Othello and Imposter Syndrome

This article mainly applies two psychoanalytic notions to Shakespeare's tragedy Othello (1622), namely castration anxiety and the mirror stage. It argues that Othello is strengthened by Desdemona and his high military rank as the general of the Venetian army. Against common postcolonial readings of the play, we argue that Othello experiences castration anxiety metaphorically, i.e. he gets anxious about losing such things that make him strong in Venice. In addition, Othello goes through the mirror stage metaphorically as well. He makes the assumptions that he is backed up by his military rank and his wife, that Iago is honest with him, and that the absence of the handkerchief-which signifies loyalty to him-indicates that his wife is unfaithful to him. After he believes Iago's lie that his wife has an affair with Cassio, Othello gets so anxious that he kills his wife, and after realizing that his assumptions have been all false and that he is castrated and no longer attached to his wife and his post, he self-destructively commits suicide. Othello's anxiety about losing his authority and his shattered self-image as a betrayed husband are ultimately intertwined. Hence, this article offers fresh insights into Shakespearean plays by reading one representative piece, Othello, against some trends in literary theory not known during Shakespeare's times but universal in their application to literary texts.

Among the literary works involving racial issues, Shakespeare's Othello holds a special status due to the fact that it is one of the earliest literary works which touched upon the identity problem of blacks in Europe. Referring to Shakespeare's Othello, Caryl Philips examines the issue of identity crisis and trauma in his The Nature of Blood with a keen eye on the ambitions and feelings of a black character who moves from South to Venice on a private mission. The main purpose of this study is to reveal the struggle of a black man, Carly Philips' Othello, who suffers from a deep identity crisis imposed on him by the society he lives in, and to discuss to what extent the Venetian environment has been influential in shaping Othello's identity and thus examine the trauma Othello experiences. This paper delves deep into the inner conflicts Othello experiences, uncovers his trauma, and focuses on his efforts to reform his identity in conformity with his environment. The newly gained experiences in this foreign environment reformats Othello's original identity and this reformation period turns out to be a process in which Othello leaves his original self and accommodates himself with the newly gained social codes.

In Shakespearean literature, one can find themes that challenge the Elizabethan conventional way of thinking and life, and the tragedy of Othello is no exception. In a dramatic presentation, Shakespeare challenges the way in which Black people are seen in Elizabethan society by placing a Moor in the context of Venice, Italy who is both hated and respected in his place in a racist society. There is no doubt that there is racism in Elizabethan society. According to Eldred Jones, during the era in which Othello is composed, Queen Elizabeth enacts legislation that calls for all Black people to leave the country (Jones, 1994). Racism is not the core theme of the dramatic piece; however, the existence of racism is illustrated and expressed via Shakespeare's artistic medium. Just as feminism, greed, jealousy, hubris, and varying other matters dealing with the human spirit do not seepage Shakespeare's consideration, nor do race matters. Furthermore, just as he dramatizes human issues, he dramatizes race matters. There are fictional elements in 2

IJOHMN (International Journal online of Humanities)

In Shakespearean literature, one can find themes that challenge the Elizabethan conventional way of thinking and life, and the tragedy of Othello is no exception. In a dramatic presentation, Shakespeare challenges the way in which Black people are seen in Elizabethan society by placing a Moor in the context of Venice, Italy who is both hated and respected in his place in a racist society. There is no doubt that there is racism in Elizabethan society. According to Eldred Jones, during the era in which Othello is composed, Queen Elizabeth enacts legislation that calls for all Black people to leave the country (Jones, 1994). Racism is not the core theme of the dramatic piece; however, the existence of racism is illustrated and expressed via Shakespeare’s artistic medium. Just as feminism, greed, jealousy, hubris, and varying other matters dealing with the human spirit do not seepage Shakespeare’s consideration, nor do race matters. Furthermore, just as he dramatizes human issues, he dr...

DISCRIMINATION IS EVIL: Essays on Literary Masterpieces, 2020

Jealousy and Regret Human nature is unalike, and one should be more careful about factors that affect their emotions. Shakespeare states that we should suppress our negative feelings and shape our lives accordingly. Shakespeare created a spectacular work by his strong writing skills and reflected the weaknesses of human beings through the charisma of Othello, the deceit of Iago, and the relationship between love and hate. For instance, Iago's personality in Othello is a sick person's psychology who has come to harm humanity. Shakespeare has chosen the theme of jealousy for this *

2011

This paper attempts to trace how Shakespeare's Othello reflects the deeprooted Eurocentric ideology of the Elizabethan people and show how such views created distinctions like self vs. other, master vs. slave, civilized vs. savage, white vs. black, good vs. evil, strong vs. weak, occident vs. orient. These views had such a deep impact that many writers have portrayed the Europeans as superior and the ‗self' as belonging to the ‗centre' or ‗Occident,' whereas people in faraway lands are shown as inferior and the ‗other' belonging to the ‗margin' or ‗Orient'. In Elizabethan England, African men were regarded as illiterate, barbaric, lustful womanizers who were the white man's property and apt to be used as servants. These views have been handed down century after century. However, in the play Othello Shakespeare breaks away from these beliefs and introduces an African man who disregards such stereotypical views and thus shocking his audience with this deviation from the norm. He presents a reality that African men are indeed polite, educated, loyal and faithful husbands. Shakespeare even makes Othello more prejudiced against his own culture than against another race.