| Shakespeare often uses humor NOT ONLY to offer a bit of comic relief BUT ALSO to underscore a certain key idea. How does he use humor in Othello to highlight a key message of the play? (DO NOT merely comment on the "comic relief" aspect of the humor -- these responses will not count for credit) |
Monday, December 10, 2012
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Humor is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to draw attention to a particular point or message. This is because humor has the ability to make a very strong and lasting personal connection to the audience when used effectively. Shakespeare clearly understood this concept, because he relied on humor to illustrate the main themes of not only his comedies, but also his tragedies. For example, in Othello, Shakespeare has Iago make a very unusual oath “by Janis” in order to highlight the duplicity inherent in Iago’s character. In addition, Shakespeare has the characters in Othello refer to Iago as “honest Iago” repeatedly throughout the play as a bit of dramatic irony. This is not only humorous, but also clearly emphasizes the message that Iago’s character is anything but honest. Thus, by using humor to highlight only certain portions of his tragedy, Shakespeare is able to clearly manifest the play’s main themes to the audience and overtly distinguish them from the parts of the play that are merely background information or machinery necessary to drive the plot.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the humor utilized in Othello, I think about one particular character: Roderigo. From the start we see him as a fool, longing for the love of the virtuous Desdemona. We also see his desperation through his scheming with Iago in exchange for money. And ultimately we see his failures, through his lack of obtaining his love and through his death by a man whom he thought he trusted. He is a fool, present to provide a few quick laughs for the audience. Yet his presence in the play is used to force us to think about our foolish nature. His pursuit of Desdemona mirrors a goal that we all have once had to achieve. His scheming with Iago represents the passion we have to accomplish that goal with no regards for anyone or anything else. And his ultimate demise represents consequences we have all suffered from pursuing this feat with greed and selfishness. Roderigo has a sense of exaggeration about his actions which makes us laugh, but he is planted by Shakespeare in order to reiterate our own shortcomings as humans and to warn us of selfishness and greed inherent within all of us. In this way, Shakespeare is making us laugh at ourselves without us even knowing it.
ReplyDeleteMost of the humor that is seen in Othello is innuendo. There is a great presence of sexual jokes in each scene that add not only comic relief, but a very important role in highlighting the prominent key message of sex in the play. In the first scene of the play, we see Iago and Roderigo waking up Brabantio to inform him of his daughters promiscuity. Throughout the scene there are various jabs at the sexuality of his daughter and the innuendo in comparing her and Othello to animals. This humor is seen in a lot of other Shakespeare plays, particularly ones like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. All three of these plays have the thematic element of love and lust, which is part of the reason Shakespeare adds the ironic innuendo in. By adding this humor into the dialog, Shakespeare is able to mock the universal theme of dramatic love, many of his plays happen to be about.
ReplyDeleteAs far as humor goes in Othello, there were two particular aspects of the play that both offer comedy and insight into the plays message. These are the irony of Othello's comments of "Honest Iago" and Roderigo's character as a complete fool. Roderigo is seen from Act 1 Scene 1 as a complete idiot. He is a whiny and pathetic character who actually believes that he has a shot with a woman that shows him no interest. Roderigo's foolhardiness both offers comedic relief and emphasizes how stupid little things exploded into a massive tragedy. It is Roderigo's pathetic love for Desdemona and Iago's insane suspicions that eventually cause the death of multiple characters. The amount of time that Othello refers to Iago as "honest" and trustworthy creates a great deal of irony considering the circumstances of their friendship. While these are funny little insertions, they are also key to the development of Othello's doubts. Had he not thought of Iago as being so honest and trustworthy, he never would have allowed himself to be so convinced. Furthermore, he would not have gone so far as to kill Desdemona, thus eliminating the possibility of such a tragic end.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare uses comedy throughout the entire play to draw attention to certain details. The first scene stands out among the rest and upon first impression the play actually seems like a comedy instead of a tragedy. We do not yet know Iago to be monstrous villain and we are introduced to two men both faced with a crisis that they are complaining to each other about. Both come across as fools. Roderigo is paying Iago money to help him while Iago does nothing and Iago is thinking up a plan to wage revenge against Othello, something that can be found merely comical at the time. And nobody can miss the crude, but hilarious, comment made by Iago to Barbantio. Barbantio is waken by two hooligans in the middle of the night to be told that "An old black ram is tupping your white ewe." Shakespeare's crowd must have been roaring in laughter. But, this comedy brings a hint of the conflict that will occur shortly, and it also sheds light on the racism that will play a huge part within the play. Shakespeare's use of comedy here highlights the racism, it makes it stand out to the reader. This can be found in almost all the comedy in Othello.
ReplyDeleteHumor is one of the most common ways to highlight a certain theme or motif present in the work. In Othello, I wouldn’t necessarily say I laughed, but I was definitely drawn to the more ironic parts of the play. For example, Shakespeare repeatedly uses the phrase “honest Iago” to describe one of the most dishonest and devious characters in literature. The fact that Shakespeare goes out of his way to draw attention to this aspect makes us readers think more in depth about the topic at hand. For me, I put myself I the shoes of the other characters who were desperately listening to Iago in search of the truth. I could see how they believe Iago to be honest. I think it is important to realize that these characters trust Iago with their lives, and this is what Shakespeare was trying to underscore with this bit of irony. Also in the play, the sexual and racial jokes were implemented to focus on what Shakespeare thought was important, how women and Moors were just imperfections in society. Shakespeare kept pointing out that Othello was black to draw attention to how strange it was to have a Moor in command.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tess completely. What she said about the irony of continually saying "honest Iago" is exactly right, and you can see how the other characters were able to believe he had their best interests at heart. Expanding on her point point about the racial jokes, Shakespeare obviously made a point to draw attention to Othello's race as often as possible, to the point where it became comedic. Whether it was addressing him as the Moor, or black Othello, or mentioning his thick lips, Shakespeare wanted to point out how strange it was that a black man was able to do what he was doing in society. Shakespeare's obvious comments were the key contributor to his comedic touches in Othello, and were used to highlight main points about the central characters.
DeleteI agree with Tess completely. What she said about the irony of continually saying "honest Iago" is exactly right, and you can see how the other characters were able to believe he had their best interests at heart. Expanding on her point point about the racial jokes, Shakespeare obviously made a point to draw attention to Othello's race as often as possible, to the point where it became comedic. Whether it was addressing him as the Moor, or black Othello, or mentioning his thick lips, Shakespeare wanted to point out how strange it was that a black man was able to do what he was doing in society. Shakespeare's obvious comments were the key contributor to his comedic touches in Othello, and were used to highlight main points about the central characters.
DeleteShakespeare effectively utilizes humor in Othello as a benchmark of characterization for two essential characters early on in the play. The first act, especially in scenes one and two, has multiple uses of humor that help to define the basic attributes of Iago and Roderigo. The first scene depicts Roderigo as a man who is willing to do anything for his love for Desdemona to become mutual, even if it involves paying another man to help him achieve a relationship with her. His foolish idea of paying for love helps to identify a key motif in Othello, which is obliviousness. Obliviousness is seen in Othello in many forms, especially the ignorance of Othello and Cassio to Iago’s treachery. Humor is also seen early on when Iago employs various racist remarks aimed at Othello when he is referencing Desdemona and Othello’s courting to Brabantio. He uses remarks such as “you’ll have your nephews neigh to you” in reference to Othello being a “Barbary horse.” Underneath the humor, Iago can begin to be characterized as a racist because of these remarks and this reveals at a preliminary level his deep hatred of Othello. Humor is definitely significant because it is used to point out motifs and characterization early on in Othello.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare uses irony as humor throughout Othello in order to have his audience witness the two sides of his character Iago that exists within the play. The most prominent and effective use of this is Othello's often repeated pet-name "honest Iago" for who he believes to be a respectful, close, and dear friend when in fact Iago's mischief results in the death of multiple characters. He is completely two-faced and is manipulative enough to cause everyone to truly believe in his lies. Shakespeare uses the phrase "honest Iago" to highlight the fact that the characters have no idea of his true intentions and his potential while the audience does.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I think of humor in the play Othello I think of when we had to act part of Act I out for the class. My group was highlighting the prejudice aspect of the play and we picked out certain lines like “thick-lips” and “black ram tupping your white ewe”. We changed these prejudice lines to our situation by saying “squinty eyes” and “yellow dragon tupping your white ewe” because our Othello was Asian. We did not any offense to be taken we just wanted to engrave the message of prejudice even more into the audiences minds. Not only did they think it was funny, but they also immediately knew what we were trying to portray. Shakespeare does this so well in his writing, for example by saying “thick lips” he creates comedy that helps reiterate the message. He does this also in Othello by constantly referring to Iago as “honest Iago” because he is the complete opposite of honest. When he does something like this it makes a reader question what he is saying and then laugh about how ironic it truly is. With that laughing and questioning comes a better sense of what Shakespeare is trying to portray. In using comedy Shakespeare can get a stronger and more powerful message across to readers.
ReplyDeleteComedy provides so many useful effects in a play whether it be relief for the audience, an establishment of a deeper connection with the characters, or in some circumstances enhance certain ideas of the work. In Othello, Shakespeare definitely makes use of comedy to enhance the major themes of the play. For example, Shakespeare employs racist comments like "an old black ram is tupping your white ewe" and "barbary horse" early on in the play which are comical, but really have a much deeper meaning. Early on these comments shows the general feeling of the normalcy of racism during that time period and on a deeper level start to outline Iago's hate for Othello. Another example of comedy in the play can be found in the interactions between Iago and Roderigo. Roderigo's gullible and dim-witted qualities tend to be quite laughable, however, these qualities really have a major impact on the audience's take on the characters as Roderigo brings out Iago's manipulative, evil side.
ReplyDeleteHumor has been a central tactic used by writers to draw attention to certain points in literature. By adding the humor, it makes a more lasting impression on the reader or audience. Through this humor, a stories main motifs or themes can be seen. Humor makes its appearance throughout the entire play of Othello. Considering the audience of the time, one of the earliest examples of humor is when Othello’s ship has not yet come in. During the conversation, Iago makes several provocative comments on women. Because of the sexism of Shakespeare’s time, this would have been very humorous. However, masked within this humor is one of the most dominating motifs of the play. Iago’s disrespect for everyone but himself is seen clearly in this scene. The humor of this scene draws attention to the corrupt nature that made Iago’s character famous. Through the use of humor, Shakespeare draws attention to one of the central parts of the play.
ReplyDeleteIn Othello we see that while Shakespear does use humor to offer the audience a bit of comic relief, it is used more so to bring out underlying ideas of the play. This is most clearly seen with the character of Roderigo. From the beginning the audience sees Roderigo constantly making a fool of himself. We see this when he is chasing Desdemona, as well as when he is paying Iago for his services. In a way some audience members may be able to relate to this foolishness, and naïve character of Roderigo. In this way, Roderigo can be considered as a representation of the common man and how when we are chasing our goals we can become blind sighted. There is also humor in the fact that Iago is called “Honest Iago” by Othello. While every character believes that Iago has their best interest in mind only the audience can see the irony in this relationship.
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ReplyDeleteShakespeare has always used either comedy or tragedy to express his story. Both are inherently effective but in much different ways. The way comedy is used in Othello is to strengthen the prejudices found throughout the play. The irony of the comedy in this play heightens the play. The excessive amount of times Iago is referred to as "honest Iago" creates an ironic undertone as the audience is very aware how false this is while everyone else in the play believes it to be true. It allows for the audience to be much more privy to information than anyone else and creates a dominant theme of fakery.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Othello, Shakespeare uses humor not only to add a bit of comic relief, but also to express the key, underlying ideas present in the play. Through the uses of humor, Shakespeare expresses a racial prejudice that was seen as acceptable in 16th Century Europe. Racial references are constantly made towards Othello during the play. One of these references present in the line "black ram tipping your white ewe" not only separates Othello for being black, but also separates him based on the fact that it was considered taboo for the daughter of a Senator to marry a non-white man. Interracial marriage was frowned upon in 16th century Europe. Also, terms like "barbary horse" and "thick lips" were used throughout the play. Though appearing humorous to the reader, these terms were used throughout serious conversation in the play and depict discrimination towards Othello. In modern society, many individuals would be offended by such racism in today's media. Throughout Shakespeare's time, such discrimination was considered a normalcy, and thus racial humor was allowed to reach a broad audience. The presence of racial humor in Othello represents a universal acceptance of racism in 16th century Europe.
ReplyDeleteLike as many before me said, I believe the humor lies within the irony of certain situations. It’s funny when everyone mentions just how honest and loyal Iago is because of the irony. Many of the lines Iago says directly negate the action he had previously taken. For example, he tells Othello, “"O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” Yet, Iago is guilty of the thing he warns Othello about, jealousy. This “green-eyed monster” is the reason Iago is betraying Othello.
ReplyDeleteThe humor also resides in Iago’s fickle character. He says he hates Othello for not appointing him to lieutenant and then later in his monologue he says he hates Iago because he thinks Othello slept with Emilia. Iago’s capricious nature highlights the absurdity that may reside within us all. It allows us as readers to reflect upon ourselves and see if we are guilty of the same volatile behavior as Iago.
Shakespeare's humor is not laugh out loud funny to me but with further examination of his diction and the situations he produces I have some internal chuckling. For example, when Iago swears by Janus, the two faced god, it isn't laugh out loud funny, but with further examination the absurdity of the most duplicitous character swearing by a god with two faces, it makes for some quality humor. Additionally, when Shakespeare constantly has Othello refer to Iago as honest Iago, it produces the a similar reaction. Shakespeare is using this humor to get across his point about duplicity. By having "honest" Iago swear by Janus, Shakespeare is emphasizing the absurdity of this duplicity. He is saying that his actions are so deplorable and ill-willed that it is laughable.
ReplyDeleteSure, humor is prevalent in Othello, just as it is in every other Shakespearean play. Just because Othello is a tragedy does not mean the entire play must be a dreary and dark spiral into darkness! Every the slightest bit of humor can have profound impacts. For example, Cassio getting in such an inebriated state is humorous! Of course it serves a purpose as well, in our laughter at his antics we begin to notice how absurd the situation becomes thanks to Iago. Again, every mention of Iago is either honest Iago or loyal Iago, dramatic irony at its finest. This form of humor may not make us crack up as other plays can, but in the ironic message the facade of honesty in Iago is exemplified even further. In no other manner could the audience see this as clearly as in these humorous moments, far, far more than moments of comedic relief.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning scene of the play with the argument between Iago Roderigo immediately offers comedy which foreshadows certain elements of the play and begins to establish certain messages. Iago's handling of Roderigo is very funny. It seems as if Iago is the clever friend who is always messing with the gullible, vulnerable Roderigo. This instance serves to highlight Iago's manipulative and duplicitous, something reinforced by later humor in Iago's swearing by Janus and the hilarious irony of the consistent line "honest Iago". This initial argument also reveals something about Roderigo. Readers and audience members tend to side with Iago in his interactions with Roderigo because Roderigo accepts everything Iago says and quite literally throws his money away for Iago. After all, most people would rather be the clever one in control telling all the jokes than the insecure, nervous kid who gets picked on. The ability of readers to identify with Iago, partially because of his humor, reveals something about the rest of the characters which I believe Shakespeare meant to direct at his audience. Like Roderigo, every other fool who called Iago "honest" and "good" Iago did so on almost no basis. In doing this, Shakespeare is urging readers to recognize the inability of the characters, and perhaps themselves, to distinguish between genuine truth and things that sound appeasing, the latter of which being the only things that Iago says. This rash trust embodied by all the characters but Iago demonstrates the dangers of irrational trust as Emilia, Desdemona, Othello, and Roderigo end up dead and Cassio is injured.
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ReplyDeleteIago uses humor as a way to show how the other characters of Othello view each other. The most obvious example of this humor is all of the different "nicknames" the other characters had for Othello. For example, he was consistently referred to as the black ram by the other characters. This is funny to the audience, but also acts to show just how racist the different characters are. Another example of humor in Othello is how Iago is constantly referred to as honest. To the audience, Othello is practically the embodiment of lies, but by calling him "Honest Iago," it becomes clear how deceived the characters are. It also makes the audience chuckle at the characters ignorance.
ReplyDeleteHumor is used to highlight the flaws of certain characters and scenarios with a play. Shakespeare opens the play with comedy to stress prominence of racism within the play. Othello is referred to as various black animals to show his race and to show the other characters view him as an animal. The sinister nature of Iago is presented to the audience as comedy but the characters do not see it. For example, Iago is called "Honest Iago" by multiple characters despite his relentless lying. He also swears by Janus which is a two-faced god. This is funny to the audience that he would swear to such a god and represents his duplicitous nature.
ReplyDeleteThe use of humor in Othello greatly emphasizes the contrasts between what is being said and what is actually occurring in the stories. For instance, Iago is referred to as "Honest Iago" a multitude of times in the story by many of the characters. This oxymoron draws humor from the reader to further emphasize the fact that Iago is a deceitful liar. What is more, Iago frequently refers to the twin-faced Janus when swearing something, which is funny for a christian man to do and is also a means of pointing out the duplicity of Iago.
ReplyDeleteWhile Othello is not meant to be a knee-slapping, good times comedy, Shakespeare's blatant use of irony in the description of Iago, often referred to as "honest Iago," highlights Iago's deceptive nature by not only showing that he is getting away with his deception, but he is considered to be the most trustworthy man by the other characters,and is highly esteemed by his peers. In the same way, Iago, in an aside, tells how he appears to be an "angel" to Cassio by giving him genuinely good advice, while his true intent will lead to the downfall of Cassio, Desdemona and Othello.
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