Using Othello as a Comparative Text: Theme or Issue 2. Theme or Issue


A theme or issue in a text is a central idea or topic of interest within the story. There are many universal themes in literature, including relationships, morality, identity, conflict and power. The author’s presentation of a theme often challenges the reader to think about human nature and to distinguish between right and wrong.


Comparing themes can broaden our understanding of what it means to be human and allow us to experience, at a safe distance, the struggles characters go through as they confront and seek resolutions to their difficulties.


We all need to know ourselves, to distinguish between appearance and reality, come to terms with growing up, face the finality of death, understand the destructive consequences of hatred and violence – and the redeeming power of love. Great writers provide ways of enabling us to do this.


The impact of a key scene or turning point in a Shakespearean play such as Othello will influence our understanding of the theme or issue. Are questions raised in the scene? What point is the playwright making? Are the main characters developing or not? What techniques is the playwright using to communicate his theme? Is the treatment comic or tragic?


Remember!


Various themes are likely to overlap at times. For example, identity, gender and power are all closely interlinked in Othello.


Exploring Theme or Issue in Othello Drama conveys its message primarily through:


Š character Š plot Š setting Š dialogue Š atmosphere


Š mood Š movement Š sound Š imagery and symbols Š soliloquies, asides


O, blood, blood, blood!


Othello Act 3, Scene 3, l.498


Othello


Exploring the Theme of Relationships through Character Study


Othello’s dysfunctional relationships with himself, his society and other characters leads inescapably to the play’s tragic outcome. Othello, originally a heathen Moor and now senior military officer, wants to be part of Venice, a white Christian society radically different from anything he has previously known.


‘Valiant Othello’


At the start of the story, the protagonist is introduced to the audience at the height of his power, ‘hotly called for’ to defend the state against the Turkish enemy. He is ‘brave Othello’, who is respected by all those who ‘served him’. Initially, he is comfortable facing up to challenges. Under threat from Brabantio’s search party, he uses his military experience to judge the right time to engage in violence, ‘Were it my cue to fight, I should have known it’.


From the age of seven, Othello has spent his life in ‘feats of broil and battle’ at the centre of an all-male world where he has pursued ‘Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war’. The heroic leader on the battlefield demands certainty and will act decisively, ‘once in doubt/ Is once to be resolved’. The Moor is a highly competent professional soldier, but he lacks self-knowledge and is unaware that not all situations can be dealt with by military tactics. This leads him to make a series of disastrous decisions in his personal relationships.


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