Superiority;

Othello through a Marxist

Lens

By: Ashley Spencer

Ms. Fortuna
English 12H-D
8 December 2009
 Iago vs. Othello

Social
Power
Upbringing
Infer
Superior i or

Superiority
Marxism ty
through Socie
Marxism

Control of Survival of
Others the Fittest
l
Contro
 Social Upbringing
 The social class an individual was raised in will forever affect how they act and
are treated in society.
 “Of being taken by the insolent foe/And sold to slavery, of my redemption
thence/And portance in my traveler’s history.” (pg 19)
 Here, the reader learns that Othello was once a slave raised in a society
completely different than in Venice, explaining why he isn’t able to fit into
upper-class society.
 "Shakespeare's protagonist is not only richly complicated but individualized
and set apart from Venetian society in almost every aspect- in his blackness,
his past, his bearing, and, above all, his language..." (Berry 316)
 Because Othello was raised in a very low social class as a slave, it will always
affect him in society. As much as he tries to be accepted into a higher class,
by marrying the daughter of a duke and attaining government titles, he still is
not able to fit in like Iago does, who was born and raised in this society.
 Control of Others
 An individual of a higher social class usually has more power and control
over others due to their social superiority.
 “I'll pour this pestilence into his ear”
 Here, the reader learns that Iago is trying to manipulate Othello and
control his mind by telling him lies
 "Othello falls finally through some coincidence of a failure in himself and the
wonderful persistence of Iago's improvisations." (Arthos 94)
 “Through the medium of psychological suggestion, aided by eavesdropping,
false report, and manipulation of the evidence, [Iago] works upon the
imagination of the suggestible Othello that catastrophe is inevitable."
(McCloskey 27)
 Being from the higher social class originally, Iago is able to control Othello’s
mind and actions and manipulate Othello, causing Othello to have an even
more difficult time fitting into society. Othello, despite his military title, simply
lacks the power and control Iago uses.
 Survival of the Fittest
 A person born in a higher social class will gain more in life and have an easier time than one
who tries to fit into a higher social class. In this sense, the fitter individual with more
experience and knowledge wins.
 “Then must you speak/Of one that loved not wisely, but too well./Of one not easily jealous,
but being wrought,/Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,/Like the base Judean,
threw a pearl away/Richer than all his tribe. Of one whose subdued eyes,/Albeit unused to
the melting mood,/Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees/Their medicinal gum.” (pg 127)
 At this point Othello has realized his downfall and his mistakes throughout the play. It is
after this realization that Othello kills himself, showing that he could not survive the new
society tried to fit into.
 "Othello has emerged as the archetypal classical tragic hero (defying... and bravely
confronting the destiny which has been ordained for him), or as the Christian tragic hero (the
good man who, by one irremedial error in judgment, dooms himself...)" (Burgess 208)
 Because Iago had more experience living in the Venice society, he was able to survive while
Othello was not. Othello experienced a huge downfall, eventually leading to his own death,
while Iago lost very little, making Iago superior to Othello.
 Synthesis

No matter how talented,

intelligent or driven an
individual is, they are not able
to fit into a society they were
not raised in based on the
Critical Marxist theory.
 Bibliography
 Othello's Alienation , Edward Berry
Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 30, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (Spring,
1990), pp. 315-333
Published by: Rice University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/450520

 The Fall of Othello , John Arthos

Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Spring, 1958), pp. 93-104
Published by: Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2867231

 The Motivation of Iago , John C. McCloskey

College English, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Oct., 1941), pp. 25-30
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/371329

 Othello's Occupation , C. F. Burgess

Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Spring, 1975), pp. 208-213
Published by: Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2869251