CHARACTER OF OTHELLO
In comparison to Iago, the character of Othello is simple. His tragedy lies in this that his whole nature is indisposed to jealousy , and yet was such that that he was unusually open to deception, and, if once wrought to passion, likely to act with little reflection, with no delay, and in the most decisive manner conceivable.
Othello is the most romantic figure among Shakespearean heroes; and he is so, partly, from the strange life of war and adventure which he has lived from his childhood. There is something mysterious in his descent from the men of royal siege; in his wanderings in last deserts & among the marvelous peoples (different nations). And he is not merely a romantic figure; his own nature is romantic. He is the most poetic of Shakespearean tragic heroes. If one recalls Othello’s famous speeches like, “Her father loved me”, “It is the cause”,” Behold- I have a weapon”, he sounds more poetic than any other character. Not only this, his imaginative power is also extraordinary. He has watched with a poet’s eye the Arabian tree dropping their medicinal gum and the Indian throwing away his chance found pearl.
So, Othello in the play is the dark and grand, with a light upon him from the Sun where he was born; but no longer young, & now grave, self-controlled, steeled by the experiences of the countless perils and hardships, at once simple and stately in the bearing (appearance) and in speech, a great man naturally modest but fully conscious of his worth, proud of his services to the state.
The sources of danger in Othello’s character are revealed but too clearly by the story. In the first place, Othello’s mind, for all its poetry is simple. He is not observant. His nature tends outward. He is quite free from introspection, and is not given to reflection. Emotion excites his imagination, but it confuses and dulls his intellect.
In the second place, for all his dignity and massive calm, he is by nature full of most vehement passions. Shakespeare emphasizes his self-control not only by the pictures of First Act but by references to the past. Ludovico, amazed by at his violence exclaims; “Is this the noble Moor whom our full Senet / Call in all sufficient?....”: Othello silences in a moment the night brawl between the attendants and those of Brabantio “Keep up your bright swords/ For the dew may rust them”.
Lastly, Othello’s nature is all of one piece. His trust where he has to trust is absolute. His hesitation is almost impossible to him. He is extremely self-reliant and decides and acts instantaneously. Othello was trustful and put entire confidence in the honesty of Iago, who has been his companion in the military expedition. This confidence was misplaced, and we happen to know it; but it was no sigh of stupidity in Othello. For his opinion of Iago was the opinion of practically everyone who knew him as an honest man. Not trusting him and to be unmoved by his warnings of so honest a friend would have been quite unnatural in Othello. Moreover, Iago does not bring these warnings to the husband who had lived with a wife for months and years but Othello was newly married and could not have known much of Desdemona before his marriage.
Towards the close of temptation scene (Act III, Scene iii), Othello is confused and deeply troubled but not essentially jealous. Here, the source of his sufferings is the wreck of his faith and his love. It is the feeling “If she be false, O then Heaven mocks itself.” When Othello returns (Act III, Scene iii) Iago’s poison has worked and he seems to burn like the “mines of sulphur”. He furiously demands proof and in return hears the maddening tale of Cassio’s dream followed by a lie by Iago that he saw, “Cassio wipe his beard” with the “handkerchief”. The madness of revenge is in Othello’s blood, and hesitation is a thing he never knew. He passes judgment and controls himself to make his sentence a solemn vow.