All love and no war makes Othello a dull man

The first thing we hear about Othello in the play, other than the fact that he is banging a proper white lady, is that he is a phenomenal soldier.  However, from the earliest moments in the play, his military status and precedence affects his married life. For example, he asks for“fit disposition” for his wife after being ordered to Cyprus.  While Desdemona is used to better “accommodation,” she still follows Othello. No matter what Othello does or where he has to go, she will be right there beside him.  Likewise, he is happiest when he has her by his side in the midst of military conflict or business.  The military also provides Othello with a means to gain acceptance in Venetian society. He is constantly berated by racial slurs, however whenever someone brings up his prowess on the battle field, he immediately gains top recognition.  While the Venetians in the play are generally fearful of an ethnic person being introduced into white society through his marriage to Desdemona, they all respect and honor him as a soldier.  While at first it may seem like love and heroism work marvelously together, as Othello woos Desdemona through tales of his feats in battle, that is not necessarily the case. Once the Turks are defeated, Othello is left without anything to do: the last act of military administration we see him perform is the viewing of fortifications in the extremely short second scene of Act III. Once battle is removed from the picture, Othello begins to second guess everything else in his life, including Desdemona. Iago capitalizes on this uneasiness by essentially calling him unsoldierly. Then he persuades Othello Desdemona has been unfaithful, and in his insecurity, Othello believes him and ultimately ends his life because of it.  So while battle is in the picture, Othello is great, once it is over, we see the rest of his life crumble with it.

Looking at Othello (The Character)

When we first begin the play, Othello, we hear Iago talking to Desdemona's father about how a "black ram" is defiling his "white ewe".  Not a very good impression for a character that the play is supposed to be about.  The line immediately gives us a negative impression of Othello, and we are confused even more when we meet him and find that he is a very likable, nobel, and honest man.  This distinction introduces one of the major elements in the play - racism.  Still in act 1, scene 1, we hear him referred to as; “the Moor” (I.i.57), “the thick-lips” (I.i.66), “an old black ram” (I.i.88), and “a Barbary horse” (I.i.113).  His off color is not without its downsides though.  In a social context, people around him are drawn in by his exotic nature and charm.  Due to the fact that he has an immediate barrier to overcome, a much heavier weight is placed on his charisma in order to make friends.  The weirdest part about Othello to me is his insistence to be viewed as an outsider.  For example, in spite of his obvious eloquence in Act I, scene iii, he protests, “Rude am I in my speech, / And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace” (I.iii.81–82).  It almost seems as though he doesn't have enough confidence in himself to overcome this.  He is not rude in his speech at all, and yet he still belittles himself when he speaks to others, which raises the question - is it humility or lack of self-confidence?  The only time Othello really loses composure is after Iago repeatedly assures him the Desdemona has been unfaithful.  Yet a short while later, Othello regains his composure and, once again, seduces both the characters and readers with his speech.  Then he kills himself, Shakespeare is so unoriginal.

Marrying for Money in The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew is the first romantic comedy we read, and the play focuses principally on the romantic relationships between men and women.  In this respect, the play is a typical romantic comedy. However, unlike other Shakespearean comedies, The Taming of the Shrew does not conclude its examination of love and marriage with the wedding.  It is much more of a "realistic" play that A Midsummer Night's Dream, and instead of having the love end in marriage, it offers a glimpse into the future lives of married couples, one that lets us see the social dimension of love.  The Taming of the Shrew places heave emphasis the economic aspects of marriage—specifically, how economic considerations determine who marries whom. We see this in one of the first confrontations between Katerina and Petrucio, when he claims he was worked out the financial details with her father, and the dowry is already in order.  The play tends to explore romantic relationships from a social perspective, and seems to place more importance the financial basis for marriage rather than the inner passions of lovers. As such, marriage becomes a transaction involving the transfer of money. Lucentio wins Bianca’s heart, but he is given permission to marry her only after he is able to convince Baptista that he is rich.  Bianca has almost no say in the matter, and it is purely about money to her father.

Examining Theseus

A Midsummer Night's Dream is to me, the most interesting of Shakespeare's comedies.  The very first character we are introduced to is Theseus, who is the duke of Athens. Theseus is a hero from Greek mythology—he refers to the fact that he’s Hercules' cousin at one point—so his presence signals that the play takes place in a mythical Greek past. This is something that we have never seen before from Shakespeare.  The majority of his plays are set in "real" time periods, so again, if the first character we meet tells us we are in a mythical setting, we can expect to see a good amount of magic throughout the play.  At the beginning of the play, Theseus has recently returned from conquering the Amazons, a race of warrior women, and is about to marry the conquered Amazon queen, Hippolyta. Because of this impending wedding, the mood of the play is one of holiday festivity, characterized by a heightened sense of expectation and anticipation. Theseus himself projects confidence, authority, and benevolent power, and is probably the driving character throughout the play.

Comedies vs Tragedies

After reading about 5 of Shakespeare's plays, I have begun to notice an extreme difference in his style, construction, and overall flow depending on the genre.  First, the comedies.  The first comedy we read, A Midsummer Night's Dream, begins with a marriage - a very good sign for the rest of the play to follow. Throughout the plays, there is strong evidence of wit and sophistication in the majority of the characters, even though most comedies include characters of lower classes than the histories or tragedies.  In many instances, we even see the lower class teasing and outwitting the upper class - something that was very seldom seen in the Elizabethan age.  Finally, in Shakespeare's comedies, we see many more characters and a wider view of society as a whole.  As for structure, the comedies are usually much more confusing to read and follow due to the multiple levels of interwoven plots and plays within plays.  With Shakespeare's tragedies on the other hand, the structure is the exact same for almost all of his plays.  He uses the structure of the Freytag Pyramid, which consists of 5 parts: Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouncement.  Pretty much, if you want to sift through the crazy language of his tragedies and get to the meat of the play, read act 3.  In regards to his writing style in the tragedy genre, we see a much bigger central character or hero, who has a tragic flaw that proves to be his demise in act 3.  Shakespeare writes the character so that he retains our sympathy while still causing us to feel pity and terror for what will happen to him.  The tragedies are always focused around strong noble families, and the lowest class usually seen is a guard - a stark difference from comedies.  Towards the end of his writing career, Shakespeare began to meld the two genres together in what became romances... apparently he got tired of the same old structure.

Hamlet's letter to Ophelia in 2.2

Act 2 Scene 2 of Hamlet is perhaps one of the most important scenes in the entire play.  One of the questions that has troubled scholars for years is concerning the rapid and extreme change of Hamlet's character.  Act 1 scene 5 shows him very focused, rigid, and immobile; while in 2.2, we see a poetic beauty in Hamlet that has since been missing.  The letter her wrote, read by Polonius is a prime example.  Hamlet writes, 

“Doubt thou the stars are fire,  
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,

  But never doubt I love.

 O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers. I have not art to reckon my groans, but that I love thee best, oh, most best, believe it. Adieu.

  Thine evermore, most dear lady,

  whilst this machine is to him,

    Hamlet.”

 

These lines are some of the most poetically beautiful ever written by Shakespeare, and to come from a character who was a polar opposite two scenes before is a very stark changes that raises many questions. The characters around while Polonius reads the letter simply take it as Hamlet finally snapping - they think he has gone completely insane.  I however think that Hamlet is in full control all the time, and simply uses the letter to show even though he has changed, he knows exactly what he is doing in courting Ophelia

Understanding Hamlet (the character)

When I think of Hamlet, the first adjective that comes to mind is enigmatic.  Hamlet changes his personality and the inner workings of his mind so many times throughout the course of the play that there is no concrete definition of who he really is.  The best part is that Hamlet is very aware of who he is and what he is doing; he just doesn’t want everyone else to know.  He even tells his mother that there is more to him than meets the eye.  One of the most defining and amazing characteristics of Shakespeare’s writing is his ability to convey a subtle sense of uncertainty and deftness through Hamlet’s soliloquies.  This style is what really raises all of the questions as to who Hamlet really is.  During the beginning of the play, we see Hamlet as a contemplative university student who has his world crumble with the death of his father.  With his father’s death, Hamlet becomes obsessed with death; he constantly wonders about the afterlife, suicide, and what happens physically to bodies one we die.  These thoughts, combined with his obsession to frame his uncle for the death of his father causes Hamlet’s sanity to come into question.  The strangest part about all of his intellect and thoughtfulness is how openly they betray his actions.  While in his mind he is very careful and deliberate, his actions are brash and irrational.  The easiest example is when he stabs Polonius blindly without even checking to see whom it is.  It is the clash of these two very different personality traits that cause us as readers to constantly question who Hamlet really is.  Is he actually insane or is it just a game he is playing?  Not knowing the answer at the end of the play doesn’t help either – it’s just Shakespeare’s way of toying with his audience.