"Othello" as a "tragedy of betrayed trust"

“Othello” is a tragedy by W. Shakespeare. It was first staged on the stage of London's Globe Theater on October 6, 1604 in honor of King James I, who shortly before granted the theater troupe the right to be called "His Majesty's Servants." The tragedy was probably written in the same year. It was first published in 1622 by the London publisher T. Walkley. The source of the plot was the short story “The Moor of Venice” by D. Cintio from the 1566 collection “One Hundred Stories”, in which the story is presented as “the story of the ensign’s wife.” This story was translated into English only in the 18th century, so it remains to be assumed that either Shakespeare was familiar with its Italian or French text, or heard someone else’s detailed retelling. While maintaining the general plot line, in key moments, in creating the psychologically complex characters of the heroes, Shakespeare significantly reworked the source material: he modified the motive of revenge of the scoundrel Ensign, in the story, in love with Desdemona and rejected by her, gives a sublime character to the love of Desdemona and Othello, whom she “fell in love with.” valor,” he also said “for her sympathy for him.” The motive for Othello's jealousy was also significantly changed: in Shakespeare it is not dictated by a wounded sense of honor or the insulted pride of the husband-owner, but is the fulfillment of the real duty of a hero seeking to destroy evil in the world. Othello is not a melodramatic villain who kills out of jealousy; under such conditions, the poet could not interest us in his fate, much less create in us a touching and sublimely tragic impression. The drama here loses its narrowly personal, love meaning and rises to the highest tragic motive - to the collision of the individual with the environment.

In all mature Shakespearean tragedies, the events depicted on stage are moved away from the viewer into the depths of centuries - into antiquity or into the legendary Middle Ages. Such a chronological distance was necessary for the poet so that he could, in a generalized form, solve the biggest and most pressing problems raised by modernity. And only “Othello” is an exception in this regard. The historical event that Shakespeare introduces into his play - the attempted Turkish attack on Cyprus - took place in 1570, just 30 years before the premiere of Othello. If we consider that the English of Shakespeare's era, despite all the hostility towards their main enemies - the Spaniards, continued to admire the victory of the Spanish fleet over the Turks at Lepanto in 1571, then it becomes clear that the audience of the Globe had to react to the tragedy of the Venetian Moor like a play about modernity.

In Othello, the development of the play's action, to the greatest extent, compared to all of Shakespeare's mature tragedies, is concentrated around personal events. There is neither the Trojan War nor the clash between Egypt and the Roman Empire. Even the military conflict, ready to flare up between Venice and the Turks, turns out to be exhausted already in the first scene of the second act: the storm that spared the ships of Othello and Desdemona sent the Turkish squadron to the bottom.

Such a construction of the play can easily lead to an analysis of Othello as a tragedy of a purely personal nature. However, any exaggeration of the intimate-personal principle in Othello to the detriment of other aspects of this work ultimately inevitably turns into an attempt to limit Shakespeare's tragedy to the narrow framework of the drama of jealousy. True, in the vernacular of the whole world, the name Othello has long become synonymous with a jealous person. But the theme of jealousy in Shakespeare's tragedy appears, if not as a secondary element, then in any case as a derivative of more complex problems that determine the ideological depth of the play.

The gallery of images representing various products of Venetian civilization is crowned by the image of its most terrible representative - Iago.

The text of the play allows us to fairly fully reconstruct Iago's biography. In this case, however, one has to rely mainly on his own statements; and the properties of Iago's soul are such that many of his statements should be treated with caution.

Iago is young - he is only 28 years old, but he is no longer a newcomer to the Venetian army; Apparently his entire adult life is connected with military service. This is especially clearly demonstrated by Iago’s sincere indignation at the fact that it was not he, but Cassio, who was appointed to replace Othello’s deputy; In Cassio’s promotion, Iago sees a challenge to the normal army order, in which the one who is higher in rank and who has more years of service can first apply for promotion:

That's the curse of service,

What moves by letters, by acquaintance,

And not by seniority, when behind the first

The second one is coming.

It is clear that, in Iago’s opinion, he has enough years of service.

In the same scene, Iago mentions his participation in battles in Cyprus and Rhodes, in Christian and pagan countries; in the future, he also repeatedly recalls episodes of his combat life.

One way or another, Iago's track record is quite rich. Commentators have long paid attention to the lexical coloring of Iago’s remarks, noting in them a large number of naval metaphors that characterize the character and thus perform a very significant function. In Shakespeare's time, the image of a sailor was associated not only with the romance of overseas discoveries and pirate raids. In the eyes of the spectators of that time, the sailor was “smelly, independent, drunken, loud-mouthed and pugnacious,” in other words, the sailor of Shakespeare’s time was a typical representative of the very bottom of a democratic society. Therefore, the abundance of nautical terms and metaphors in Iago’s speech served as a precisely calculated means of emphasizing Iago’s rudeness and lack of education.

Iago's uncouthness is striking. Desdemona rightly calls the jokes that Iago makes in her presence entertainment worthy of pub regulars:

Flat tavern jokes for the amusement of old fools.

But Iago does not seek to hide his rudeness; on the contrary, he flaunts it and derives unprecedented benefits from this rudeness for himself: the guise of a simple, straightforward soldier, which Iago wears with such success, makes the rest of the characters believe in his honesty and frankness.

Iago's main, powerful and effective weapon is his sober, practical mind. Iago is a person endowed with remarkable powers of observation, which helps him form an unmistakable picture of the people around him. Very often, Iago, insidiously pursuing his secret goals, tells deliberate lies about other characters in the play. But in the moments when he, left alone on stage, speaks frankly about the people he encounters, his assessments are striking in their insight; they succinctly, but clearly and objectively express the innermost essence of the characters.

Thus, even from reviews of Cassio, about whom Iago cannot speak without irritation, the viewer learns that the lieutenant is handsome, educated, lacks practical experience, is prone to frivolous relationships, and gets drunk quickly. And all these elements of Cassio’s characterization are immediately confirmed by his behavior on stage.

Iago repeatedly calls his accomplice Rodrigo a fool; and indeed the stupidity of this character turns out to be the main feature that ultimately determines his fate.

The social characteristics of Rodrigo are very clear. He is a rich heir, a social scoundrel, squandering the estates that he inherited from his ancestors. Rodrigo belongs to polite society; he even wooes the daughter of a respected Venetian senator, one of the most influential persons in the city.

Rodrigo is ridiculous: he is stupid and cowardly, he is weak-willed to the point of tearfulness. However, the comic side does not exhaust the entire content of Rodrigo’s image. This representative of the golden Venetian youth is not endowed with the ability to think or act independently. Therefore, it is not surprising that Iago managed to make Rodrigo an obedient executor of his plans. But Iago is a smart man; he could not choose as an assistant in his atrocities a nonentity who could only amuse the public. Why did he choose Rodrigo?

It is very significant that Iago does not let Rodrigo know the essence of his plan. By pursuing his own goals, Iago simultaneously strengthens Roderigo's weak will and opens up to him a certain scope that he needs to fulfill his desires. And in the name of these desires, Rodrigo, spurred on by Iago, turns out to be capable of any crime, even murder from around the corner, as his night attack on Cassio proves.

This happens because Rodrigo is devoid of any moral principles. Brabantio refused him the house, Desdemona married a Moor. But the lust that drives Rodrigo makes him hope that with the help of a pimp he will still be able to get into Desdemona’s bedroom. That's the whole circle of his desires.

And in the eyes of Rodrigo, Iago acts as a pimp. The remark that opens the tragedy testifies to this more than convincingly:

Say no more, this is baseness, Iago.

You took the money and hid this incident.

Apparently, Rodrigo paid money to Iago, who promised the young dandy to arrange a love date. Rodrigo no less than Iago believes in the power of gold, which Shakespeare, through the mouth of Timon of Athens, branded as the universal whore of humanity. But if the pimp says that gold alone is not enough to win, that it is also necessary to stealthily kill the one whom the pimp points out as a rival, Rodrigo is ready to kill.

At the end of the play, Rodrigo makes an attempt to break with Iago, but this decision is not at all dictated by high moral considerations. Roderigo is indignant only that Iago robbed him; he intends to turn to Desdemona and ask her for the jewelry that Iago allegedly gave to her. A magnificent touch that completely exposes the pettiness and huckstering nature of Rodrigo! The disagreement between Iago and Roderigo makes Roderigo’s weak-willed meanness even more clear: as it turns out later, he agrees to kill Cassio, while at the same time having in his pocket a letter in which he, albeit in an unclear form, dissociates himself from Iago.

Iago's comments about women are usually full of embittered cynicism; and yet he makes an exception for Desdemona, speaking of her virtue and kindness.

Finally, it is Iago who provides the most precise definition of the spiritual essence of his main antagonist Othello:

The Moor is simple-minded and open-hearted.

He will take everything at face value.

Although I really hate the Moor,

He is a noble, honest man

And Desdemona will be a faithful husband,

Of which I have no doubt.

If we add to everything said above that in moments of frankness Iago gives an absolutely correct assessment of himself, then it becomes clear how deeply Iago understands people. Moreover, Iago's reviews of all the characters essentially completely coincide with what Shakespeare himself thinks about them.

The ability to understand the true nature of the people around him helps Iago quickly navigate the situation. Taking into account the peculiarities of the psychological make-up of the characters participating in a particular situation, created by himself or arising against his will, Iago can predict its further course and use it for his own purposes. A brilliant example of this is the scene in which Iago, in the presence of the hidden Othello, asks Cassio about Bianca. Iago is convinced that jealousy has already taken possession of the soul of the naive Othello; on the other hand, he knows that Cassio cannot talk about Bianca except with frivolous laughter. Comparing these data, Iago develops a plan to influence Othello:

I'll ask Cassio about Bianca.

He cannot hear about her without laughing.

When the fool laughs,

Othello will just climb the wall,

In a jealous blindness, taking

Cassio's laughter and abandon towards Desdemona.

Othello's reaction confirms that Iago's plan was calculated with utmost precision.

Iago's mind is somewhat reminiscent of a chess player's mind. When sitting down at the board, a chess player has the main goal in front of him - winning; but he does not yet know in what specific way this gain can be achieved. However, an experienced player, observing how the responses of an insufficiently prepared opponent expose the weaknesses of his position, very soon creates a tactical plan of attack and begins to foresee what consequences his moves will lead to and how the combination of these moves will allow him to achieve victory. So Iago declares war on Othello, without yet having a specific plan of attack.

Iago uses the best qualities inherent in Othello and Desdemona in order to destroy them.

In addition to his insightful mind, Iago is armed with another property that allows him to carry out his dark plans. This is his magnificent ability to hide his essence under the guise of a soldier's directness and simplicity.

Iago’s ability to wear a mask and his artistic ability to transform has no equal among all Shakespeare’s villains. At his first appearance before the audience, Iago utters an aphorism in which he most accurately defines the very essence of his character: “I am not what I seem.” But until the finale, none of the characters in the play can notice Iago’s duplicity; everyone continues to consider him honest and brave.

As the action progresses, Iago demonstrates not only his brilliant acting abilities, he also acts as the director of the criminal play he has conceived. Intelligence and the ability to disguise his plans allow Iago to use the character traits of other characters for the purposes he needs and make them instruments of his politics.

Iago behaves like a predator, guided by selfish aspirations. Almost all of his thoughts and actions are subordinated to one idea - to achieve success for himself personally, in whatever form - promotion, enrichment, etc. - this success was not expressed. The only exception to this rule is Iago’s desire to destroy Othello. The play does not contain any hint that Iago could count on the position of Moor after he succeeds in overthrowing Othello.

This predatory egoism of Iago appears in the tragedy not just as a subjective trait of his character; Iago’s self-interest is the practical application of the very harmonious system of views he developed on man and society.

Iago formulates the initial premise of his social philosophy already in the first scene. According to it, society consists of disconnected individuals. Among them there are people who follow certain moral principles and enter into relationships with other people without pursuing selfish goals; but these are fools and donkeys. Smart people serve themselves: they achieve success by relying on themselves, and achieve their goals at the expense of others. In this struggle for success, the main means is deception, the ability to hide your true intentions:

There are others

They seem to be busy for the gentlemen,

But in fact - for your own profit.

These are far from fools,

And I'm proud that I'm from their breed.

Generalizations like those on which Iago’s philosophy is based could irritate the people of Shakespeare’s era and cause an indignant reaction on their part, but these generalizations were no longer something isolated and exceptional. They most clearly reflected the disintegration of old feudal ties under the blows of new bourgeois relations based on a war of all against all.

The view of society as a collection of people in which there is a constant war of all against all also determines the assessment of individual human individuality. In this war, one of the most effective means of defense and attack is deception. A person’s appearance not only can, but must also correspond to his essence, hidden under the mask of virtue.

Iago’s all-pervasive egoism, based on the conviction that man is a wolf to man, excludes the very possibility that in Iago’s soul there would be room for love for anyone other than himself. The entire system of Iago’s relationships with other characters is built in strict accordance with this.

All of Iago's hatred is concentrated on Othello. It is so great, it takes over Iago’s soul so completely that it even goes beyond the scope of that selfish self-interest that serves the villain as a reliable compass in other cases of life.

Telling Rodrigo about his hatred of the Moor, Iago refers to some specific - justified or unfounded - reasons (“I have often told you and I repeat: I hate the Moor”). However, the true source of hatred is in the soul of Iago himself, who is organically unable to treat noble people differently

But just as all the subjective qualities inherent in Iago are ultimately determined by the social philosophy of this character, so Iago’s hatred of Othello has a social basis. Othello and Desdemona for Iago are simply noble people; by their very existence they refute Iago’s view of the essence of man - a view that he wants to present as a law that does not tolerate exceptions.

Polar opposites such as Othello and Iago cannot coexist in the same society. Where there is room for Iago, there is no room for Othello. Moreover, Othello's honesty and nobility pose a potential threat to Iago's well-being. That is why all the power of hatred for people inherent in the convinced egoist Iago is concentrated on Othello.

Iago's hatred is increased tenfold by the fact that his antagonist is a Moor. Not only racial prejudice is to blame for this, but not taking into account that Othello’s skin color exacerbates Iago’s hatred of him is tantamount to turning a blind eye to Othello’s African origins.

In the first scene, Iago utters some very remarkable words: if he were a Moor, he would not be Iago. The Moor has everything that Iago lacks - a pure soul, courage, and the talent of a commander, which ensured him universal respect. And the Venetian Iago, who considers himself by birth to belong to the highest, white breed of people, is condemned to eternal subordination to the Moor, just like Iago’s wife to the role of a servant to the Moor’s wife. This alone cannot but cause “noble” indignation in his soul.

This attitude towards the Moor is important not only for the interpretation of Iago’s individual characteristics. It makes it clear that Iago’s hatred of Othello is not just a purely personal feeling.

Othello, in appearance, is the generally recognized savior of Venice, the support of its freedom, a revered general with royal ancestors behind him. But morally he is alone and not only alien to the republic, but even despised by its rulers. In the entire Venetian council there is no one, except the Doge, who could believe in the naturalness of Desdemona’s love for the Moor, and everyone is quite seriously asking whether he resorted to “forbidden, violent means in order to subjugate and poison the young girl’s feelings?” Othello instinctively understands his role, with pain in his heart he admits that he did not have the slightest hope of captivating Desdemona, the first beauty of the proud aristocratic world, and even now he cannot explain to the senators how this happened. And his only explanation, which does not at all indicate self-confidence: “She fell in love with me for my torment.” This is what Othello says, obviously not daring to attribute Desdemona’s feelings to any of his merits. He accepts her love as an undeserved gift, as happiness, at the moment of which all that remains is to die.

When the thought that he might lose Desdemona first creeps into Othello’s soul, the Venetian commander, with a feeling of doom, remembers that he is black.

Why and for what purpose did Shakespeare make his hero black?

Much more important for answering this question are observations of the system of contrasts, with the help of which the playwright repeatedly showed the possibility of a discrepancy between the elements of a person’s external characteristics and his true essence.

No one doubts that the blackness of Othello serves as the most important means of showing the exclusivity of the protagonist of the tragedy. But the impression of Othello’s exclusivity is created not only by the color of his skin.

Black Othello comes from a royal family; in childhood or at a conscious age he converted to Christianity. He happened to stand at the deathbed of his mother, who gave him a scarf with miraculous properties. Like the epic hero, from the age of seven he learned military labor and for a long time fought together with his brother, who died before his eyes. During his wanderings, he visited distant, mysterious lands inhabited by cannibals; was captured, sold into slavery and regained freedom. During the last, quite long time, he served faithfully in the Venetian Signoria. He experienced some strange adventure in Syria, when in Aleppo, a city that was part of the Ottoman Empire, he stabbed a Turk to death for that. that he beat the Venetian and insulted the republic. as a commander of Venice, he fought in Christian and pagan lands, in Rhodes and Cyprus, where for a certain time he also performed some administrative or military-administrative functions, gaining the love of the Cypriots. Only 9 months immediately preceding the events depicted in the tragedy, Othello spent in idleness in the capital of the Venetian Republic.

The only area of ​​contact between Othello and the Venetian state is military affairs. You don’t need to have any rich imagination to imagine a Moor being the first to break into besieged enemy fortresses or galloping at the head of Venetian troops into enemy redoubts. In countless campaigns, another quality of Othello developed and strengthened, distinguishing him from the Venetian: he became a knight in the highest sense of the word.

A number of elements in the characterization of Othello show his internal opposition to Venetian society. The Moor can serve Venice in almost any position, up to the post of commander of large military formations. But he cannot organically enter this society and merge with it. And the blackness of Othello serves as a stage device of exceptional expressiveness, brought to the intensity of the symbol, which constantly reminds the viewer of the essence of the relationship between Othello and Venetian civilization.

“Othello is not jealous by nature - on the contrary: he is trusting.” This cursory remark by Pushkin allows us to understand the deepest origins of the tragic fate of the Venetian Moor.

In the face of death, Othello says that jealousy was not the passion that initially determined his behavior; but this passion took possession of him when he was unable to resist the influence exerted on him by Iago. And Othello was deprived of this ability to resist by the very side of his nature that Pushkin calls the main one - his gullibility.

However, the main source of Othello's gullibility is not in his individual qualities. Fate threw him into a republic that was alien and incomprehensible to him, in which the power of a tightly stuffed wallet triumphed and strengthened - secret and obvious power that makes people self-interested predators. But the Moor is calm and confident. Relations between individual members of Venetian society are practically of no interest to him: he is not associated with individuals, but with the Signoria, which he serves as a military leader; and as a commander, Othello is impeccable and extremely necessary for the republic. The tragedy begins precisely with a remark confirming what was said above about the nature of Othello’s connections with Venetian society: Iago is outraged that the Moor did not listen to the voice of three Venetian nobles who petitioned for his appointment to the position of lieutenant.

But then an event of great importance occurs in Othello’s life: he and Desdemona fell in love with each other. The feeling that arose in Desdemona’s soul, much more vividly than the Senate’s recognition of Othello’s military merits, proves the internal integrity, beauty and strength of the Moor.

Othello is not only delighted with Desdemona's decision; he is to some extent surprised by what happened. Desdemona's love for him is a discovery that allowed him to take a new look at himself. But the event, which was supposed to further strengthen the peace of mind of Othello, also had a downside. The Moor was well protected by his own strength and courage so long as he remained only a general. Now, when he became the husband of a Venetian woman, in other words, when he had new forms of connections with society, he became vulnerable.

And Iago is perfectly prepared for his attack. He is armed to the teeth with knowledge of the morals prevailing in Venetian society, with his entire cynical philosophy, in which deception and lies are given such an honorable place.

To deal Othello the fatal blow, Iago uses both his deep understanding of the character of the straightforward and trusting Othello, and his knowledge of the moral standards that guide society. Iago is convinced that a person’s appearance is given to him in order to hide his true essence. Now all he has to do is convince the Moor that this statement is also true of Desdemona.

But Desdemona fell in love with the Moor and, by marrying him, thereby proved that she was an exception among all the other Venetians. This means that we need to question the high spiritual union that arose between Othello and Desdemona.

Is this alienation natural?

From the youths of her native country?

Isn’t it striking in such examples

Traits of vice, perversions of feelings?

And Iago manages to gain a partial victory for some time. The thought that Desdemona is as deceitful as the entire Venetian society displaces in Othello’s brain the thought of the high purity of feeling connecting him with Desdemona.

The comparative ease with which Iago managed to win this victory is explained not only by the fact that Othello believes in Iago’s honesty and considers him a person who perfectly understands the true nature of ordinary relations between the Venetians. Iago’s base logic captivates Othello primarily because similar logic is used by other members of Venetian society.

For Venetians like Roderigo or Iago, the idea that a woman is publicly accessible has long become a truism; Since wives are also publicly available, the offended husband has no choice but to, in turn, cuckold the offender. But Othello cannot give up his ideals, cannot accept Iago’s moral standards. And so he kills Desdemona.

Desdemona's true beauty lies in her sincerity and truthfulness, without which there is no love, no happiness, no life for her.

Love for Othello is the greatest truth for Desdemona. In the name of this truth, she is ready to deceive her own father; In the name of this truth, she, dying, makes a last desperate attempt to save her lover. And this great truth of love makes Desdemona one of the most heroic female characters in all of Shakespeare's drama.

The break with Venetian society that Desdemona makes is a decision heroic in its courage. And yet, the theme of Desdemona’s heroism acquires its fullest resonance in the scene of her death:

Nobody. Herself. Let my husband

Doesn't remember him badly. Be healthy.

These last words of Desdemona are the highest manifestation of selflessness in love. Leaving this life because of Othello, Desdemona still passionately continues to love her husband and at the last moment tries to protect Othello from the punishment that should fall on him for the crime he committed.

It is possible that Desdemona’s last words also carry deep psychological implications: knowing about her complete innocence, Desdemona, at the moment of her dying epiphany, understands that her husband was the victim of some tragic delusion, and this reconciles her with Othello.

Desdemona's faith in people makes her an easy prey for Iago, her very frankness and honesty make her an object of suspicion in a world where few people seem to be what they really are; her purity is inevitably called into question in a world where almost every significant character bears the mark of corruption. Desdemona is the complete opposite of Iago; she has no need to hide her actions and thoughts. And Othello believes Iago and suspects Desdemona of deceit and hypocrisy. The Moor wants to drive lies out of the world, but instead he kills with his own hands a man for whom truth is the highest law.

Othello's recognition that chaos reigned in his soul until this soul was illuminated by the light of love for Desdemona can, in a certain sense, serve as the key to understanding the entire history of the relationship between the main characters of the tragedy.

At first glance, from the confident, calm and self-possessed manner that characterizes Othello’s behavior at the beginning of the play, it is impossible to assume that there was room for doubts and conflicting feelings in his brave soul. However, let us remember that the contrast between a person’s external appearance and his inner essence underlies the entire poetics of Shakespeare’s tragedy. As a commander, Othello could indeed be a model of self-control and poise - qualities without which even the bravest soldier cannot dream of a marshal's baton. But if the Moor tried to remember his entire life, full of fierce battles, brilliant victories and bitter defeats, it would inevitably seem to him a chaotic heap of ups and downs.

And together with Desdemona, a hitherto unknown harmony entered the life of the stern warrior. Even the most severe dangers and adversities that befell him now appeared before him in a different light, for for the torment that he had once endured, the most beautiful of women fell in love with him. In a sea of ​​evil and violence, Othello discovered the promised island - not just an island of love, but a stronghold of truth, faith and sincerity. For Othello, Desdemona is the focus of all the highest moral values, and therefore the blow that Iago delivers essentially exceeds in its consequences even the expectations of the slanderer himself. Having defamed Desdemona, Iago deprived Othello of faith in people in general, and the world again appeared before the Moor in the form of terrible chaos.

As the end of the tragedy approaches, the darkness thickens almost with physical palpability. On the dark streets of Cyprus there are murders and attacks from around the corner; and at this time Othello, preparing to execute Desdemona, turns off the light in her bedroom. But the most terrible darkness reigns in Othello's soul. The Moor's darkened consciousness paints him an image of the deceitful and depraved Desdemona - an image all the more terrible for Othello since his love for his wife is still immeasurable. What previously seemed a stronghold of goodness and purity, before his eyes, plunges into the abyss of vice, which rules the chaos of life.

The theme of light and darkness found its last, most expressive embodiment in Othello’s monologue, with which he enters the room where Desdemona sleeps:

Blow out the fire, then blow out the fire.

One line combines the most ordinary - after all, people turn out the lights every day, blow out candles - and something supernatural, terrible: the idea that Othello must kill an infinitely loved person, kill, realizing that with the death of Desdemona he will lose that only source of spiritual light, who was able to dispel the darkness of the cruel and treacherous world that surrounded Othello from childhood. Kill - and plunge yourself into endless pitch darkness.

Thus, the theme of chaos organically develops into the theme of Othello’s suicide.

In Othello, his passionate love for Desdemona concentrates all his faith in bright ideals. If Desdemona is bad and vicious, then the world is a continuous, hopeless kingdom of evil. Who will remain in this world when Desdemona leaves it? The answer is given by the enraged Othello himself, who has lost control of himself, when he hatefully throws in the faces of the Venetians around him: “Goats and monkeys!” Is it conceivable to imagine that Othello, after the death of Desdemona, would continue to eke out an existence in the society of those whom he considers goats and monkeys?

The feeling that life without Desdemona is impossible arises in Othello much earlier than the decision to execute his wife. For the first time thinking that he might lose Desdemona, Othello is ready to set her free, like an untamed bird. But he knows that for this he must break the bonds that hold Desdemona:

If it's true

And there will be evidence that you

You are running wild, my untamed falcon,

Farewell, fly, I'll break the bonds,

Although they are sewn from the threads of the heart.

This is how the theme of Othello’s suicide arises in the play. It still sounds vague and muffled, but these are the distant rumbles of a thunderstorm that will very soon break out over the Moor’s head.

The fact that the prospect of suicide appears to Othello long before the end of the play is of great significance. For all her beauty and even heroism, Desdemona remains only a means in Iago’s struggle against Othello. As criticism has rightly noted, Iago is practically not interested in the fate of Desdemona, or interests him only insofar as he can use the heroine to deal a fatal blow to the Moor. The greatest success that Iago achieves is not the death of Desdemona, but the suicide of Othello, for the main theme of the tragedy is the story that the forces of evil managed to destroy Othello.

Iago's success shows how powerful the evil lurking in the depths of Venetian civilization turned out to be. And the death of the heroes makes the play about Othello one of Shakespeare's most difficult tragedies.

And yet, this work does not leave us with the pessimistic conviction that good is initially and inevitably doomed to defeat in a collision with evil.

Othello's dying insight, his return to faith in high ideals, faith in the reality of the existence of honesty, devotion, purity, selflessness, love - this is not so much a victory as Othello's salvation.

The real triumphant in the tragedy of the Venetian Moor, the winner of Iago and the savior of Othello is Desdemona. With her entire stage life, the young heroine refutes Iago’s vile philosophy. It is in the very image of Desdemona that lies the main, deep source of optimism that illuminates the ending of the dark tragedy.

Shakespeare shows that the ideals of truth and nobility are a reality; but the very existence of ideals in the conditions of Venetian civilization is under mortal threat. And in any case, the world of selfish egoists is strong enough to deal with specific bearers of these high ideals.

Having told the world about the tragic fate that befell the heroes of his play, Shakespeare seemed to say to his audience: yes, ideals exist, their triumph is possible, but not in the conditions of this civilization. Thus, the problem of optimism organically grows into the problem of utopia, in which the bearer of the highest values ​​is a black warrior, both by the nature of his soul and by origin, alien to a civilized society, the main principle of which is expressed in the words of Iago: “Put money in your wallet.” And the Moor’s only true ally turns out to be a woman who breaks with Venetian society. The happiness of these beautiful people, the harmony of their pure and truthful relationships - harmony, without which they cannot exist - is possible. But the sphere of happiness, the sphere of the triumph of high ideals is not civilized Venice, but the utopian kingdom of “natural man.”

Shakespeare's tragedy fills the hearts of the audience with hatred for the society that destroys Othello and Desdemona - a society terrible for its businesslike, selfish depravity, in which Iago feels like a fish in water. But it also inspires pride in humanity, which is capable of giving birth to people like Othello and Desdemona.

This is the great power of Shakespeare's tragedy, which opened before it a centuries-long triumphant path across the stages of the whole world.

Among the 37 plays created by Shakespeare, one of the most outstanding was the tragedy Othello. The plot of the work, like many other plays by the English playwright, is borrowed. The source is the short story “The Moor of Venice,” written by the Italian prose writer Giraldi Citio. According to researchers of Shakespeare's work, the playwright borrowed only the main motifs and the general outline of the plot, since Shakespeare did not know Italian well enough to perfectly understand all the nuances of the story, and the work was translated into English only in the 18th century.

The conflict in the play is based on conflicting feelings of trust, love and jealousy. Iago’s greed and desire to climb the career ladder by any means are stronger than Cassio’s devotion and the pure and true love of Othello and Desdemona. Knowing Othello’s strong nature, his military-like clear and strict views, his inability to perceive the world around him in halftones, Iago turns his intrigues on only one doubt sown in the Moor’s soul. One hint, carefully dropped by the “faithful” lieutenant, leads to a tragic outcome.

In the work "Othello", the basic laws of the tragedy genre are clearly observed: the collapse of hopes, the inability to change reality, the death of the main characters.

"Othello": a summary of the play

The action of the dramatic work takes place in the 16th century in Venice, and later moves to Cyprus. From the first lines, the reader witnesses a dialogue between Iago, Othello’s lieutenant, and the local nobleman Rodrigo. The latter is passionately and hopelessly in love with the daughter of Senator Brabantio Desdemona. But Iago told his friend that she had secretly married Othello, a Moor in the Venetian service. The lieutenant convinces Rodrigo of his hatred of Othello, since the Moor took a certain Cassio instead of Iago to the position of lieutenant, that is, his deputy. To take revenge on the Moor, they report the news of Desdemona's escape to her father, who, in a frenzy, begins to look for Othello.

At this time, news comes that the Turkish fleet is approaching Cyprus. Othello is summoned to the Senate because he is one of the best generals. Brabantio also arrives with him to the Venetian Doge, the main ruler. He believes that his daughter could marry a black military man only under the influence of witchcraft. Othello tells the Doge that Desdemona, listening to stories about his military exploits, fell in love with him for his courage and bravery, and he fell in love with her for her compassion and sympathy for him. The girl confirms his words. The Doge gives his blessing to the young, despite the senator's anger. It was decided to send Othello to Cyprus. Cassio, Desdemona and Iago follow him, who convinces Roderigo that all is not lost and persuades him to follow them.

During a storm, Turkish galleys drowned, and the young people enjoyed happiness. Iago continues his evil plans. He sees Cassio as his enemy and tries to get rid of him using Rodrigo. On the eve of the celebration of the wedding of Othello and Desdemona, Iago gets Cassio drunk, who loses control from drinking. Rodrigo deliberately hurts the drunken Cassio. A fight breaks out, causing general commotion. For unworthy behavior, Othello excommunicates Cassio from service. The lieutenant asks Desdemona for help. She, knowing Cassio to be an honest and devoted man to Othello, tries to persuade her husband to relent. At this time, Iago sows a seed of doubt in Othello’s head that Desdemona is cheating on her husband with Cassio. Her ardent persuasion in defense of the lieutenant increasingly inflames her husband's jealousy. He becomes not himself and demands from Iago proof of betrayal.

The “faithful” lieutenant forces his wife Emilia, who serves Desdemona, to steal her handkerchief that belonged to Othello’s mother. He gave it to Desdemona for her wedding with a request to never part with the thing dear to him. She accidentally loses the handkerchief, and Emilia gives it to Iago, who throws it at the lieutenant’s house, telling Othello that he saw the little thing with him. The lieutenant arranges a conversation with Cassio, where the latter demonstrates his frivolous and mocking attitude towards his mistress Bianca. Othello overhears the dialogue, thinking that it is about his wife and is absolutely convinced of their connection. He insults his wife, accusing her of treason, without listening to her vows of fidelity. The scene is witnessed by guests from Venice - Lodovico and Desdemona's uncle Gratiano, who brought the news of Othello's summons to Venice and the appointment of Cassio as governor of Cyprus. Gratiano is glad that his brother Brabantio will not see such a low attitude towards his daughter, since he died after her wedding.

The jealous man asks Iago to kill Cassio. Rodrigo comes to the lieutenant, angry that Iago has already extracted all the money from him, but there is no result. Iago persuades him to kill Cassio. Having tracked down the victim in the evening, Rodrigo wounds Cassio, and he himself dies, finished off by Iago’s blade. Othello, hearing the screams, decides that the traitor is dead. Gratiano and Lodovico arrive in time and save Cassio.

The culmination of the tragedy

Othello, having asked Desdemona to repent of her sins, strangles her and finishes her off with a blade. Emilia runs in and assures the Moor that his wife is the most holy creature, incapable of betrayal and meanness. Gratiano, Iago and others come to the Moor to tell about what happened and find a picture of the murder of Desdemona.

Othello says that Iago's arguments helped him find out about the betrayal. Emilia says that it was she who gave her husband the handkerchief. In the confusion, Iago kills her and escapes. Cassio is brought on a stretcher and the arrested Iago is brought in. The lieutenant is horrified by what happened, because he did not give the slightest reason for jealousy. Iago is sentenced to death, and the Moor must be tried by the Senate. But Othello stabs himself and falls on the bed next to Desdemona and Emilia.

The images created by the author are lively and organic. Each of them has both positive and negative traits, which is what makes the tragedy vital and always relevant. Othello is a brilliant commander and ruler, a brave, strong and courageous man. But in love he is inexperienced, somewhat limited and rude. He himself finds it hard to believe that a young and beautiful person can love him. It was his certain uncertainty that allowed Iago to so easily confuse Othello. The strict and at the same time loving Moor became a hostage to his own strong feelings - crazy love and frantic jealousy. Desdemona is the personification of femininity and purity. However, her behavior towards her father allowed Iago to prove to Othello that his ideal wife is capable of cunning and deception for the sake of love.

The most negative hero, at first glance, is Iago. He is the initiator of all the intrigues that led to the tragic outcome. But he himself did nothing except kill Rodrigo. All responsibility for what happened falls on Othello's shoulders. It was he who, succumbing to slander and gossip, without understanding it, accused his devoted assistant and beloved wife, for which he took her life and gave his own, unable to withstand the remorse and pain of the bitter truth.

The main idea of ​​the work

The dramatic work “Othello” can rightfully be called a tragedy of feelings. The problem of confrontation between reason and feelings is the basis of the work. Each character is punished by death for blindly following his desires and emotions: Othello - jealousy, Desdemona - boundless faith in her husband's love, Rodrigo - passion, Emilia - gullibility and indecision, Iago - a frantic desire for revenge and profit.

The best dramatic work of William Shakespeare and one of the most significant masterpieces of the world classics is the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” - a symbol of tragic and unfulfilled love.

William Shakespeare's comedy “The Taming of the Shrew” is based on a very instructive idea about female character as the basis of true female happiness.

Iago’s game was almost a success, but he was unable to control it to the end due to the scale of the intrigues and the large number of its participants. Blindly following feelings and emotions, devoid of a voice of reason, according to the author, will inevitably result in tragedy.

Othello is not jealous - he is trusting.

A. S. Pushkin.

In the tragedy "Othello" the main character, of course, is not Othello, but Iago. It is he who, with his hellish machinations, creates a tragedy in which evil acquires monstrous power, spreads everywhere, poisons everything around with its stinking breath. Until the last scene of the tragedy, it seems that evil is generally invincible and omnipotent, that evil reigns in the world, and good, like a pathetic beggar in mutilations and rags on the church porch, only stretches out its hand in search of alms and receives only ridicule and slaps from evil.

Iago is the genius of evil. He mastered the sophisticated and cunning mechanism of villainy. He does not disdain lies, forgery, slander, or murder in order to achieve his goal. Moreover, gradually from the source and cause of evil he turns into an instrument of evil, and in the finale, involved in an unimaginable network of intrigues that he has spread for others, Iago himself struggles in this spider’s web, like a caught fly that will soon be devoured by a voracious spider. Evil is stronger than Iago, and it is not going to spare or have mercy on its performer. It devours Iago along with everyone he has drawn into the network of evil. Thus Iago himself becomes a victim of his own evil. Or, more precisely, retribution sooner or later overtakes Iago. The mechanism of evil fails because evil is imperfect and, therefore, not omnipotent. Good and truth will still triumph, according to Shakespeare, even if it is too late, when the good and pure Desdemona, Othello, and Emilia perish in the web of evil, becoming its victims. However, that’s why it’s a tragedy.

So, let's consider the mechanism of evil launched by Iago. What is he like? What does it represent? What are its springs and wheels? Finally, what are the consequences of this mechanism?

Although I wrote that Iago is a genius of evil, this is not entirely true, because he is nothing more than a cunning man, albeit flexible and resourceful, heartless and immoral. In other words, Iago is a scoundrel, a scumbag. That is why Iago’s goals are low and selfish, like any ordinary person. But Iago cannot be denied talent, and when he continues to act, evil gradually begins to guide Iago’s actions. Evil itself, as it were, takes control of the destinies of those whom it seeks to destroy, and then the genius of evil seems to take possession of his soul, who plans to completely destroy all the good that inhabits the world.

Iago is deeply offended that, despite the recommendations of three important people (“big shots” - in Pasternak’s translation), Othello chose the Florentine Cassio as his deputy and appointed the Florentine lieutenant, instead of elevating Iago to this rank. Iago, remaining a lieutenant, seeks revenge both on his boss and on the one who suddenly crossed his path on the way to his career.

It is surprising that from the first scene of the tragedy, Iago does not at all consider himself a good person. On the contrary, he is proud of his passion for evil, his cunning and resourcefulness. This, in his opinion, lies in his human exceptionalism and advantageous difference from others, that is, from the first words we see how Iago despises people and will not give even a penny for them.

So, for example, service for Iago is the ability to extract benefits from it and at the same time a way to hide his inexhaustible selfishness and laziness:

Of course, there are such simpletons

Who loved bondage

And I like the donkey's zeal,

Life from hand to mouth and old age without a corner.

Scourge such slaves! There are others.

They seem to be busy for the gentlemen,

But in fact - for your own profit.

These are far from fools,

And I'm proud that I'm from their breed.

I am Iago, not a Moor, and for myself,

But I’m not trying for their beautiful eyes.

But rather than reveal your face - quickly

I'll let the jackdaws eat my liver.

No, my dear, I am not what I seem.

Iago each time acts in accordance with the immoral, base goals that are obvious to him, but invariably passes them off as moral and disinterested. Desdemona, having fallen in love with the Moor Othello, secretly runs away with him from her father's house at night and gets married, because her father would never have given his consent to their marriage. Roderigo, Iago's friend, passionately in love with Desdemona, together with Iago wakes up Desdemona's unsuspecting father Brabantio. Iago wants to pass off this kidnapping as robbery and impose on Brabantio the idea that his daughter’s escape puts a shameful stain on Brabantio’s house. Iago hopes that Brabantio, through the power of his senatorial power, will achieve an exemplary punishment for Othello, and then his revenge on his boss will be crowned with success.

We need to wake you up

Her father, make the escape public,

Raise soda, inflame the relatives.

Like flies, harass the African,

May he find so much torment in joy,

That he himself will not be happy with such happiness (p. 193).

It is necessary, according to Iago, for Othello to “curse the poisoned happiness” (p. 193) with his young wife. Iago is an excellent psychologist and expert on human weaknesses. He always chooses the right words so that the person he is trying to influence will fall into anger, despair, embarrassment or confusion - in a word, lose his mind. For the father insulted by his daughter, Iago also finds metaphors that hurt his paternal feelings, family honor, dishonoring his good name and status as a respected official in Venice:

This very minute the black evil ram is dishonoring your white sheep (p. 194).

“...do you want your daughter to have an affair with an Arabian stallion, so that your grandchildren neigh and you have trotters in your family and connections with pacers? (p. 195)"

“I have come to tell you, sir, that your daughter is currently romancing a beast with two backs with the Moor (p. 195).”

It is curious that he does this behind the back of the stupid Rodrigo, and at the right moment, when he might be recognized, he disappears so as not to be involved in a scandal. He justifies his departure to Rodrigo by the fact that he himself is a subordinate of the Moor and all the beaters will go to him, while the Senate will still forgive the military leader Othello. This is characteristic of the face of evil - to be behind the scenes and commit atrocities with the hands of others.

Iago’s second, no less effective technique in weaving a skillful intrigue is to pit two enemies against each other, slandering one against the other, telling deliberate lies and making false accusations (by the way, simultaneously assigning himself the role of Othello’s protector and sincere friend):

Even though I killed people in the war,

Murder in civilian life is a crime.

That's how I look. It would be easier for me to live

Without this scrupulousness. Ten times

I wanted to stab him in the stomach.

And it’s better that I didn’t touch it.

He's like that

Called you names that although

I am soft and flexible, I restrained myself a little (p. 198).

It is curious how Othello immediately gains confidence in Iago, calling him only affectionate words that emphasize how good a person Iago is and to what extent he values ​​him: “honest Iago” (p. 198), “a devoted and faithful man” (p. 214). “Iago is faithful to duty like no one else” (p. 232). Othello boldly entrusts him with the care of his young wife, who, following Othello, must sail from Venice to Cyprus.

Iago is weaving a network, which means he needs a lot of people so that they fasten with their bodies and souls, like strong threads, the villainous intrigue: Roderigo - this walking wallet of Iago - his wife Emilia, Cassio, Bianca, Cassio's mistress - everyone turns into an instrument of evil, the tip of which is directed towards Othello’s heart.

Rodrigo is in love with Desdemona and therefore is ready to throw money down the drain. In other words, Iago invites him to go to Cyprus following his beloved, and he, Iago, will convince her to become Rodrigo’s mistress for money and jewelry, which he, Iago, will supposedly give to Desdemona. In reality, of course, Iago puts the fool Roderigo's money in his pocket. Eight times (!), like a refrain, Iago repeats to Roderigo: “Fill your wallet tighter” (p. 217).

Cassio, a handsome man and a favorite of women, in Iago’s plan should play the role of a common seducer. Iago is going to slander him and thereby make Othello jealous. Even for Iago, in order to do evil more comfortably, at least an imaginary, fictitious motivation for villainy is required: there were rumors that Iago’s wife Emilia could cheat on him with Othello; if this is so, then how would God himself approve of his plan to take revenge on Othello and answer him in the same coin (deep down in his soul, Iago himself does not believe in this self-deception at all):

They report

It was as if he was creeping on my wife.

This is unlikely to be the case, but let's assume.

If there is suspicion, then it means so.

He puts me high. All the better:

It's more convenient to act. What a thought!

After all, Cassio is a godsend for this!

First of all, I'll knock him out of his place,

And secondly... Hurray! Hooray! Invented!

I'll start whispering in Othello's ear,

That Cassio is good with his wife,

Just look: manners, stature, -

A ready, born seducer.

The Moor is simple-minded and open-hearted,

He will take everything at face value.

Leading someone like that by the nose is sheer nonsense.

So hands down! Pitch hell and night

They must help me with this plan (p. 218).

Cassio innocently gives material against himself, as if he himself was climbing into a snare set for him by Iago. Now every gesture, every glance of Cassio in relation to Desdemona, Iago will record and remember, in order to then provide Othello with a bill for which he will have to pay too dear a price: “He takes her hand. So-so. Whisper, please. In this little web I will catch a fly like Cassio. Oh, my God, how we were brought up! Smile, do me a favor. He kisses his fingertips with pleasure. Kiss, kiss. Somehow you will still lick your lips when this deprives you of your lieutenancy! Please tell me he smacked his lips again! It’s your misfortune that these are fingers and not clyster tips” (p. 226).

Shakespeare depicts Iago's philosophy from the very beginning of the play. It is built solely on hatred of a person. It seems that Iago preaches the power of reason, which controls the passions. But this intelligence in Iago’s transmission is of a special kind: Iago needs it to manipulate people, since Iago himself is devoid of emotions and attachments. He knows about love only by hearsay. He is attached to his wife in the same way as to cats and puppies, whom he is ready to drown at any second: “Each of us is a garden, and the gardener in it is the will. Whether nettles, lettuce, hyssop, cumin, one or many things grow in us, whether they die out without care or grow magnificently - we ourselves are the masters of all this. If there were no reason, sensuality would overwhelm us. That's what intelligence is for, to curb its absurdities. Your love is one of the garden species that, whether you like, can be cultivated or not” (p. 216).

Iago speaks similarly about women:

All of you are guests - pictures,

Ratchets are at home, cats are at the stove.

Grumpy innocences with claws,

Devils wearing a martyr's crown (...)

You get out of bed for idleness,

And you do your business in bed (p. 224).

He is deliberately rude to Desdemona. Isn't this amazing? If we proceed from common sense, then Iago, on the contrary, must be extremely helpful and polite with her in order to hide his insidious plans. But no, he doesn’t seem to hide his misogyny. Why? This also has its own calculation. No one can accuse Iago of being crooked. He, they say, cuts the truth in the eyes, not wanting to flatter Desdemona, neither her beauty, nor her intelligence. (“I’m not used to praising, but to find fault” (p. 224)). Is it really possible in this case that this unusually straightforward person is capable of betrayal?!

In response to Desdemona's request to compliment her, Iago avoids the flattery and smears all the women with the same black paint. All of them, according to him, are calculating, grumpy and stupid at once:

The beauty will not bother with her mind:

Savvy will find it, beauty will get it! (...)

The one that does not shine with beauty, but with a guess,

He will make bait out of a deficiency. (...)

There are no such stupid beauties in the world,

So as not to be able to give birth to children. (pp. 225 – 226).

Cassio, according to Iago, “is an animal the likes of which the world has never created, and one that reeks of dissipation” (p. 229). Iago exaggerates the colors for Roderigo’s pathetic imagination; he vividly depicts the dissolute gestures of Cassio, as if carried away by Desdemona, who is about to give herself to him (“Their lips came so close that their breath mingled” (p. 230)). His goal is to arouse Rodrigo’s jealousy and anger, then pit Cassio and Rodrigo in a duel and finish them both off, preferably with someone else’s hands - one of the two, and kill the other himself. Rodrigo demands the return of the money from Iago, and therefore the death of an indefinite and bottomless “living wallet” for Iago would be a longed-for anchor of salvation.

The desire for crime was intensified for Iago by another circumstance: he himself became carried away by the beauty, intelligence and purity of Desdemona. This means that this purity should be soiled, beauty should be vulgarized, and intelligence should be mixed with dirt. Then his philosophy will be confirmed in practice: life will serve as another illustration of the insignificance of man. This is what Iago basically wants: to turn the world into one big dirty pit, and to turn people into garbage thrown into this sewer - the world:

He is a noble, honest man

And Desdemona will be a faithful husband,

Of which I have no doubt.

But it seems that I, too, am interested in her.

What's wrong with that? I'm ready for anything

To annoy Othello. Assumption

That the devil was hugging my wife

It's eating away at my insides with poison.

Let him repay his debt for his wife,

Otherwise I'll force the Moor anyway

So jealous that he will go crazy.

I will let Rodrigo loose like a dog from the pack,

On Cassio, and Cassio is a pretext,

To arouse Othello's mistrust.

Everyone will be nuts: Lieutenant

Probably indebted to me too:

Both are good on the female side.

The Moor will also thank me for that,

That I will ruin his family peace

And I will make you laugh in front of the whole world (p. 231).

Iago's hobby is to play on human weaknesses. Cassio does not know how to drink and is afraid. Iago forces him to get drunk, because when Cassio is drunk, another passion that accompanies drunkenness will come out - anger and incontinence. Cassio will start a fight with the inhabitants of Cyprus, who are celebrating the sudden victory over the Turks, and at the same time the wedding of Othello to Desdemona. Instigated by Iago, Roderigo in disguise, whom Cassio does not know by sight, will become an instigator, and this again plays into Iago’s hands:

I just wish I could pour another glass into it -

And he will walk like a lady's dog,

To rush at everyone, yelp and grumble.

And here Rodrigo drinks away his memory

In honor of Desdemona and already ready.

I put him on duty together

Three here, three heads of trouble,

Warlike, like everyone else in Cyprus.

It is impossible for Cassio to endure

And he didn’t get involved with this herd of drunkards (p. 234).

Along the way, he disgraces Cassio in the eyes of Montano, who ruled Cyprus before Othello’s appointment, immediately killing two birds with one stone: defaming Othello and noting his ignorance of people, who selected a bitter drunkard as his assistant, and, secondly, discrediting Cassio as the most insignificant of the officers:

But what to hide, the unfortunate fellow drinks.

It's reckless of Othello

Entrust him with supervision of the city.

Does this happen to him often?

Every evening.

The poor guy is falling asleep

A whole day, if he doesn’t get drunk.

Othello must be told this.

He may not know or see

There is only good in the helper (p. 236).

Another way to confuse everyone is to create noise and confusion. Iago had already used this technique to provoke Brabantio during Desdemona’s disappearance from his father’s house. Here Iago repeats the same trick: he whispers orders to Rodrigo to run to the bastion, ring the bell and call all the townspeople, while a drunken Cassio starts a brawl with Montano, one of the most respected citizens of Cyprus, still in the status of an official. . Iago pretends to stop the fight between Cassio and Montano, although in fact he incites the fighters:

Cassio! Montano!

Come to your senses! Leave it, gentlemen!

For help! Are you crazy? For help!

Bell ringing.

What a devil! We've finished the game. They sound the alarm.

What a disgrace! You have rebelled the city! (p. 239).

Iago is an improviser of extended speeches and fictitious circumstances. He tells the same story of the quarrel between Cassio and Montano twice, and each time in a new way, depending on which listeners listen to him and what goals he achieves. However, both times Iago himself turns out to be above suspicion and in the role of a noble savior, which he does not forget to proudly declare: “I will cut off my tongue \\ Rather than speak against Cassio...” (p. 241). However, he was hiding nearby, waiting for a favorable development of events for himself, and he waited. Othello is naively convinced of Iago’s crystal honesty: “Out of the kindness of your soul, \\ You, Iago, are protecting your friend” (p. 241).

The intriguer is inexhaustible in his intrigues, because he uses a proven technique: he relies on human kindness and philanthropy, not believing one bit in either one. Pretending to sympathize with Cassio, Iago portrays Othello as a good-natured and good-natured simpleton, a rag who is waiting for words of forgiveness from Cassio in order to restore him to his position. In fact, Iago knows exactly Othello’s integrity, his intolerance for neglecting the affairs of the service (not to mention such a blatant violation of military duty as drunkenness while on guard): “You have been demoted as a warning. This is more for show. Ask him for forgiveness, and he will melt again” (p. 242).

An equally sophisticated technique is to send Cassio to Desdemona so that she becomes an intercessor for Cassio before Othello. So Iago insidiously mixes family life with service, and turns love and compassion into suspicion and stubbornness. These two things should naturally creep into the trusting soul of Othello, whom Iago intends to prepare accordingly. Pushing everyone against everyone, Iago imagines himself almost as a demiurge, a creator God, pulling the strings of his puppets - people involved in intrigue, naively believing that they are endowed with free will. Cassio, delighted with Iago’s “wise” advice, calls him “honest Iago,” beginning to echo the laudatory epithets generously lavished on Iago by Othello. Later Cassio will say: “I have never met a more kind man. \\ And how selfless he is! (p. 249).”

Who will now blame me for forgery?

My advice is accurate, sincere, smart.

Find the best way to appease the Moor,

How does Desdemona help? And she is Predetermined.

Her generosity is endless, like nature.

For her, it costs nothing to cajole the Moor.

She will wrap him around her finger.

All this can be played out by notes.

I'm a knight if I give it to Cassio

Advice on how to take all these threads into your hands.

But that's the point: there is nothing in the world

More innocent in appearance than the machinations of hell.

Meanwhile, as Cassio goes

Bored with Desdemona's pleas,

She will pester the Moor,

I'll poison his ears with a hint,

That she is sympathetic for a reason.

How sincere her defense will be,

This will make him more suspicious.

So I will charge her with virtue for vice,

And the purity of her soul

Will destroy everyone. (pp. 244 – 245).

Before embarking on the final stage of the villainous intrigue, Iago calms the desperate and beaten by the heavy hand of Cassio Rodrigo: for this, they say, Cassio received his resignation; therefore, “things are going well” (p. 245), after which Roderigo sends to bed, bruised and abrased, having spent almost all his money on Iago’s pleasures.

The culmination of Iago’s vile intrigue is a psychological masterpiece, evidence of the deepest knowledge of people. Evil finds a loophole where good is powerless: Iago does not slander, does not put pressure on Othello with fictitious stories or absurd tales - he asks again, doubts, sadly shakes his head, grieves in silence. And so Othello, trusting Othello, begins to suspect, listens to the anxious voice of his heart, talks to himself. The worm of evil penetrates Othello's soul. He begins to doubt the main thing, the only thing that constituted the lasting value of life for him - the purity and chastity of Desdemona. He believed Iago that she was like everyone else, that she was cuckolding him with an angelic face. Thus, Iago launched the mechanism of evil. True, he did not know that this mechanism was so strong that it would crush and mercilessly destroy him. In the meantime, Iago enjoys his omnipotence in the art of controlling people. Thanks to Iago’s machinations, they go to death as if to the slaughter. Iago thinks that it was he who laid out a harsh bed of death for his enemies (and his enemies are the whole world).

I don't like this.

What are you muttering?

Nothing. Empty.

Wasn't that just Cassio?

Left Desdemona?

It can not be!

Like a caught thief? No, he's not.

He wouldn't be scared by the sight of you.

I still think it’s him (p. 252). (...)

Tell me, General,

Cassio knew about your hobby

Before your wedding?

Knew. Of course I did.

What is it?

So, considerations.

I want to compare them, that's all.

Did he know her before you?

And he spoke between us more than once

An intermediary.

An intermediary?

What's wrong with that? Is he

Wasn't it worth the trust?

And he justified it, as you can see.

Justified.

So what are you concerned about?

Concerned?

What's wrong with you? What are you tired of

And you repeat everything after me, like an echo?

What's the matter? Is your thought so terrible?

Why are you afraid of discovering it?

Collided with Cassio - not good.

He wooed me to her - something was wrong again!

What's on your mind? You wrinkle your forehead

As if hidden in your skull

Some kind of horror. If you are my friend,

Reveal everything to me (pp. 255 – 256).

Next, the very word that will make Othello the most miserable of mortals should sound in Iago’s mouth, but this word must be prepared with many reservations, doubts, equivocations, bring Othello to a semi-fainting state and, finally, triumphantly say: "jealousy!" After which Iago, having sowed a seed of doubt in Othello’s soul, what is called a “rollback”, retreats, saying that all this, perhaps, is idle speculation, a mistake of a sick soul. But Othello is now completely ill. The poisonous seed planted by Iago has taken root in Othello’s heart, it is growing by leaps and bounds, and it will inevitably tear the jealous person’s soul into two halves, killing him from the inside. Iago gives Othello another insidious piece of advice: to keep a “sober” eye on Cassio and Desdemona.

Beware of jealousy

Green-eyed witch, general,

Which laughs at its prey.

Blessed are the injured husbands,

Who know everything and have cooled down

To the culprits of shame. But the trouble is

When you guess and love,

You suspect and idolize (p. 259).

To completely destroy Othello, all that is missing is some material smallness, a trifle, a trifle. And this trifle, to Iago’s joy, is found - Desdemona’s handkerchief. Othello gave it to Desdemona after the wedding. This is a family heirloom - his mother’s scarf, “embroidered with strawberry flowers!” (p. 270). Othello values ​​it very much, because his mother bequeathed to him to give this scarf to the one he chooses as his wife. The handkerchief is a magical sign of fidelity: while Othello’s father had the handkerchief, he was faithful to his mother. Emilia, Iago's wife, picks up the handkerchief that Desdemona accidentally dropped and gives it to her husband, who supposedly wanted to remove the pattern from the beautiful handkerchief. Iago throws this handkerchief into Cassio's apartment. In the process, Iago, following the handkerchief, throws brushwood into Othello’s already blazing soul. He composes a fantastic tale about Cassio's dream, during which he allegedly blurts out the secret of his cohabitation with Desdemona. Only Othello, furious with jealousy and anger, could believe in such crude, greasy and erotic tales of Iago:

I once lay with Cassio

On the bed. My teeth hurt.

I couldn't sleep. Careless carminative

In his sleep he always blurts out secrets.

So is Cassio. And I hear:

“Be careful, angel Desdemona.

We need to hide our love."

He squeezed my hand tightly and with passion

He began to kiss, as if from my lips

He uprooted these kisses,

And he put his foot on my thigh.

Then, sighing, he muttered: “Oh woe!

Why were you given into the hands of the Moor!” (p. 269)

All that remains is to put a little pressure on Othello, who is already ready to go crazy and/or kill Desdemona. Iago finishes off Othello by assuring him that Cassio is now trumpeting on all corners about the victory over Desdemona: “Lying. Snuggled. He dishonors her. And in what terms” (p. 285). Othello faints. Iago is delighted with his skill at baking evil:

I praise you, my medicine. Act, act!

This is how they catch gullible fools.

This is how pure women are defamed.

He tells Cassio that Othello has suffered from epilepsy twice today. He continues to mock Othello in a sophisticated way, talking about the “horns” that any married man receives from his wife, and Othello is among the millions of “horns”, so, in fact, there is nothing to be sad about. But words are not as effective as actions. Iago wants evil to be visible and plays out a brilliant and cruel improvisation with the simple-minded Cassio and the jealous Othello, whose suffering obscures his eyes and mind.

Cassio gives Desdemona's handkerchief to Bianca, who is in love with him, in front of Othello. Iago stages a situation where Cassio laughs at the fool Bianco and depicts with gestures how she is wooing him, and Othello is sure that he is laughing at Desdemona and showing how he pulls her into Othello’s marital bedroom. Othello, killed by his wife's betrayal, asks Iago to get poison. No, Othello, according to Iago's plan, myself must kill Desdemona. Iago will obligingly hand him the sword of murder, and he will be left with clean hands and nothing to do with it. That is why Iago offers Othello another “wise” piece of advice, so to speak, out of compassion for his deceived husband: “Why poison? Better strangle her in the bed she desecrated” (p. 293).

Everything seems to be done in such a way that “a mosquito won’t undermine your nose.” All Iago can do is eliminate the witnesses. He does not need Roderigo, who demands from him the jewelry given by Iago to bribe Desdemona. He does not need Cassio, whose lucky star has risen again: the Venetian Doge appoints him commandant of Cyprus instead of Othello. In addition, Othello may someday tell how Iago slandered Cassio. Iago persuades Roderigo to kill Cassio, since Othello takes Desdemona to Mauritania (in fact, they should return to Venice). If Cassio dies, Othello and Desdemona will remain in Venice and the very next night Desdemona will be in the arms of Rodrigo. It’s amazing what kind of nonsense Iago is talking about, and even more surprising that Rodrigo believes and agrees to a murder that he does not want at all. Iago is a master of convincing and using the fire of passions that rage in human hearts. Iago himself is completely emotionless.

What did Iago achieve? Othello publicly calls his wife a whore. Desdemona asks Iago for intercession. He assures her that Othello is simply nervous about the service, politics - business, in a word. It seems that Iago's victory is complete and unconditional. Evil triumphs in the world. Iago has smeared people with dirt, and they die in insignificance and confusion.

And suddenly, unexpectedly, the mechanism of evil stops working, or, perhaps, by inertia, evil acts in such a way that with its millstones it grinds everyone, including its initiator and root cause - Iago. Cassio wounds Rodrigo in a scuffle. Iago wounds Cassio from behind, but does not kill him. In the darkness of the night, taking advantage of the turmoil, he inflicts a fatal blow on the wounded Rodrigo with a dagger, but again he woke up to expose Iago. Iago's wife Emilia, seeing the corpse of Desdemona strangled by Othello, suddenly exposes her husband and reveals the whole intrigue with the handkerchief. Iago loses his mind for the first time and stabs Emilia to death in a blind rage. The captured Iago is seriously wounded by Othello and, according to the court's verdict, Iago will be tortured for a long time before being shamefully executed. Finally, Othello kills himself on the bed of Desdemona, who he strangled.

The evil didn't work. Iago will be justly punished. Yes, he achieved the death of many. He slandered Desdemona in the eyes of Othello. Evil, with its merciless scythe, mowed down the innocent and pure. But goodness, albeit, as always, belatedly, showed itself. Evil is not absolute, according to Shakespeare. And evil carries within itself retribution. He who lifts the sword will die by the sword. Iago will die, but before that he takes Othello, Desdemona, Roderigo and Emilia with him to the grave. In tragedy, therefore, neither evil nor good wins. However, this is the catharsis of tragedy. Evil must be defeated in the soul of the viewer and reader..

M. M. Morozov. Analysis of the tragedy "Othello" during the action

Morozov M. M. Shakespeare Theater (Compiled by E. M. Buromskaya-Morozova; General ed. and introduction by S. I. Belza). - M.: Vseros. theater. o-vo, 1984.

A very dark night (“the dead hour of the night, when you can’t see anything,” as Rodrigo says). The magnificent Palazzo Brabantio looms in the darkness. Enter Roderigo and Iago. Obviously, Rodrigo has just learned that Desdemona has fled to Othello. In the Folio (ed. 1623), Rodrigo is described in the list of characters with the words “fooled gentleman.” In Shakespeare's England, the word "gentleman" did not necessarily mean nobleman (cf. the Russian pre-revolutionary "master", "master"). In London at that time, many of these “daddy’s boys” came from the provinces with tightly packed purses to “see people and show themselves off. The daddies made money by trading in wool or speculating in land (how briskly this speculation was going on then is evidenced by at least the talk about mortgages etc. in the scene in the cemetery in "Hamlet"), the sons lived: Rodrigo, as we learn later, sells the lands that belong to him. These visiting gentlemen became victims of people who knew how to take them on. For example, Dekker talks about this in his satirical essay “A Fool's Dictionary". Rodrigo, of course, had great ambitions. He dreamed of marrying the best bride in Venice - Desdemona. The aristocrat Brabantio rejected his matchmaking with contempt (“With honest frankness, I told you that my daughter is not for you”). But Rodrigo is not just a stereotyped comic character. There is innocence, sincerity, even nobility of feeling in him. Perhaps that is why Shakespeare keeps him alive at the end of the tragedy (Cassio says that Rodrigo only “appeared dead”).

Rodrigo is not at all the stupid, squandered nobleman close to Slenderman from The Merry Wives of Windsor or Sir Andrew Aguechick from Twelfth Night, as he is usually portrayed on stage.

At the moment, Rodrigo is overcome with jealousy. So, the tragedy begins with the motive of jealousy...

The excited Rodrigo is accompanied by an apologetic Iago (he knew nothing about Desdemona’s impending escape). The role of Iago begins with a rude word that can be translated as “damn it!”, but which is much more rude. It seems to us that this harsh monosyllable word gives the “tone” to the sound of Iago’s entire role. Iago’s first monologue also expresses the motive of a kind of jealousy, tantamount in this case to base envy: Iago envies the Cashier, who has received the post of lieutenant.

It is very important to remember the following. The word "lieutenant" can be misleading. This French word is used here in its original meaning of "substitute". Othello is a general, that is, commander of the troops, Cassio is his deputy. This is a very important post. In the 3rd scene of the second act, Montano says, condemning Cassio for the imaginary vice of drunkenness: “It is a pity that the noble Moor entrusted such a post, as the post of his second person, to a man with such an inveterate vice.” And it is understandable, therefore, that when the Venetian authorities remove Othello from the post of commander-in-chief in Cyprus, they appoint Cassio in his place. Iago had a lot to envy!

Regarding the position of Iago, the translation “ensign” or “lieutenant” can also be misleading. In the text, Iago is called "ancient" in the literal translation of "elder". Commentators explain this word with an equivalent - “standard bearer”. (This was also the original meaning of the Russian word "ensign".) The standard bearer of the commander-in-chief is also an important post. He was something like the commander's chief adjutant, the executor of his instructions. At the same time, the standard bearer occupied the next most important position in the army after the deputy (lieutenant) commander (general). All this explains the motives for Iago’s actions. This is not just a degenerate, Mephistopheles, a fiend of hell, committing evil for the sake of evil, for the sole pleasure of destroying people. His goal is clear, he plays a deliberate game. He quite sensibly reasons that after Cassio’s removal he has every chance of becoming a lieutenant (and this is what happens). But after the death of Othello, he, “honest Iago,” may be appointed commander-in-chief. This motive has not yet been sufficiently appreciated by Shakespeare scholars, hence the misunderstanding about Iago’s “unmotivated evil will,” to use Coleridge’s expression. So Iago is playing a big game. Before us is a complete type of “Machiavellian,” as they said in England then, that is, a person capable of any crime for his own personal gain.

What is also extremely interesting in this first monologue of Iago is the contrast between two types of military men: the theorist Cassio and the practitioner Iago. The latter deeply despises the former, calling him a “great arithmetician” who “never led a squadron into battle” and understands tactics “no more than a spinner.” Cassio, according to Iago, “knows nothing except book theory.” "Chatter without practice - that's all his military virtues." Iago ironically calls Cassio “an accountant,” an “accountant.” He opposes himself to him. He speaks about himself with great feeling: “I swear by the honesty of a person. I know my worth.” In this case, while giving himself credit, Iago undoubtedly speaks sincerely. He is sincerely surprised that Othello, in whose eyes he, Iago, “showed himself in Rhodes, and in Cyprus, and in other lands, Christian and pagan,” did not appoint him as his deputy. And his suspicious mind immediately begins to look for an extraneous reason: “Promotion occurs thanks to letters of recommendation and personal sympathy.” From the very beginning of the tragedy, it was explained why Iago hated Othello: he appointed not him, but another, as his deputy. “Now judge for yourself,” says Iago to Roderigo, “whether I am obliged in justice to love the Moor.” Everything is quite motivated.

A number of other interesting conclusions can be drawn from Iago's first monologue. Iago says that by Cassio's appointment he is "bypassed and deprived of a fair wind." There are more naval metaphors in Iago's speeches than in any other Shakespearean role. Iago is apparently one of the sailors. He says (scene 3 of the second act) that he has been to England (“I learned this song in England”), and reports how the English, Danes, Germans and Dutch drink. Iago, apparently, is an experienced man and has seen different countries.

Some commentators believe that Iago, judging by his name, is a Spaniard: in the 3rd scene of the second act, Iago utters a curse in Spanish - a touch that, if we are not mistaken, the commentators missed. This word perhaps confirms the commentators' assumption that Iago is a Spaniard.

Iago says that Cassio is "deadly in love with a pretty woman." Who does Iago mean? Maybe Bianca. Maybe Desdemona. After all, Cassio, as we hear later, was an intermediary in Othello’s matchmaking with Desdemona. Cassio admired Desdemona, worshiped her beauty, and Iago’s cynical mind, of course, immediately drew its conclusions. The word "Wife", which we translated "woman", in addition to its main meaning ("woman"), was also used in the meaning of "prostitute". Next, Iago twice calls Desdemona a prostitute. And finally, this first soliloquy reveals Iago's contempt for Othello as a black man. Iago says he hates Othello. “In that case, I would not serve him,” notes the simple-minded Rodrigo. And in response to these words, Iago explains at length his two-faced behavior and says that he is pursuing one single goal - his personal gain. And this is followed by a very important recognition: Iago says that the surrounding reality itself pushes him towards secrecy, duplicity - in a word, towards “Machiavellian” methods in the struggle of life. The law of this reality is wonderfully formulated in Shakespeare's Pericles. One fisherman says to another: “I marvel at how fish live in the sea,” to which the other replies: “Yes, just like people on earth: the big ones devour the small ones.” Here are the words of Iago: “If my outward behavior showed in public what is really happening in my heart and what it is, then soon I would begin to walk with my soul wide open, and any simpleton would peck me.” Iago is not an abstract melodramatic "villain", but a product of a certain environment.

“How lucky this thick-lipped guy is!” - Rodrigo notes. A remark that is interesting in two respects. Firstly, the philosophy of Iago, which he later developed in detail - the philosophy according to which the fate of a person depends entirely on his will - is contrasted with the naive determinism of Rodrigo (“How lucky!”); secondly, for the first time a description of Othello’s appearance is given. In the tragedy, Othello is called the "Moor". But this word in Shakespeare's era had a different meaning than it has now. It generally meant a black person. The Moor, in our understanding of the word, was usually referred to as the “white Moor.” The mention of thick lips hints at an Ethiopian. However, one cannot look for accuracy in Shakespeare in this case. One cannot draw definitive conclusions from the mention of “thick lips,” just as one cannot draw them, for example, from the fact that Iago calls Othello a “Barber stallion,” or the mention of “Mauritania” as Othello’s homeland. Something else is more important here. Shakespeare says to his viewers about the external unattractiveness of Othello, which has a double meaning in the tragedy. Firstly, Iago’s lie about Desdemona’s betrayal with the beautiful Cassio becomes more plausible; secondly, in contrasting the unattractive appearance of the black Othello with his inner nobility, his spiritual purity, the poetry of the words he uses The metaphors and musicality of his speech embodies one of the central themes of Shakespeare’s entire work: the opposition of “clothing” and “nature,” appearance and being.

Brabantio is not only a man of high position in Venice, but also of an arrogant, tough character. He himself speaks about this, addressing Rodrigo: “My character and my position are sufficient force to make you bitterly repent.” Superstitiousness is typical of this old-fashioned man. “This misfortune is similar to my dream,” he says. The very thought that Desdemona could become Othello’s wife is a terrible, irreparable misfortune for him: “The very thought of this possibility depresses me.” When he is convinced that Desdemona has fled, he accepts this fact primarily as an indelible shame: “There is nothing left in the future for my disgraced life but bitterness.” Desdemona's act for Brabantio is "treason of blood." His last hope is that Desdemona has not yet had time to seal her sin with a formal marriage union with the black Othello (“Do you think that they have already gotten married?”). The only explanation for what happened is that black Othello resorted to magic. Brabantio's soul is in turmoil. And only at the end of the scene does the old senator regain his composure, proud of the awareness of the power that he has in Venice thanks to his nobility, wealth and, probably, also thanks to his numerous relatives (“Wake up all my relatives”). At the end of the scene he says: "I will go into every house. In most houses, I can give orders."

In the last part of this scene we learn something about Desdemona. Rodrigo mentions not only her beauty, but also her intelligence. We also learn something new and very interesting about Othello. It turns out that he is a man so needed by the signoria that when the war begins, they cannot do without him “in the interests of their own safety.” This, it seems to us, is a very important indication, casting light on the attitude of the Doge and the Senate towards Othello. After all, later, when the danger has passed, the Signoria will remove the black Othello from the post of commander-in-chief without any guilt on his part. In addition, we learn that the intelligent Iago, although he hates Othello “like the torments of hell,” recognizes that he is a great, significant man: “The Doge and the Senate will not find another man of Othello’s stature for any amount of treasure, to guide their work."

This is the first scene, the beginning of the exposition. The dramatic content of this scene can be compared to a thunderclap amid the reigning silence: the black Othello married the white Desdemona.

The second scene begins with motifs that echo those at the end of the previous scene. Just as Brabantio asked Roderigo if Othello and Desdemona had already gotten married, so here Iago asks Othello: “Are you firmly tied in marriage?” Just as at the end of the previous scene the power of Brabantio was emphasized, so it is even more emphasized here by the words of Iago: “The illustrious senator is much loved, and his voice is twice as powerful as the voice of the doge.” (By the way, this explains, as we will see, a lot in the behavior of the Doge in the next scene.) The roll call of motives at the end of the 1st scene and the beginning of the 2nd scene is not without interest. She once again points out that the action in Othello - at least within one act - develops in a continuous stream and that any long intermission between scenes contradicts Shakespeare's compositional plan. It is nothing more than the space between parts of a piece of music.

At the beginning of scene 2 we learn something additional about Iago. He is a typical condottiere, looking at war as a craft (“Although by the craft of war I killed people”). A typical oath for Iago is Janus, the two-faced god. But all the attention in this scene is focused on the appearance of someone who has already been mentioned more than once in the previous scene - the first appearance of Othello. He appears before us as a calm, reserved person who has found inner harmony and is happy with it. “It’s good that this didn’t happen” (that is, it’s good that Iago didn’t give vent to his indignation and didn’t “stab Rodrigo in the ribs”), he calmly noted. He loves his “homeless free life.” But he fell in love with “sweet Desdemona” even more. He calls the fact that Desdemona fell in love with him his “proud luck.” And, perhaps, only in order to give significance to the image of Othello at precisely this moment of spiritual harmony, to “raise” this image in the eyes of the audience of Shakespeare’s era, surrounding it with a “romantic” halo, it is mentioned here in passing that Othello “received life and being from people of the royal family."

Othello, as we have seen, loved his “homeless and free life.” The epithet free, free, is especially often used by Othello in relation to Desdemona. Here he applies it to himself. These are two free people, opposed to the internally “connected” people around them. Subsequently, Iago will entangle Othello; The “green-eyed monster”, jealousy, will bind a person of a free soul. But this future Othello is the exact opposite of the one we now see. A wonderful example of the evolution of an image in Shakespeare.

Cassio appears with the officers. The storm is growing. This is no longer a storm in the house of Brabantio - this is a storm engulfing the entire state: the Turks are threatening the republic (“The matter is quite hot,” says the balanced Cassio, “tonight twelve messengers arrived from the galley in a row, one after another”).

When Othello meets Brabantio, his inner calm and self-control are revealed, in direct contrast to the storm that will subsequently engulf Othello's soul. “Put your bright swords in their scabbards, otherwise they will rust from the dew.” There is another person who also does not lose his balance: this is Iago. He throws out an ambiguous phrase, addressing Rodrigo: “I am at your service, sir.” Othello will understand this to mean that Iago, insulted on his behalf, is now ready to fight Roderigo. Roderigo will think that Iago is on his side. But Brabantio has finally lost his composure and violently surrenders to his anger. He is not only angry, not only indignant. He is amazed by Desdemona's action. How could it happen that she, a girl “beautiful and happy”, who “avoided the rich curly minions of her country”, suddenly “fled, to everyone’s ridicule, from under her father’s care onto the soot-black breast of such a creature” as Othello , - a creature “capable of inspiring fear, and not giving pleasure.” The only explanation, of course, is witchcraft. But Othello must be punished not only for witchcraft. This very fact threatens to destroy the foundations of the world in which Brabantio lives: “For if such actions are given a free pass, slaves and pagans will become the leaders of our state.” The word “pagan” in relation to Othello plunged commentators into confusion: after all, we later learn from the text that Othello is a Christian. It seems to us that the issue here is not about belonging to a religious confession: Brabantio uses the word “pagan” as a synonym for the word “savage.” Again a hint of Othello's black skin color.

So, the theme of the 1st scene grows and acquires a public resonance against the background of the excitement and anxiety that gripped everyone at the news of the danger threatening the state. The next, 3rd scene is in the Senate.

One after another, messengers arrive with contradictory news. An interesting figure stands out - the Doge - a cautious, thoughtful, subtle politician. One of his cautious phrases is already typical: “There is no agreement in these messages that would give them credibility.” Convinced that the Turks are sailing towards Cyprus, the Doge apparently decides that it is time to act. His first question: “Is Mark Lucikos in town?” Who is this Mark Lucikos? Commentators, as far as we know, silently passed him by. It seems to us that, judging by the circumstances of the moment, this is the candidate for commander-in-chief that the Doge thought of. But the Doge hears the answer: “He left for Florence.” Now there is only one way out - to appoint a black Othello. The last one enters at this moment. But Brabantio is right there. The Doge finds himself in an extremely difficult position between two fires: Othello, who for the sake of the safety of the state must be “immediately put into action,” and the powerful and influential Brabantio. The Doge tries to find an excuse for Othello. He supports the latter’s request to listen to him, to tell him how he found the love of this beautiful lady. In the famous monologue of Othello before the Senate, a monologue about which enough has been written and which does not need commentary, there is one curious place. “She rewarded me for my suffering with a whole world of sighs,” Othello says of Desdemona. This is a quarto reading. In reading the folio: "She gave me a whole world of kisses." From a purely textual point of view, these are two completely equal interpretations. Are these not two options that equally belong to Shakespeare? We can only guess here, of course. The fact that “sighs” were preferred to “kisses” by later editors of the text and that this option was included in all editions of Shakespeare’s works does not prove anything. The discrepancy contains an extremely interesting hint: along with the traditional image of the timid, shy Desdemona, the image of another Desdemona appears - ardent, spontaneous, showering Othello's black face with hot kisses.

Othello finished his story, and the Doge, a clever lawyer, expresses his admiration: “I think my daughter would be captivated by this story.” He tries to calm down Brabantio, whom he calls “good Brabantio,” and persuades him to “come to terms with what can no longer be corrected.” We repeat: Othello is currently needed by the signoria, which then, when the need has passed, will remove him from the post of commander-in-chief. To finally settle the matter, the Doge launches into cunningly woven aphorisms, which evoke a mocking response from Brabantio: “It is easy for one to listen to such aphorisms who does not experience anything...” The Doge, of course, does not “experience” at all, but Brabantio experiences deeply and painfully, - we subsequently learn that he died of grief, unable to bear the indelible, in his eyes, shame of his own daughter’s marriage to a black man. This match between the subtle and secretive diplomat, the Doge of Venice, and the frank Brabantio is a wonderful scene in the tragedy. She once again proves that even minor characters in the works of Shakespeare of his creative maturity are complete and living images, and that Shakespeare (although this was not clear to all of his commentators and performers on stage) puts them in complex relationships.

From the lips of Brabantio we once again hear about Desdemona’s timid shyness; we see in his story “a girl so timid and shy that her own spiritual impulses made her blush with shame.” This is, so to speak, Desdemona's "backstory". But this image is in sharp contrast with that Desdemona, who declares in front of the entire Senate “that she fell in love with the Moor in order to live with him,” about her open violation of her father’s will, etc. Desdemona does not want to remain a “peaceful butterfly” and asks to be taken to war. This heroic image of Desdemona is rather closer to Cordelia than to Ophelia, although interpreters of Shakespeare and performers of this role usually tried to bring Desdemona closer to the passive and weak-willed Ophelia. This does not mean that Desdemona is deprived of that tender and even fragile femininity that Cassio especially appreciates in her. The multifaceted image of Desdemona is one of Shakespeare's most remarkable female images.

“Cast your votes, senators,” says Othello, “I ask you, let her will find a free path.” And then he says that his only desire is to “give generous freedom to her soul.” The epithet “free” in the mouth of Othello in relation to Desdemona, we repeat, occurs very often.

The first act ends with a conversation between Iago and Roderigo, where Iago sets out the principles of his philosophy. Iago deeply despises Roderigo, this “noble soul,” as he calls him; however, he despises everyone except himself. “Since I learned to distinguish between gain and loss, I have not yet found a person who knows how to love himself,” he says. And in response to Rodrigo’s naive fatalism (“It’s not given to me to fix this,” that is, it’s not given to get rid of love) Iago sets out his philosophy of will: “It’s not given... Nonsense!.. To be this or that depends on ourselves "Our body is a garden, and the gardener in it is our will." And how typical are all these metaphors for Iago - “nettle”, “lettuce”, “grass variety”, these “earthly” metaphors, so opposite to the poetic metaphors of Othello: life - “Prometheus’s fire”, or “a rose on a bush”, tears - "myrrh of Arabian trees." For Iago, there is only carnal love. "Mere lustful passion or indulgence of the will." Desdemona's love for Othello is debauchery, perversion. "When she's had enough of his body, she'll see how wrong she was in her choice." She is a “prostitute,” a super-sly Venetian. All talk about honesty and nobility is nonsense. The main thing is to “put money in your wallet.”

Left alone, Iago speaks of his jealousy of Othello, whom he suspects of having an affair with Emilia. This is the second motive for his jealousy of the general (the first motive, as we have seen, is the preference for service given to Cassio). For some reason, commentators found this second motive unconvincing. Meanwhile, here Iago is once again contrasted with Othello. The latter, in his own words at the end of the tragedy, “is not easily jealous.” As Pushkin noted, “Othello is not jealous by nature; on the contrary, he is trusting.” Iago, on the contrary, is jealous by nature; he is distrustful and suspicious. “I don’t know if this is true, but I, from the mere suspicion of this kind of thing, act as if I were convinced of the fact itself,” he says. He is jealous not because he loves, but because he is afraid of losing what belongs to him. His jealousy is the jealousy of an owner. He decides to catch Othello in his gullibility: “The Moor is by nature a man of a free and open soul.” And he ends the action with a gloomy prediction: “Hell and night will give birth to this monstrous creation.” The exposition of the tragedy is over. Black Othello and white Desdemona rose to that high freedom of human feelings and relationships that the great humanists of the Renaissance dreamed of. They are ready to share together both the joys of peaceful life and the harsh trials of war. But the dark forces embodied in the person of Iago are already preparing intrigues for them.

The beginning of the second act in the text now generally accepted by later editors is preceded by a lengthy remark: “A port in Cyprus. An open place near the embankment.” Or: "Port in Cyprus. Site (esplanade)." But it seems to us that this scene takes place indoors. Montano questions the officers about what is happening at sea. If he had been on the seashore, he would have described the storm rather than asked about it. And most importantly: it is unlikely that Iago and Desdemona would have started having funny conversations and Cassio would have gallantly treated Desdemona in the open air - after all, the storm had not yet completely subsided. Montano belongs to those whom Iago calls “the color of the warlike island” (Cyprus). Othello talks about Montano's youth. Before us, apparently, is a picturesque, spectacular figure of a young military man. The style of his speeches is magnificent and elevated. Officers speak in the same style.

Cassio, who had just disembarked from the ship, enters. He speaks in the same very pompous and florid way that “Italianized” young people spoke in Shakespeare’s England. But there is an interesting side to Cassio’s speeches, which neither the commentators nor the performers paid due attention to. Cassio is not only a military theorist. He is a philosopher. “In the natural clothing of the universe, she adorns the creator,” he says of Desdemona, calling her “divine.”

Nature for Cassio is the clothing of the creator. Desdemona belongs to the best decorations of this clothing, and therefore she is divine, just as beauty is divine for Cassio. Cassio is a representative of the metaphysical aestheticism of the Renaissance, so to speak. His attitude towards Desdemona is imbued with an almost religious feeling: “The wealth of the ship has come ashore. Oh, men of Cyprus, bow your knees before her! Hello, lady! May heavenly grace surround you on all sides!”

In a joking conversation with Desdemona, Iago speaks in the tone of a rude, uncouth soldier. All this, of course, is pretense (Iago is a wonderful actor). There is a mocking subtext hidden under his words. However, he himself warns that every word of his is full of destructive negative force: “Beyond criticism, I am nothing.” The implication of his remarks is that he is persuading Desdemona to change Othello. After all, “beauty is created for use, the mind is created for using beauty.” An intelligent and beautiful woman will be able to use her beauty, an ugly but intelligent woman will find a lover “to match her ugliness”, stupidity does not interfere with debauchery... There are, of course, virtuous women who do not replace “the head of a catfish with the tail of a salmon”, that is don't try different men. But such women are only good for “breastfeeding fools and keeping track of the thin homemade beer they drink.” Why does Iago need to tell Desdemona about all this? For self-gratification with secret mockery? Hardly. It seems to us that Iago is confident that Desdemona understands his hints, because he considers her a vile creature. If she hasn't already, she will. Iago is quite sincere in this belief. In any case, he would be glad if Desdemona actually cheated on Othello with Cassio.

Desdemona did not understand Iago. “Oh, what a weak and mediocre conclusion!” - these words of Desdemona apparently angered Iago. And he, irritated, thinks about the slander plan. He sees that Cassio is gallantly courting Desdemona: “He takes her by the hand. Great, continue to whisper. In this little web I will catch a fly as big as Cassio.” The very sight of Cassio’s thin, beautiful fingers irritates him, and he calls them “clistere tubes.”

But all these feelings of Iago are still only a fleeting shadow, thanks to which the next stage moment, the sunniest, most joyful in the entire tragedy, seems even brighter - the meeting of Othello and Desdemona. Othello enters to the sound of trumpets. He is overwhelmed with inexpressible joy. “If I had to die now, it would be the greatest happiness.” Joy prevents him from speaking: “The words stop here,” he says, pointing to his throat. The terrible storm that separated him from Desdemona is over. Most playwrights would have picked up this major theme and, right here, after the departure of Othello and Desdemona, would have released a herald announcing the national festival. The joy of Othello and Desdemona would have ended with a joyful celebration. But Shakespeare, true to the law of contrasts, puts aside this major chord, and the figure of Iago rises before us again.

In a conversation with Rodrigo, Iago is very frank. He is now convinced that Desdemona “loves” Othello. But what does this “love” mean? Just lust, disgusting debauchery, a kind of pleasure from cohabitation with a black freak. When her "blood is cooled with pleasure, she will begin to feel sick," and "nature itself will force her to make a second choice." The most likely candidate is Cassio; Rodrigo, honest by nature, but naively trusting, at first resists: “I won’t believe it. She is full of blessed qualities.” But Iago awakens in him jealousy towards Cassio, and Roderigo agrees to participate in Iago’s conspiracy against Cassio.

Left alone, Iago seems to justify himself to himself: “That Cassio loves her, I readily believe. That she loves Cassio is natural and very probable.” But then Iago’s unexpected self-exposure occurs. It turns out that he also loves Desdemona: “But I also love her. Not with boundless lust - although perhaps I am responsible for such a great sin - but partly motivated by the desire to satisfy my revenge.” Much has been written and much wisdom has been written about this “love” of Iago for Desdemona. It seems to us that this is nothing more than the “love” of a predator for its prey. So the Marquis de Sade wiped the wounds of his victims with a sponge. But Iago's sadism is much deeper and subtler. He himself is not aware of the “lustfulness” of this feeling, and it seems to him spiritual. What is extremely interesting is that Iago calls lust a “great sin.” He, of course, speaks sincerely: after all, he is alone with himself, he has no one to pretend to. From the mouth of Iago, that Machiavellian, came the voice of a Puritan. If I'm not mistaken, Iago's puritanism went unnoticed by commentators.

In the same monologue, Iago again returns to his suspicion of Emilia’s infidelity and her connection with Othello. And a lot has been written about this topic. Some saw real jealousy in Iago, the torment of rejected love. In this case, the tragedy becomes a play about two jealous people, and Iago’s behavior receives a kind of justification. Others see here simply a reminiscence of Cintio’s novella, a motif borrowed by Shakespeare and not creatively reworked by him, an extraneous admixture. It seems to us that this motive has a psychological justification. We have already said that Iago’s jealousy stems not from a feeling of love, but from a feeling of ownership. No wonder he wants to get even with Othello “wife for wife.” Basically, Iago hates Othello because he had greater luck than he, Iago, and that Othello’s very existence is an obstacle to his career plans. Prompted by this hatred, Iago mobilizes all his feelings to help her, including his jealousy, the jealousy of the owner. Iago’s feelings towards Cassio develop in exactly the same way, whom he also begins to be jealous of: “I’m afraid that Cassio is also familiar with my nightcap.” Iago “fuels” his hatred.

Iago's monologue ends with a self-exposure that is strange for a modern reader: "The ugly face of meanness becomes visible only in reality." Iago calls himself a scoundrel. But these words are not spoken by Iago. The actor playing Iago at this moment takes on the function of a “chorus”, expressing the thoughts of the author and the feelings of the audience. The actor, it seems to us, comes out of character here and sternly and calmly pronounces these words “to the public.”

We have seen that the major theme was interrupted by Iago's theme, since Shakespeare builds the action according to the law of contrasts. In this, however, one must look not only for a formal and psychological basis, but also for an ideological one. Othello and Desdemona are full of boundless joy, but around, in the “cruel” world, as Hamlet calls it, a deadly poison is wandering, from which both Desdemona and Othello must die. But then the gloomy theme fell silent, and the interrupted major chord sounded again: the herald announces the beginning of the folk festival. It seems to us that this celebration should be shown on stage: the herald mentions dancing, amusing fires and that “everyone should indulge in fun and entertainment, according to his inclination.”

The next scene takes us to the castle. Iago gets Cassio drunk. He pretends to be a rude, cheerful soldier: “A soldier is a man, life is a short moment, let the soldier drink,” Iago sings a simple song. Another very interesting song by Iago is about King Stephen. This king, who reigned in England in the 12th century, is mentioned more than once in literary works and pamphlets of that time as an example of the frugality of ancient, patriarchal times. Newfangled luxury was attacked by representatives of the old nobility, who wore clothes made of “good” homespun cloth, and by Puritans, who hated all extravagance, and by humanist intellectuals (for example, Greene, Nash). “Luxury is ruining the country,” sings Iago. Is Iago pretending to be an “honest fellow” who loves the “good old days”, or is he singing this song ironically, parodying the “backward”, or is he singing it with sincere hatred of the bright colors of life (a Puritan trait), or, finally, in defiance Cassio, who is probably dressed smartly? The last explanation seems to us the most natural. Cassio doesn't understand the hint: "This is an even more delightful song." Iago, in order for the evil hint to “reach” Cassio, suggests singing the song again.

Let us mention in passing the appearance of Rodrigo, to whom Iago orders in a stern voice: “What is it, Rodrigo! Please, follow the lieutenant. Go!” Usually on the stage where the cheesy, stupid, comical Rodrigo is played, his appearance goes completely unnoticed. Meanwhile, it is psychologically justified: there is a struggle in Rodrigo’s soul, but he is unable to control either his jealousy or the influence of Iago.

Iago's plan was a success: a quarrel, a duel, an alarm bell... Othello appears. And for the first time before us is an outburst of Othello’s passion. “My blood begins to prevail over more reliable leaders of actions,” says Othello. These words misled many actors. They understood the word “blood” to mean African blood, the nature of a savage. It is unlikely that Shakespeare put this meaning into the word “blood,” which is generally found very often in his works as a synonym for passion, the emotional principle in a person, as opposed to reason. Before us is not a mad savage, a “child of nature” or a “fierce tiger”, an African, sparkling with the whites of his eyes (the “traditional” image of Othello at this moment of his stage existence), but simply a very hot, passionate person.

Cassio was relieved of his position as lieutenant. He and Iago are left alone with each other. Cassio is in despair. Iago is triumphant. It seems to us that until the end of the action this rejoicing, this joyful excitement of Iago is the leitmotif. He is carried away by his intrigue, like a passionate gambler: “Out of Desdemona’s kindness, I will weave a net into which they will all fall.” He even felt a certain complacency in himself. “You are too strict a moralist,” he told Cassio. “Both you and everyone else have the right to get drunk sometimes.”

We have already pointed out that the epithet “free” is often found when applied to Othello and Desdemona. “She is a woman of a free, kind, impressionable, God-blessed disposition,” says Iago about Desdemona in this scene. And further: “But in her nature she is as generous as the free elements.” That's the whole point. The predator Iago took up arms against free people, Othello and Desdemona, seeking to destroy freedom and entangle them in nets. The jubilant Iago is seized with a thirst for action, a surge of energy. “Yes, this is the right path! Do not dull the edge of the plan with an indifferent attitude to the matter and delay,” - with these words his second act ends. No, Iago is not an indifferent person. The same passions boil in him as in Othello. Once he starts the game, he can no longer stop: he is carried away by the player’s passion.

If the second act ended with the jubilation of Iago, carried away by his game, then the third act, according to the law of contrasts, begins with a very peaceful, idyllic picture. Cassio orders the musicians to sing under the window of Othello and Desdemona. It was an ancient custom to perform such songs under the windows of newlyweds. The Simpleton (this is how we translate the word “clown”) comes out, probably Othello’s orderly, and the puns so typical of Shakespeare’s comic servants begin (remember Lownes with his dog Crab from “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”). His joke about the nasal speech of the Neapolitans and obscenity about “wind instruments” are unlikely to cause laughter in today's audience. Meanwhile, laughter is necessary here as a respite between the two appearances of Iago. It is therefore wrong to throw away this scene, as is usually done in our theater. Here, it seems to us, it is necessary to give a new text, borrowing it from characters close to the Simpleton (for example, from Lounce from “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, Kisel and Cranberry from “Much Ado About Nothing”, Elbow from “Measure for Measure”).

With the exclamation: “Ha! I don’t like this,” Iago begins a big game. The card is thrown.

Bradley, in his famous book Shakespeare's Tragedies, points out that usually Othello on stage is too easily influenced by Iago. This appears to be a valid point. And yet the first feeling - not yet jealousy, not even suspicion, but some kind of vague embarrassment - very soon began to stir in Othello’s heart. He probably would not have been able to name this feeling or explain it to himself. It can already be heard in his words addressed to Desdemona: “Leave me alone for a few minutes with myself.” And further, after Desdemona’s departure: “Wonderful creature! May my soul perish, but I love you! And if I stop loving you, chaos will return again.” And Iago, as if listening, caught the sound of this string in Othello’s soul and boldly continues the all-in game: “When you sought the hand of my mistress, did Michael Cassio know about your love?” And the trusting Othello, sensing some hidden meaning in Iago’s omissions, succumbs to the unclear voice of this meaning, trying to hear it to the end. The ground is disappearing from under his feet. He himself does not yet know what it is, he only feels that it is very painful. A painful cry bursts from his chest: “Ha!” And Iago is in a hurry, in a hurry to name this feeling, to help Othello define it: “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy. This is a green-eyed monster that mocks its victim.” Iago, without hesitation, talks about bullying the victim.

But he went too far in his frankness, did not take into account the nobility of Othello, who was outraged by the very word “jealousy”. “Do you think that I will live by jealousy, forever following the changes of the moon with new suspicions?..” And Iago immediately changes tactics: “Observe without jealousy, but also without excessive confidence.” They now speak very calmly, as if about an insignificant subject. "I notice that this has confused you a little." - “Not at all, not at all.” - “Honestly, I’m afraid so.” And only in moments does the feeling that rages in Othello’s soul break through: “Why did I get married?” But then Desdemona enters, and he drives the “green-eyed monster” away from him. “If she is false, - oh, then it means that heaven laughed at itself! I don’t believe it!” But he is no longer able to free himself. “My forehead hurts, right here,” he says to Desdemona, hinting at the “horns” that are erupting on him. “I would not want you, a man of a free and noble soul, to be deceived because of your complacency,” says Iago. Othello is no longer a man of a “free and noble soul.” He lost his freedom, and his spiritual nobility was eclipsed. He talks about some kind of toads "feeding on the fumes of the prison." And his joke, if you can call it a joke, about the “horns” cutting out on his forehead, is reminiscent of Iago’s style. Othello succumbed to the influence of the latter.

Emilia steals Desdemona's handkerchief. Many of our directors are confused by this detail, which casts a shadow on Emilia. Indeed, at the end of the tragedy, she grows into a heroine and fearlessly, sacrificing her life, exposes Iago. It seems to us that all this is very clear in Shakespeare. Emilia's theme is the heroism of the ordinary person. This is a cheerful, completely thoughtless, frivolous woman. She doesn’t think about what Iago’s handkerchief is for: “My wayward husband pestered me a hundred times asking me to steal it.” At first she was going to give Iago not the handkerchief itself, but only a copy of it: “I will order a handkerchief with the same pattern and give it to my husband,” and in order to fully justify Emilia, an unwitting accomplice in the crime, Shakespeare makes her say to the public: “Only the sky knows what he wants to do with it, I don’t know. I do this only to satisfy his whim.” But why didn’t Emilia give up the handkerchief when Desdemona started looking for it? She was just afraid. Of course, Iago’s terrible plan could not even have occurred to her.

The next scene of Othello and Iago is the moment of Othello's greatest suffering. He begins to be affected by the poison Iago made, which, according to Iago, “at first is almost pleasant, but starting to gradually affect the blood, it burns like sulfur mines.”

We have argued and continue to argue a lot about “theatricality.” In particular, the question of which theatrical style Shakespeare's tragedies belong to still remains unresolved. What is this - a psychological drama, or a “high tragedy”, full of elevated pathos and “romantic” theatricality? Our translators, directors, and actors answer this differently. It seems to us that Shakespearean drama is a combination of these genres, a combination not in the sense of synthesis, but of bizarre alternation. This can be illustrated precisely in this scene of Othello and Iago. Othello's entrance is very "theatrical", especially if you imagine the deep stage of the Globe Theatre, which had to be walked - and this took time - to reach the proscenium. “Look, here he comes!” says Iago. “Neither poppy, nor mandrake, nor all the sleeping pills that exist in the world will return to you that sweet sleep that you had yesterday.” While Iago speaks these words, Othello walks across the stage. This is, of course, very theatrical. And then we find moments of philosophical reasoning (for example, “He who is robbed, if he does not have enough of what was stolen from him, even if he does not know about the robbery, he is not robbed of anything”), and deep lyricism (“Oh , now farewell forever, calm spirit! Farewell, spiritual contentment! Farewell, feathered armies..."), and deep psychologism, the living truth of mental suffering: “No, don’t leave. After all, it’s as if you should be an honest person.” Or: “By the world, I think my wife is honest, and I think she’s dishonest; I think you’re right, and I think you’re wrong...”. The result of all these various methods of stage influence is our pity for Othello. We sympathize with him, since the jealousy tormenting him does not originate in himself, but in Iago’s influence on his trusting soul, he is only Iago’s victim. To be able to show the latter’s keen mind is a necessary condition for the correct disclosure of the tragedy when staging it on stage. Iago resorts to a wide variety of methods of influencing Othello: he is either calmly calm (“What’s wrong with you, general?”), then sadly preoccupied (“I’m very sorry that I hear this...”), or openly mocking Othello ( “Has it already come to this?”), then he plays the holy man (“Oh, the mercy of God! Have mercy on me, oh heaven! Or are you not a person? Do you have a soul and feelings? The Lord is with you!”), then, finally, straightforwardly rude: “Or would you like to pry and rudely stare at how they copulate?” - the words that evoke a cry of suffering from Othello: “Death and damnation! .. Oh!" Iago is a brilliant person in his own way, and if there is no big Iago next to big Othello, the whole play from the tragedy of betrayed trust inevitably turns into simply a tragedy of a jealous person, and the main action of the play disappears: a big predator hunts a big victim.

And yet Iago - we have already talked about this - is not an abstract personification of evil. Othello orders Iago to kill Cassio. Iago achieved his goal. “My friend died,” he says, “this was done on your orders. But let her live.” Iago, as if justifying himself to himself, casuistically shifts the blame for the crime onto Othello (“This was done on your orders”), reminiscent of those inquisitors who burned heretics so as not to shed their blood and maintain a calm conscience. Wonderful words: “but let her live.” Iago thought about destroying Cassio, not Desdemona, and at that moment, it seems to us, something like regret flashed through Iago, a pale reflection of humanity. This touch, in our opinion, is very important: it frees the image of Iago from abstract allegory, gives it vibrant colors and, in the end, highlights his villainy even more clearly. But Othello insists on killing Desdemona. And Iago doesn't mind. He apparently thought that if Desdemona remained alive, Othello would eventually find out the truth, and then he, Iago, would face inevitable death. “From now on you are my lieutenant,” says Othello. “I am yours forever,” answers the triumphant Iago, victorious in this first great battle.

After this difficult scene, the funny performance of the Dupe with his puns is especially necessary. But even here, these puns themselves will tell little to the modern viewer. It seems to us that here, too, it is necessary to create a new text for the Simpleton, using for this, as we have already said, other replicas of Lowns, Kisel and Cranberry, Elbow or another character related to the Simpleton.

The cheerful scene again gives way to a dark theme. In the words of the suffering Othello there is a dark subtext, the meaning of which Desdemona does not understand: “This is a wet hand, my lady.” Wet hands were considered a sign of lust. Othello ambiguously calls this “a disposition to generosity and extravagance of heart.” "It's a good hand, a frank hand," he says. Desdemona is insidious, she is secretive, but her honest hand exposes the whole truth. She doesn't understand these hints. That Othello is gripped by the torments of jealousy does not even occur to her. After all, she knows that he is “not made of the base stuff from which jealous creatures are made.” She even joked: “I think the sun of his homeland has dried up the jealousy in him.” Desdemona was wrong. But Emilia was also mistaken, believing that either Othello was simply jealous, or he simply stopped loving Desdemona. “You won’t recognize a man in a year or two. They are stomachs, we are food. They greedily eat us, and when they are full, they vomit.” Both were unaware of Iago's monstrous game.

Othello asks Desdemona to lend him a handkerchief. Desdemona, unaware that Othello is asking for the very handkerchief he gave her, carefreely looks for the handkerchief and cheerfully says, “Here, my lord.” A huge weight instantly fell from Othello's shoulders. His face brightens, he laughs with joyful laughter and, mentally sending Iago to hell, threatens him with a dagger. And suddenly he notices that it is not the same scarf. “The one I gave you,” he says, barely containing his anxiety. “I don’t have it with me,” Desdemona says, embarrassed. "No?" Is it "no?" sounds like a cry of despair: chaos has returned again, an unbearable burden has fallen on our shoulders again.

The atmosphere of this act would have been unbearable for us, the audience, if it had not been resolved by the end of the act with Bianca’s cheerful and light chatter. This young Venetian courtesan is one of Shakespeare's most captivating female characters. She loves Cassio very much and is jealous of him. But her jealousy is light and not at all painful. Before us are Cassio and Bianca, people who are internally calm and devoid of passion. So, the third act ends with a sunny scene, contrasting with everything previous.

Performers of Othello usually turn out the fourth act weaker than the third. This especially applies to the first scene of this act. It seems to me that the reason here is as follows. The action here falls on Iago, not Othello. This scene depends primarily on the actor playing Iago. Othello’s jealousy has lost its active character, his will is broken by the suffering he has experienced, he, like a small child, listens to Iago’s instructions and repeats his words. But Iago is all life and energy. He is feverishly active. On stage, Othello usually remains the center of the action and therefore only repeats the motives of the previous act, which inevitably weakens the impression.

Exhausted, Othello is no longer able to think. Iago thinks for him and passes off his thoughts as Othello’s thoughts. "And you really still think that way?" - he says to the exhausted Othello. And then he begins to predict his thoughts: “Kiss in secret...”, “Lie naked for an hour or two with a friend in bed...”, “Give a handkerchief...” A groan of suffering escapes from Othello: “I swear to heaven, I would I forgot about it with joy! You said... Oh, this scarf appears in my memory, like a raven over a plague-ridden house, foreshadowing the death of everyone..." This “plague house” is Othello himself. Iago continues the torture: “He lay with her, on her...” And, brought to the limit of torment, Othello falls unconscious. It does not “fall in convulsions,” as some translators arbitrarily translated it, making Othello an epileptic. Iago speaks of an epileptic seizure. But this, of course, is slander. Iago triumphs: “Act, my medicine, act! This is how gullible fools are caught.” And, addressing the public, he explains: “This is how many worthy and chaste ladies, although they are innocent of anything, become the subject of condemnation.” And so Iago plays out a rather primitively staged scene with Cassio in front of the hidden Othello. You had to be very exhausted and exhausted to accept all this as the truth. Othello can no longer reason. The fateful moment is approaching - the final decision to kill Desdemona. True to the principle of contrasts, Shakespeare postpones this moment and introduces Bianca onto the stage. She is furious with jealousy. She left easily and cheerfully, but, left alone with herself, she went into a frenzy. Charming Bianca - "sweet Bianca," as Cassio calls her - probably came from the lower classes of Venice. At this moment all the gloss has gone from her, and she is very reminiscent of Eliza Dolittle from Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. “Let the devil and his mother haunt you. What does this handkerchief that you just gave me mean? I’m a fool for taking it. I wish he had the same! See, they found it in your room...” This is how the “sweet one” spoke "Bianca. But Bianca's anger is fleeting. “If you want to come over for dinner tonight, you can,” says the good-natured Bianca. The spectator laughs. And in this laughter is Othello’s justification, involuntary for all of us and so necessary for the implementation of Shakespeare’s plan: all people are at times susceptible to jealousy, even this carefree and frivolous Bianca. But her shallow jealousy passes instantly.

The more deeply we feel the real pain tormenting Othello, who no longer belongs to himself and is entirely in the power of Iago. The latter, indeed, can rejoice in the fact that he allowed “his will to triumph,” and yet Othello still has love for Desdemona: “Beautiful woman, beautiful woman, sweet woman.” Iago is in a hurry to “correct” Othello’s feelings: “No, you need to forget about this.” And Othello, an obedient student, tries in vain to convince himself of his own hardness: “My heart has turned to stone. I hit it, and my hand hurts.” And here Othello gives a wonderful description of Desdemona: “She is worthy to share a bed with the emperor and lead his activities,” and further: “Such a high and rich mind and ingenuity.” And this is the Desdemona who usually seems like a “blue” role from the stage! Only by assessing the real Desdemona - not the one created by theatrical tradition, but which Shakespeare saw, can one understand the depth of the sadness that gripped Othello: “Still, what a pity, Iago! Oh, Iago, what a pity, Iago!” But the obedient student hears from his teacher not only how vicious and vile Desdemona is, but also instructions on how it is “fairest” to kill her: “Do not kill her with poison, strangle her in her bed, in the very bed that she desecrated.” .

Trumpets are heard here. Enter Lodovico, the embodiment of common sense and calm prudence, Desdemona and his retinue. Othello reads the Signoria's order. But his thoughts are occupied with something else; It’s not for nothing that he pronounces out loud the words of the order, which are full of a different meaning for him: “be sure to do this, since you want.” He thinks that he must fulfill his intention - to kill Desdemona. And then comes the scene in which Othello hits Desdemona. However, it is possible that he not only hits her, but knocks her down and beats her. The restrained remark “strikes her” was inserted in the 18th century by Theobald. Iago rushes to take advantage of the situation. “I would like to be sure that he will not do anything bad,” he says, turning to Ludovico. Iago insures himself: he warned about possible danger.

In the next scene, Othello interrogates Emilia and Desdemona. This scene, it seems to us, is usually misinterpreted by theaters. Perhaps it is no longer intelligible, since it is based on the view of an era distant from us that a husband is his wife’s judge, a legal judge. The deceived husband, according to the view of this era, had the moral right to kill his wife. Othello became convinced of Desdemona's guilt. He decided to execute her “in the very bed that she desecrated.” Now he is fulfilling the formal duty of a judge, interrogating the accused, expecting sincere repentance, as well as the main witness - the “defense witness”, if such an expression is appropriate here - Emilia.

But Othello is unbearably hard. "Ah, Desdemona!" - an exclamation escapes him. He is crying. His contradictory feelings merge into that bitter sarcasm, the meaning of which Desdemona cannot understand: “I beg our forgiveness! I mistook you for a clever Venetian whore!”

When Desdemona meets Iago, the latter loses his composure. When Emilia, without knowing it, draws his own portrait in front of Iago, Iago begins to get angry. “Don’t shout at the whole house,” he tells her. And then, flushed with anger: “You are a fool! Get out!” “Ugh, come on! There are no such people. This is impossible,” says Iago, who, with the effort of his mighty will, pulled himself together again.

Emilia and Desdemona leave. Rodrigo enters. We are witnessing the complete fall of this essentially honest man. He still tries to resist (“And you want me to do this?” - we are talking about the murder of Cassio). But Iago has completely mastered his will, and Roderigo leaves, almost convinced, although somewhere in his soul there is still a hesitation: “I would like to get a further reason for this.”

In the next scene, Desdemona sings a song about a willow tree. In the minds of the people, the weeping willow was a symbol of a girl or woman abandoned by her lover (as well as a young man or man abandoned by his beloved). So in connection with the death of Ophelia, abandoned by Hamlet, the willow tree is mentioned. Desdemona sings about the willow tree, that is, she sings about herself. “Her tears fell and softened the stones,” Desdemona sings: they soften the stones, but cannot soften Othello’s heart. A knock is heard - something hit by the wind (apparently, this is a scene of ominous rustles and sounds that happen in the yard during a strong wind: the wind howls in the chimney, rustles on the roof; there is something in common with the scene of Duncan’s murder in Macbeth). A thunderstorm is approaching. In the next scene of the wounding of Cassio and Roderigo, we will hear that “the night is dark,” and at the end of the tragedy, Othello will call on heavenly thunders. Nature seems to echo the events taking place in the human world - a motif developed by Shakespeare in King Lear.

Emilia tries to console Desdemona with light chatter. However, there is bitterness in her words: apparently, life with Iago was not easy for her, although, thanks to her cheerful disposition, this did not make her gloomy or even serious. And this ends the fourth act.

The denouement is approaching. At the beginning of the fifth act there is a dark night, as at the beginning of the tragedy; just like there on stage - Iago and Rodrigo. “Stand behind the ledge of this house,” says Iago (apparently this is the house where Bianca lives). Iago's words can serve as the key to the entire design of the scene: the projection of the house is one convex architectural detail.

Roderigo has so submitted to Iago's will that he reasons in his words. “Only one less person,” he says, preparing to kill Cassio and drowning his troubled conscience. Cassio enters and wounds Rodrigo, who attacked him. Iago wounds Cassio in the leg. Othello enters. Usually this appearance of Othello is missed on our stage. In our opinion, it is deeply justified. Seized by the flame of feelings, Othello could not help but come to the house in which Vianca lived and where, as he, of course, learned for sure from Iago, the murder of Cassio was to take place. And the actor should not be afraid to “drop” Othello, who comes to check on Iago, for jealousy is tantamount to suspicion and distrust. The lower Othello sinks, the higher he will rise at the end of the tragedy, when Desdemona's innocence is revealed.

Lodovico and Gratiano enter. It seems to us that the image of the latter is not fully appreciated by our theater. In contrast to the hospitable and magnificently handsome Lodovico, he, apparently the younger brother of Brabantio, seems to us a restrained and stern executor of the law. It is not for nothing that it was he who was given the mandate by the lord to appoint Cassio. Iago is very excited in this scene: the outcome of his big game is being decided. Unable to contain his excitement, he is very talkative, even talkative in this scene. “Signor Gratiano,” he says hastily, “I beg you to forgive me. These bloody events should serve as my excuse for not showing you due courtesy.” “I’m glad to see you,” Graziano replies dryly. Who knows, perhaps this stern Venetian senses something unkind in Iago’s fussy behavior.

The last scene of the tragedy. Calm, infinitely sad, having made his final decision, Othello enters the sleeping Desdemona. “This is required, this is required by the cause, my soul,” he says, as if talking with his soul. He puts an imaginary criminal on trial: “She must die, otherwise she will deceive others.” He is in a hurry because he is afraid that his love for Desdemona will “convince justice to lay down her sword.” He thinks that after killing Desdemona, he will still love her. He is crying. “I can’t help but cry,” he says, “but these are cruel tears. This sadness is divine: it hits where it loves.” This is how Shakespeare creates a theme that echoes Tyutchev’s poems:

Oh, how murderously we love! As in the violent blindness of passions, We most likely destroy that which is dear to our hearts.

Othello wakes Desdemona, orders her to pray and steps aside. We have already talked about the approaching thunderstorm. At that moment Salvini went to the window and stood there with his arms crossed on his chest, and lightning played on his face. What happens to Othello in the next scene? He says that the consciousness of Desdemona's guilt "extorts groans" from him. She, in his eyes, desecrated the most precious, the highest thing in life. He still loves Desdemona. But he is ready to sacrifice his love, in his own words - to commit not murder, but to make a sacrifice.

What's going on in Desdemona? She passionately wants to live, she rushes about, begs Othello to take pity on her, she even resists. The murder has happened. Emilia is knocking on the door, Othello’s fate is knocking. “Oh, unbearable! Oh, a difficult hour!” he says. “It seems to me that now there will be a huge eclipse of the sun and moon and that the earth will open its mouth, marveling at what is happening.” And indeed, everything changes unexpectedly. Iago thought his game through perfectly. But the thought of Emilia’s heroic honesty never occurred to him. This honesty is an involuntary, natural feeling in her. The truth is “breaking out, breaking out!” - as Emilia exclaims. "I will speak as freely as the north wind." Emilia brands Othello, overcome with hopeless despair. Othello wounds Iago. The last one - what else is left for him to do! - mocks Othello, flaunting his indestructible willpower: “I am bleeding, sir, but I am not killed.” “Torture will open your mouth,” says the stern Gratiano, turning to Iago. But the latter is silent. He probably won’t utter a sound even during the painful execution. Iago is not a petty scoundrel, he is a huge force, a representative of “Machiavellianism”, predatory calculation, the power of gold, fierce competition, which justified Hobbes’s famous definition “man is a wolf to man” - in a word, a representative of the force that sought to trample the high ideals of humanism and struggle which formed the very “heart” of Shakespeare’s work.

“O you, Othello, who was once such a good man and who was caught in the snare of this damned slave,” says Lodovico. Othello was caught in the net of a cursed villain, and this was his downfall. Now Othello regains his freedom. He says that he is an “honest killer”, “for he did nothing for the sake of hatred, but did everything for the sake of honor.” Musil, who played with Salvini, told me that once, when someone in Salvini’s presence said that Othello was killing Desdemona out of jealousy, Salvini began to vehemently prove otherwise. Othello, according to Salvini, kills the desecrated ideal of man in Desdemona. And at the end of the tragedy, with Othello’s last monologue, we not only reconcile with Othello, but admire him. He says that he “loved not wisely, but loved too much.” Othello was not a “wise” person, that is, a man wise by the experience of Venetian life, and did not suspect the possibility of Iago’s very existence. He compares himself to "an ignorant Indian who threw away a pearl more precious than all the wealth of his tribe." He appears before us not as a frantic jealous person, but as a victim of a monstrous deception. He himself says about himself that “he is not easily jealous, but when they influenced him, he reached extreme confusion of feelings.”

Othello, of course, executed himself because killing Desdemona is a crime. In the same way, he once executed a Turk in Aleppo who “blasphemed the Venetian Republic.” But before executing himself, he cries tears of joy because Desdemona turned out to be innocent; because, having escaped from Iago’s snares, he regained freedom, and Desdemona’s loyalty turned out to be the truth of life, and not Iago’s slander; Othello says that his “softened eyes, although not accustomed to tears, drop drops as quickly as the Arabian trees drop healing myrrh.” In this joy of Othello, the victory of the humanism of Othello and Desdemona over the predator Iago.

Representing a very accurate adaptation of Giraldi Cintio’s short story “The Moor of Venice” from his collection “One Hundred Stories” (1566), which became known to Shakespeare, apparently in someone else’s retelling or in an English translation that has not reached us (Shakespeare did not know Italian) , Shakespeare's tragedy nevertheless differs fundamentally from its original source in the main thing.

And this is the main thing - the character of its central hero. In Cintio, the Moor, instigated by the machinations of his Ensign (in the novella only Desdemona has a personal name), treacherously kills his wife, and does not do it himself, but using the services of the same Ensign, so as to avoid all suspicion himself. And even when brought to trial, he denies the crime he committed.

Starting from an already existing plot, Shakespeare transforms it in such a way that a rather ordinary adventure-crime story acquires the features of a high tragedy of the spirit. The classic statement of A. S. Pushkin is known: “Othello is not jealous by nature - on the contrary: he is trusting.” Instead of the story of a crime, Shakespeare wrote the story of a man who differs from the rest not only in the color of his skin (“Black am I!”), but also in his spiritual qualities: honesty, directness and childish gullibility. His and Desdemona's love is natural, because it also has all these qualities, they are as close to each other as Romeo and Juliet or the Macbeth couple.

A brave warrior, an invincible general (as a result of which the Senate of Venice sends him to continue serving in Cyprus) - and at the same time a simple-minded child, unaware of the existence in the world of such human qualities as meanness, deceit, hypocrisy, not allowing thoughts of the possibility of deception , betrayal and therefore so easily believed in the tales of Iago - Shakespeare's version of the Ensign - about the betrayal of his faithful lieutenant Cassio, about the infidelity of his beloved wife Desdemona. He cannot live with this feeling, with this knowledge - pretending, deceitfully, he is not able to turn into an eternal spy, into a spy of his own wife.

Having learned, as he believes, about her betrayal, Othello changes decisively: tenderness turns into rudeness, gullibility into suspicion. In everything - in every word and gesture - he now sees deception; precisely because he had never before been able to even think about such a thing. The only way for him to get rid of this doubt that has persistently settled in his house (and his soul) is the decision he comes to: the murder of Desdemona. But, having accomplished it, O. learns that Desdemona is innocent, that both of them are victims of that monstrous intrigue that Iago so skillfully wove. 0. calls himself an “honest killer”:

I did not take revenge in anger,

And he made a sacrifice of honor, as he thought.”

These words contain the key to the murder he committed: a man for whom Honor is above all, he could not exist next to vice, could not allow dishonesty to go unpunished. Realizing the horror of what he had done, he kills himself - he cuts his throat with a dagger. The first performer of the role of O., like most other heroes of Shakespeare's tragedies, was Richard Burbage. Over the past four centuries, this role has been included in the repertoire of many tragedian actors. In England: from David Garrick (1745) and Edmund Kean (1832) to Laurence Olivier (1938); The famous performers of the role of O. were the German actor F. L. Schroeder and the American black actor Ira Aldridge (1826), the great Italian tragedian Tommaso Salvini (1856), Russian actors P. S. Mochalov (1828) and V. A. Karatygin ( 1836), A. I. YUZHIN (1907) and K. S. Stanislavsky, who played O. at the very beginning of his career in his own production on the stage of the Society of Art and Literature (1896). In the 20th century - A. A. Ostuzhev (1935), N. D. Mordvinov (1944), Georgian tragedian A. Khorava (1937), Armenian - V. Papazyan (1908). In recent decades, the tragedy has not been particularly popular on the Russian stage - the more interesting is the unusual interpretation proposed by A. V. Efros (1976, starring N. N. Volkov).

The image of Shakespeare's Othello was embodied in the opera of the same name by D. Verdi (1887, libretto by A. Boito). In the libretto, clearly outlined and freed from details that cannot be generalized musically and intonationally, the main conflict is shifted from an effective plane to a psychological one; the compaction of the series of events leads to a “thickening” of O.’s temperament, the intrigue is cleared of naturalistic and everyday details. The melodic and harmonic appearance of the “Venetian Moor” sheds new light on O.’s tragedy: a child of nature, he is inexperienced in the nuances of feelings and relationships; rapture in battle gives way to rapture in love, and each new passion, displacing the previous one, fills his world. The musical dramaturgy of Othello's character is an alternation of a number of contrasting states: unbridled anger, all-consuming tenderness, deep depression, bottomless sorrow, complete numbness. The leitmotif of love, triumphant in the finale, is close in ecstasy to the theme of Tristan and Isolde in its Wagnerian incarnation.

The first performer of the role of Othello was the great Italian tenor Tamagno (1887). In the same year, the opera premiered at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater (O.-N.N. Figner). The part of O. was performed by many outstanding singers: N. S. Khanaev (1932), Mario del Monaco (1950s), V. A. Atlantov (1978). On the ballet stage, the image of O. was embodied by the legendary dancer V. M. Chabukiani (1957).