my thesis involves juxtaposing Othellos
pre-war behavior in peacetime Venice with his wartime behavior in
Cyprus. Although it is established that the war itself will not take
place, the vastly different ways Othello handles two similar altercations

in the two different settings elucidates that this change in setting

builds the foundation for the tragedy of Othello and Desdemona. In
peacetime Venice at the beginning of the play, Othello is shown
composed and self-assured. Act 1 Scene 2 shows Iago speaking poorly
of Brabantio to Othello, musing that he (Iago) is not cruel enough to
murder someone, though Brabantio may deserve it. Othellos response
and his first line of the play 1.2.6, Tis better as it is implies that he
believes it is right to choose peace over violence and is a very
collected reply. His composed and rational character is further
illustrated in the ensuing conflict with Brabantio, who confronts Othello
about seeing his daughter Desdemona. Iago fails to incite anger in
Othello before the confrontation, and throughout the incident, Othello
is entirely calm and composed in the face of Brabantios drawn sword
and hostility. Brabantio spews verbal venom composed of racial slurs
and harsh accusations:
If she in chains of magic were not bound,
Whether a maid so fairWould ever have
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thouto fear, not to delight.
Brabantio accuses Othello of sorcery and enchanting his daughter, for
his fair Desdemona would never willingly be with a thing like Othello.
Othello retorts calm and composed,
Were it my cue to fight, I should have known it
Without a prompter. Whither will you that I go
To answer this your charge?
Othello conveys that this is not the time for him to fight and simply
asks, in an almost surreal, calm manner to whom should he go to
respond to these charges. Could a man this calm and collected when
dealt such hate and threat of violence be the same man to later kill
that which is most beloved to him? These incidents that occur in the
setting of peacetime Venice capture Othellos character as a man who
could not have done such a thing. Note the fact that Iagos scheming

manipulation has not begun, and has yet to poison Othellos mind with
jealous lies. After the impending war moves the plot from Venice to
Cyprus, a conflict that happens there illustrates a volatile, emotional
side of Othello. The discussion of this irrational side to Othello in the
following paragraph will illuminate the crucial necessity of framing the
tragedy of Othello and Desdemona with a war that never occurs.
After confirming that the storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet,
and thus ended the impending war, Othello holds festivities to
celebrate this incident as well as his marriage with Desdemona. He
leaves to spend time with his wife but is notified of a conflict between
Montano, officer at Cyprus, and Cassio his right hand man. Othello,
arriving at the conflict, states:
Have we all become as savage as the Turks?
The next man who swings his sword must not care about his life,
because the instant he strikes, he dies.
In peacetime Venice in the previous situation discussed, Othello met
violence and hate directed at him by Brabantio with composure. The
situation here in Cyprus does not hold the weight that the one in
Venice did, for Othello is clearly in charge and his life is not in danger
as when Brabantio threatened him. This observation magnifies the
radical change of Othellos behavior between peacetime Venice and
wartime Cyprus, for his rational composure has been replaced with a
display of emotional outrage not due to a change in severity of conflict,
but by the difference in setting. Further proof is given in Othellos
following response in Act 2 Scene 3:
my blood begins my safer guides to
rule, and passion, having my best judgement collied,
assays to lead the way. If I once stir, or do but
lift this arm, the best of you shall sink in my rebuke.
who set it on, though he had twinned with meshall lose
me.
What, in a town of war
Yet wild, the peoples hearts brimful of fear,
To manage private and domestic quarrel?

Othello, despite being explicitly aware that passion has replaced his
better judgment, rashly seeks to move forward with action. He also
brings to light the fact that despite the war itself not happening,
Cyprus is a town of war with the remnants and threat of it instilling
fear in people. This conflict, though dwarfs in comparison in severity
with the Venice Brabantio incident, brings about an emotional response
from Othello, thus illustrating that he himself is greatly affected by this
change in setting from peace to war, Venice to Cyprus. Note once
more that Iago has not yet dispelled jealous lies to Othello directly;
Othellos actions are a product of his own character which we now see
has two distinct sides. The setting of war manifested in the setting of
Cyprus is the switch that allows Othellos actions and thoughts to be
dictated by his emotional and irrational side.
It is important to address and dispute the idea that war is order,
for if war is order in the eyes of Othello, the change in setting from
peaceful Venice to wartime Cyprus could not have been the catalyst
that Shakespeare strategically uses in order to frame the tragedy
between Othello and Desdemona. The main piece of text pertinent to
this discussion is Othellos burst of outrage after Iago thoroughly
disseminates seeds of suspicion; he implies again and again that
Desdemona is cheating on Othello. Othello has had the last straw,
stating:
I had been happy if the general camp,
Pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body,
So I had nothing known. Oh, now forever
Farewell the tranquil mind! Farewell content!
Farewell the plumed troops and the big wars
That makes ambition virtue! Oh, farewell!
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th' ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!
And O you mortal engines, whose rude throats
The immortal Joves dead clamors counterfeit,

Farewell! Othellos occupations gone.

In this passage, simply by locality of text Othello seems to relate the
tranquil mind with the plumed troops and big wars, appearing to
associate peace of mind with war. However, the opening line of this
text suggests that this is not so. Othello says something akin to
ignorance is bliss, as he would be content of Desdemonas supposed
infidelity as long as he did no know about it. That statement strongly
implies that his tortured mind is aggravated not by the truth, but by his
perception or knowledge of it. Despite his grandiose description of the
pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war, the distinction
between truth and interpretation through perception suggests that
Othello is not saying that war is absolute glory or order. War at its
coldest truth consists of killing: irrational and passionate. Othellos
ability to ignore that truth and perceive it as something that makes
ambition virtue is calculated, chosen ignorance, which has allowed
him to ascend the ranks of the Venetian military and become a wellrespected general. In this passage, he bids farewell to ignorance or
refusal to measure his life by truth, and chooses instead to accept
truth and the tumultuous passions that are associated with it. In the
passage, war is a metaphor and example that illustrates how
something quintessentially gruesome, irrational, and awful can be
perceived in a good light. If Othello can accept the real nature of war
as something that is inherently disorderly, he will accept that his
thoughts of love for Desdemona in their current state are just as
tempestuous and dangerous.
The two distinct sides of Othellos character, rationally composed
and emotionally turbulent, as well as the important role of a catalytic
war setting have been thoroughly discussed. A different perspective
on why Shakespeare decides to use the setting of Cyprus to frame the
tragedy focuses on Iago. Iago has uncannily precise insight of every

other characters personality; particularly, his impeccable

understanding of Othellos character is perhaps the only way to ignite
the pyrotechnics framed by the Turkish-Venetian War and lead to
Othellos tragic downfall. Essentially, Iago has knowledge of Othellos
wartime behavior; towards the beginning of the play, Iago states I, of
whom his eyes had seen the proof at Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other
grounds Christian and heathen. He knows that Othello will be
vulnerable in a setting of war, and only in that state will his lies have
any power in manipulating Othellos thoughts. The setting in Cyprus is
ripe for Iagos plans to come to fruition. Othello, victim of Iagos
carefully coordinated plans, kills his beloved Desdemona and then
himself. Again, this tragedy could only have occurred in an
environment of war. The rational Othello as seen in Venice does not
seem capable of becoming a victim of Iagos lies. As Iago stated with
great determination in Act 1, hell and night has indeed brought this
monstrous birth to the worlds light. The wartime setting at Cyprus
towards the beginning of the play sealed Othello and Desdemonas
tragic fate, as they were all but Iagos puppets on a string.

Works Cited
Shakespeare, William, Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Suzanne
Gossett, Jean E. Howard, and Katharine Eisaman Maus. The Norton
Shakespeare: Essential Plays, the Sonnets. New York: W.W. Norton &,
2016.