Othello on a page

Shakespearean England was a paranoid place spies, plots and the plague were everywhere. This led to an obsession with social order, embodied by the hierarchy headed by Queen Elizabeth I, the representative of God on Earth. Social order was also reflected in the homilies, the morality plays out of which Elizabethan tragedy was born, as well as the music of the spheres the ideal was harmony. However, it was also a superstitious place the devil was everywhere, witchcraft was real and so were witch hunts. With the onset of slavery more and more blacks were seen in England, and their difference of colour and dress made them other and victims of horrible stereotypes. It was also a place where ones reputation was paramount and the spoiling of your reputation would cause your downfall in a society obsessed with order and strict social hierarchy. All of the above is shown in Othello instability reflected by the war against the other, the Turks. However, it turns out this other is not the real threat; instead Shakespeare shows us the threat from within is the most dangerous the poison imagery reflects not only the corruption of two men, but also the sickness growing in society itself. Othellos fall is the loss to Venice of their ablest military leader and this disrupts the social order of the city, and makes them vulnerable to fresh attacks from their enemies, such as the Turks. Iagos act, where he plays the devil, reflects the very real question asked in Shakespeares time where was the devil hiding? How does one know the devil if he can appear honest? Iagos insinuations, his manipulative use of language, disrupts social and military order, causing a Venetian nobleman to become a bankrupt murderer, the gallant Cassio a drunken brawler, and the noble Othello a jealous monster. Paradox is the weapon of someone seeking to confuse, to sow disorder, and Desdemona points the wrongness out when she says My lord is not my lord (III.4.120) and That deaths unnatural that kills for loving. (V.2.42) Iago is a master of paradox: I am not what I am. (I.1.66) Iago reflects the fact there is good reason to be paranoid and always on your guard; there is good reason to have spies and informers everywhere, so one can find out where the real enemy is hiding. After all, Iago takes advantage of the other characters very goodness and naivety to cause chaos a chaos he takes pleasure in: Divinity of Hell!. (II.3.340) Even Lodovicos restoration of order by hiding what poisons sight is no guarantee of future stability the play leaves us with the question: how are we to discover the real identity of the next actor, the next one who plays his devilish part so well? But if manipulative language can sow disorder among the elite, proving itself more dangerous and powerful than strength of arms or political clout, honesty is also shown to be powerful through Emilia. She defies the social order too by going against her husbands wish that she be silent so she can tell the truth. Truth exposes Iago, destroys his mask, but once revealed he never will speak word. Once the mask is stripped the role is finished, and we find only silence. In Othello Shakespeare shows the dangers of a masculine identity based on reputation where the only means of settling matters of honour is through revenge. The audience sees the destructiveness of jealousy, the instability excessive emotion creates, the difficulty of seeing through appearances and that innocence is no defence against a devil who is a kind of Everyman, who can be all things to all men.