Discussing F. R. Leavis' interpretation of the character of Othello and his tendency to self-dramatise.
(From F. R. Leavis, 'Diabolic Intellect and the Noble Hero, 1937.)
Literary critic F. R. Leavis argues that Othello completely self dramatises and dies relishing his own performance due to having not learned from his suffering. He argues that Othello is “ruined, but he is the same Othello in whose essential make up the tragedy lay: the tragedy doesn’t involve the idea of the hero’s learning through suffering.” Here, Leavis seems to be arguing that the real cause of tragedy is the unchanging character of Othello. He argues that Othello’s hamartia is present throughout. He is plagued by jealousy, arrogance and poor judgement from the beginning, imploring Iago to elaborate on his claims and being visibly disturbed by even the most unfounded accusations, to the end when he kills himself and effectively writes his own obituary through dictating it to his audience. Although this is a plausible interpretation, to say that Othello learns nothing through suffering through the course of the whole play seems a little extreme. His character undertakes a dramatic shift due to the suffering Iago causes him from a composed, respected and eloquent general to a paranoid, violent murderer. While this suffering doesn’t cause him to learn anything positive, he does learn more about himself and his position in society. Prior to Iago’s influence, Othello does struggle with his place in society, however, he doesn’t seem to see himself as ‘other.’ This shifts dramatically as he learns how he is perceived by other characters through events such as Brabantio’s rejection. This knowledge exacerbates his paranoia and by the end he condemns his own marriage as unnatural, blaming his race for her lost love in stating “for I am black.” Therefore, Othello arguably does learn through suffering, however the tragedy is that this knowledge doesn’t end his suffering, but furthers it. If Leavis specifically means learning from his suffering after he realising the truth, arguably there isn’t a proper chance for him to learn. He is so overcome with guilt and is unable to face the reality of his actions that he feels compelled to kill himself. Although Leavis highlights his suicide as proof that he hasn’t learned, it could also be interpreted evidence that he has learned through suffering that he is able to recognise his hamartia and maybe this is why he feels compelled to kill himself.
Leavis states that in “Contemplating the spectacle of himself, Othello is overcome with the pathos of it.” His assertion that Othello sees himself as a “spectacle” suggests that Othello is seeing himself from the perspective of an outsider, more focused on the image of himself than the emotion of the tragedy he is experiencing. In his last lines, Othello does seem to prioritise how he will be seen, saying “Set you down this” in order to dictate the view of himself he wants to live on once he is dead. Although this self-dramatisation is not obvious throughout the play, there are some instances in which his confidence is noticeable and potentially self-dramatising, for example, in response to being accused of witchcraft, he claims to have a “perfect soul.” On top of this his retelling of his life to charm Desdemona could be seen as self-dramatising, although it is impossible to know the extent of this as the only recount of his life we know comes from his own retelling. However, the critic fails to wonder why this self-dramatisation is present in his character. Perhaps because of his race, this self-dramatisation is necessary in order to be respected. He has had to learn how to stress his achievement and it has become a part of how he perceives himself. In his final speech, he knows he must implore the spectators to remember his success as a general instead of just the tragedy that has just occurred or it will be forgotten and instead, he will be remembered as just a murderous ‘other.’ It is clear this is playing on his mind through his references to the “base Indian” and “circumcised dog” which he compares himself to. He uses imagery from the war, however this time he is the enemy and must retain the role of general by killing himself. Having worked his whole life to not be seen as an outsider and he knows that if he dies without trace of the composed, eloquent general that all he has worked for will be erased because of the contemporary prejudices against his race. As well as Othello trying to remind his spectators, this could also be Shakespeare deliberately reminding the audience that he had been a good general before Iago’s manipulation, thereby reinforcing the tragedy. While Leavis’ argument that Othello self-dramatises is an interesting interpretation, he fails to examine why this could be a part of his character and how far this quality could actually affect the events of the play.
'Othello and Desdemona' Antonio Degrain 1880
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