Of the numerous functions that the soliloquies of Shakespeare perform in the tragedies, the exposition of human relationship is one of the most significant. In addition to revealing the nature of the characters involved and exposing their bent of mind, the soliloquies also serve to expose the kind of relationships in which the characters stand to each other within the narrative structures of the plays. In fact, the soliloquies make it abundantly clear as to how human relationships provide the foundation upon which everything else comes to be built in the world of Shakespeare’s tragedies. For, it is eventually these relationships among the different characters that shape the course of events to follow. As they struggle and survive in the little world of man amidst the contingent conditions of life, the characters in the world of the plays naturally encounter different strands of relationships. Relationships between fathers and sons, (King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet, Gloucester and his sons), fathers and daughters (Lear and his daughters; Brabantio and his daughter), Mothers and sons (Gertrude and Hamlet, Coriolanus and Volumnia) husbands and wives (Othello and Desdemona; Macbeth and Lady Macbeth), brothers and brothers (King Hamlet and Claudius; Edgar and Edmund), brothers and sisters (Laertes and Ophelia), sisters and sisters (Regan, Goneril and Cordelia), Kings and Princes ( King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet), Tyrants and subjects (Macbeth and his subjects) etc — all come to influence the narrative. It is within these relationships, again that we get to discern the perennial clash between such forces like the good and the ugly, the sinister and the generous, the corrupt and the upright, the just and the unjust, true and false –– the kind of relationships, in other words, that impede or accelerate the action of the play.
This is an attempt to scrutinize the soliloquies with regard to the nature of relationships that exist among the characters in the play ‘Othelo’. Here it will be exemplified how the collective revelation as evidenced from the soliloquies in the context of the relationships serves to explain the genesis and the culmination of the tragic import in the play under consideration.
In spite of the immense noble attributes of Othello as a man- the one quality that steals away from his grace and dignity is his vulnerability. And this is something that we come to gather from his dealings with the people he comes across in the domestic world of the play that is far removed from the no nonsense world of soldierly rigidity. Strangely enough, the intrepid disposition, characteristic of his solid military underpinning and the cause of his amorous triumph gives in to a most uncharacteristic timidity, alien to his natural inclinations when it comes to the private universe of human relationships. As he enters this world of domestic habits, untrained and untutored, it does not take much time for him to betray his apprehensions and misgivings within the intricate web of human relationships, especially in the wake of the notorious provocations orchestrated by the execrable malignity of Iago. As a result, even after emerging as a strong character throughout the play, Othello succumbs to his weakness partly because of his age and colour and partly because of his ignorance of the corrupt dimensions of human relationships. Iago, the slimy Venetian is aware of the weaknesses of Othello and is determined to exploit the situation arising out of Othello’s vulnerability to his full advantage.
Thus when Cassio greets Desdemona for the first time at the sea port of Cyprus with great respect, Iago sees an opportunity here and decides to use the relationship between them to further his desire for revenge on both Othello and Cassio. Thus he states in his aside:
He takes her by the palm.
Ay, well said, whisper. With as little a
webas this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio.
(II.i.166-69)
Immediately after this, when Othello arrives and greets his wife lovingly, although he exchanges courteous greetings with Othello displaying in the process, a great show of respect, Iago exposes the kind of jeopardy involved in Othello’s relationship with him without the former’s awareness of the same:
That Cassio loves her, I do well believe it;
That she loves him ‘tis apt and of great credit.
The Moor, howbe’t that I endure him not,
………………………………………………….
Abuse him to the Moor in the rank garb—
…………………… ’Tis here, but yet confused.
Knavery’s plain face is never seen till us’d. (II i 281-307)
The soliloquy well shows the dangerous consequences of relationships based on blind faith. Iago knows full well the strengths and weaknesses of Othello and behaves in a manner that he becomes the closest confidant of his worst enemy, so much so that the latter exclaims in a soliloquy:
This fellow’s of exceeding honesty,
And knows all qualities with a learned spirit
Of human dealings.
………………………………………………
……………….yet ‘tis the plague of great ones;
Prerogative are they less than the base.
‘tis destiny unshunnable, like death.
Even than this forked plague is fated to us
When we do quicken. (III iii 262-283)
One perceives the irony of Othello’s absolute trust in his relationship with Iago, without being the least suspicious of the latter’s sinister intents. This one relationship of which Othello should have been most suspicious not only makes him an easy victim of appearance but ironically makes him suspicious of all other precious and genuine relationships allowing him thereby to pave the way for his own doom. It is owing to this relationship only that Othello’s world collapses. The seeds of jealousy planted in him by Iago sprout so rapidly that Othello finds himself isolated from all the other characters of the play. In fact, jealousy takes its toll on Othello to the extent that he actually subscribes to certain inappropriate interpretations about the relationship between Desdemona and Cassio. Consequently, Othello’s world of personal relationships goes haywire. This fact is clearly highlighted in the soliloquies mouthed by Othello.
Towards the end, It is heart rending to see Othello weeping inconsolably. He is deeply shocked to learn the truth about his poor wife. He is now full of remorse and wants to surrender. He feels like a ‘cursed slave’ and wants the ‘devils’ to ‘whip him’ out of scorn for himself. Tragedy is at its height when we see him weeping aloud uttering the most heart rending words:
‘O Desdemona! Dead! Desdemon! Dead! O! O!’
Coming back to the aspect of soliloquies and relationships, we discover as to how the soliloquies uttered by Iago help the audience comprehend and gauge his relationship with the other characters in the play as well.
For instance, Iago’s soliloquy in Act I sc iii shows how he manipulates Roderigo with false assurances of a rock solid relationship between the two of them:
Thus do I ever make my fool my purse
For I mine own gained knowledge should profane
……………………………………….
I ha’t! it is ingendered. Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s Light
(I iii 381-402)
Iago’s sudden change of attitude towards Roderigo from friend to fool and the way in which Iago uses Roderigo and manipulates him for his own use shows us his ruthless and very cunning nature. He tricks Roderigo into giving him money for reasons which the audience knows to be false. On the other hand, Roderigo believes him to be true. The audience learns about Roderigo’s gullibility and Iago’s manipulativeness from this soliloquy.
‘I hate the Moor’— this single expression sums up Iago’s approach and behavioral pattern and answers the audience’s quest as to why Iago is bent upon ruining Othello. Shakespeare with his profound understanding of human nature knows well the emotions and nuances involved in a relationship. What the soliloquies in Othello, therefore, reveal is the fact of Shakespeare’s ability to articulate most effectively both the negative and the positive aspects of human relationships. Thus while he shows Othello as a ‘slave of passion’ ready to kill and die for the sake of the purity of relationships, however, mistaken his notions of purity or otherwise might be, he presents Iago as someone who thinks of virtue in matters of relationship as just a ‘fig’.
Dr KARABI BHARALI
Phone no: 9864258844
