BLOG 12 - The Duke's contradictory character in Twelfth Night

In William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, the Duke presents men as fickle and contradictory.  For example, in the beginning of the play, the Duke says,

            If music be the food of love, play on,

            Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting.

            The appetite may sicken and so die.

            That strain again, it had a dying fall;

            O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound

            That breathes upon a bank of violets,

            Stealing and giving odor.  Enough, no more;

            ‘Tis not so sweet now as it was before. (I.i.1-8)

At first the Duke invites the musicians to play.  He asks for more and more: “Give me excess of it.”  Then, a couple lines later, he is begging them to stop playing.  He says, “Enough, no more”.  Within the first eight lines of the play, the Duke cannot make up his mind.  He reveals his character as indecisive and inconsistent.

            Then, in Act two, scene four, the Duke explains how a woman’s love is superficial, but a man’s love is very deep:

            There is no woman’s sides

            Can bide the beating of so strong a passion

            As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart

            So big to hold so much; they lack retention.

            Alas, their love may be called appetite,

            No motion of the liver but the palate,

            That suffers surfeit, cloyment, and revolt;

            But mine is all as hungry as the sea

            And can digest as much.  Make no compare

            Between that love a woman can bear me

            And I that I owe Olivia.  (II.iv.93-103)

With that said, the audience can see how arrogant the Duke’s claim is – that a man’s love is far more profound than that of a woman.  With Viola’s character, Shakespeare proves the Duke to be a contradictory man.  While the Duke thinks Viola is a man, Viola is completely in love with him.  From the beginning of the play, to the end of the play, her love is unwavering.  The Duke on the other hand goes from loving Olivia to, at the drop of a hat, loving Viola.

BLOG 11 - Ophelia's ambiguous character in Hamlet

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the seemingly innocuous character Ophelia draws my attention.  What is her purpose? Why has Shakespeare created such an ambiguous character.  In the beginning of the play, Ophelia behaves so obediently to her father and brother.  Each time they command her to do something, she complies.  Yet, in Act two, scene two, Hamlet says to Ophelia’s father, “For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, / being a good kissing carrion – Have you a daughter?” (II.ii.181-182).  When Polonius’ response is yes, Hamlet continues: “Let her not walk i’ th’ sun.  Conception is a / blessing, but as your daughter may conceive, friend, / look to’t” (II.ii.184-186).  Throughout the play, Ophelia presents herself to the audience as naïve, innocent, and obedient.  And up until Hamlet says this about Ophelia, there is no reason to think that Ophelia is anything but pure.  Obviously, in this citation, Hamlet is hinting to the fact that Ophelia is a floosy.  Here Hamlet’s basically telling her father, “Don’t let that one out of the house.  She’ll go around breeding with everyone in town.” 

            This remark seems completely out of character for Ophelia until the end of the play.  In Act four, scene five, Ophelia is singing:

            Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day.

                        All in the morning betime,

            And I a maid at your window,

                        To be your Valentine.

            Then up he rose and donned his clo’es

                        And dupped the chamber door,

            Let in the maid, that out a maid

                        Never departed more. (IV.v.48-55)

In this song, first Ophelia sings in first person when she sings “I a maid at your window.”  Then by the end of the stanza “Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more” suggests that Ophelia has lost her virginity.  Without this song by Ophelia, there would be no other reason to suspect her of adultery. 

BLOG 10 - treatment of women

Throughout the eight plays we have read in this class (Othello, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Shakespeare uses many different scenarios to display the treatment of women during the Elizabethan era.  While each play offers a realistic portrayal of how women were considered inferior to men, one questions till remains: what was Shakespeare’s personal opinion about the treatment of women?

            This question interests me because Shakespeare often uses a comedic approach to portraying the norms of society on stage.  In each case, Shakespeare never fails to poke fun at the society in which he lives.  For example, in The Taming of the Shrew, Kate and her sister Bianca are obviously just two pieces of property.  Neither of them have any say over their futures.  Their father basically negotiates their marriages like a business contract.  Then, when they are sold off to their new husbands, they (especially Kate) are forced to conform to the will and lifestyle of their husbands.  In example, Petruchio uses starvation and sleep deprivation among other tactics to “tame” Kate.  In this case, the treatment of women is clearly displayed as animal-like and inhumane. 

            In the play Othello, the treatment of women is similar.  First, Iago and Emilia demonstrate that women are to be used by men, as if women were some sort of convenience for men.  On the other hand, the relationship between Desdemona and Othello reveals that women, although they may be faithful and obedient, are at the mercy of their husbands who can decide to dispose of them as they please like some filthy piece of trash.  Since the play ends tragically, it shows how screwed up this type of treatment is.

            In my opinion, Shakespeare used his plays to shed some light on the evils of society.

BLOG 9 - Othello

To further my conversation about the play Othello, there are many references to virtue and vice.  Rights after Cassio has drunk too much wine, Iago says, “You see this fellow that is gone before. / He’s a soldier fit to stand by Caesar / And give him direction, and do but see his vice. / ‘Tis to his virtue a just equinox, / The one as long as th’ other.  ‘Tis pity of him.” (II.iii.114-118).  In other words, Iago is saying that just as day and night are of equal length during an equinox, Cassio’s immoral actions are equal to his moral behavior. 

            As it turns out, the equinox is not the only reference to the solar system.  In Act 3, Emilia asks Desdemona if Othello is a jealous man.  Desdemona says, “Who? he? I think the sun where he was born / Drew all such humors from him.”  (III.iv.30-31).  It seems as though Desdemona implies that the sun makes it impossible for him to be jealous.  This citation becomes even more interesting when compared with two others, which occur in Act 5.  Directly after killing his innocent wife, Othello says, “Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse / Of sun and moon, and that th’ affrighted globe / Did yawn at alteration.”  (V.ii.100-102).  In an eclipse, of course, the moon travels between the sun and the earth, blocking the light of the sun from the earth.  The metaphor is complete when Emilia asks Othello why he killed Desdemona.  Othello responds, “It is the very error of the moon.  / She comes more nearer earth than she was wont / And makes men mad.” (V.ii.110-112).  Basically, the moon symbolizes Desdemona and the “affrighted globe” symbolizes Othello.  As Desdemona said earlier, it is the sun that extracts the jealousy from Othello.  So as the moon travels too closely to the earth, or as Desdemona and Othello’s relationship has deepened, it blocks out the light of the sun, casting a dark shadow on the earth, which drives men mad.  More specifically, the blocking of the sun has made Othello jealous.  In this light, we can see how darkness symbolizes jealousy and the light represents trust.

BLOG 8 - Othello

            Throughout the play, Othello is repeatedly referred to as a devil.  In Act 5, right after Othello calls Desdemona a liar for saying that he didn’t kill her, Emilia says to him, “O, the more angel she, / And you the blacker devil!” Here, the reference is obvious.  Darkness is the devil and light is heaven or an angel.

            In addition to references to heaven versus hell, there are several instances of lightness and darkness in Othello that refer to virtue and vice.  For example, right after revealing his plan to sabotage Othello, Iago says, “I have’t! It is engendered! Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.” (I.iii. 395-396).  While “Hell and night” represent evil, “the world’s light” represents good.  Then in Act 4, Scene 3, Desdemona asks Emilia if she would cheat on her husband.  Emilia’s response is “Why would not you?” (IV.iii.65).  Of course, Desdemona is repulsed and says, “No, by this heavenly light!” (IV.iii.66).  Emilia quickly responds with, “Nor I neither by this heavenly light. / I might do’t as well i’ th’ dark.” (IV.iii.67).  Emilia implies that she would cheat on her husband, but she would also hide it.  In this case, the “heavenly light” refers to virtue or truth and the “dark” refers to vice and deception.  Iago furthers this metaphor when he stabs Roderigo and accuses him, “Kill men i’ th’ dark? – Where be these bloody thieves? - / How silent is this town! – Ho! Murder! Murder! - / What may you be? Are you of good or evil?” (V.i.63-65).  Although Iago asked Roderigo to kill Cassio, Iago is acting like he is the virtuous one by accusing Roderigo of killing men in the dark.  In all of these passages, it is clear that all things done in the light are virtuous while the crimes committed in the dark - cheating on your husband and murder – are vice.

BLOG 7 - Othello

In Shakespeare’s play Othello, lightness and darkness are, among other things, juxtaposed under the context of race.  For example, in lines 87-88 Iago says, “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe.  Arise, arise!” While referring to Othello as the uncastrated male sheep and Desdemona as the female sheep, Iago not only points out the difference in race by using adjectives like “black” and “white,” but he also insinuates that Othello is old and perverted and Desdemona is young and pure.  In the last act of the play, Othello makes another racial reference as he’s contemplating whether or not he should kill Desdemona.  He says, “Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,” (V.ii.5).  In these two passages, lightness and darkness are used to express differences in race and the stereotypes that come with race: a lustful black man and a pure white woman.

            To continue with racial references, in Act 1 the Duke implies that being white is beautiful, while being black is ugly.  After Othello and Desdemona have both professed their love for each other, the Duke says to Barbantio,  “And, noble signor, / If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.” (I.iii.288-290).  Here it is obvious that the Duke intends to compliment Othello by saying that he is virtuous.  On the other hand, the Duke is saying that in order to be attractive, Othello must be white. 

            With this in mind, it is easy to see how Shakespeare used race to take advantage of the stereotypes that his audience already had in mind.  Obviously his audience did not expect good things from a black man, so the fact that Othello started out as virtuous and courageous seems a little bit off.  Yet, it all makes sense when Othello is driven mad with jealousy.  Considering that Shakespeare’s audience was completely racist, the end of the play may have actually seemed predictable rather than tragic.

BLOG 6 - Twelfth Night

            In William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, there is an obvious homosexual theme.  For example, Viola, after hearing of the Duke and then becoming attracted to him, decides to dress as a man and serve the Duke as his eunuch.  This decision presents at least three different homosexual preponderances.  First, in Shakespeare’s time, women were not allowed to act in plays, which means that Viola’s character was being acted by a young boy.  So the young boy crossed dressed as a woman, who then dressed as a man (and pretended to be Cesario).  The first homosexual tendency is presented by the specific context of the play, whereas the second homosexual tendency can be found in Viola’s intentions.  When she learns of the Duke, why is it that the first thing that comes to mind is to cross dress and serve him as a eunuch? Every time Viola is with the Duke, she is completely smitten with him, yet presents herself as a man.  The decision to present herself as a man, is then honored in the end of the play.  When the Duke discovers that Viola is actually a woman, he may as well have said, “oh thank God, now it’s ok for me to be in love with you!” Viola and the Duke barely say anything before deciding that they are in love.  It is obvious that this romance was brewing well before the Duke knew that Viola was a woman. 

            Finally, the third homosexual tendency is presented in the relationship between Viola and Olivia.  For example, Viola is sent by the Duke to Olivia to profess his love.  While Viola, being dressed as a man, is visiting with Olivia, Olivia decides she is in love with Viola and she tells her she is in love with her.  Even though Olivia does not know Viola is not a man, the audience knows.  Therefore, it is obvious that Shakespeare intends to produce a lesbian love affair, yet justifies it to his sixteenth century English audience by having Viola dress as a man.  Evidence for Shakespeare’s intentions lies in the fact that, after Olivia professes her love to Viola, Viola continues to visit her.