Othello, a story of a military general who is seen and felt as an outsider, is plagued with jealousy. He is an invader to not only the state, but the family of the beautiful and fair Desdemona. This underlying theme of him being the invader, underhandedly ruins his life and relationship:
Othello:
Soft you, a word or two, 1
I have done the State some service, and they know’t;
No more of that: I pray you in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speake of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down ought in malice, then must you speak,
Of one that lou’d not wisely, but too well:
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought,
Perplex in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away, 10
Richer then all his Tribe: of one whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mode,
Drops tears as fast as the Arabian trees,
Their medicinal gum; set you down this,
And say besides, that in Aleppo once,
Where a Malignant and a Turband Turke,
Beat a Venetian, and traduc’d the State;
I took bi’th throat the circumcised dog,
And smote him thus. He stabs himself.” (1-19)
In the rewriting of Othello’s last speech, I referred to the 1623 Folio version more so then the 1622 Quarto edition. The first line from Scene 5, act 2, page 144 line 1, “Soft you, a word or two”, comes from the 1622 edition. Although, all of Shakespeare’s play follow the Iambic pentameter (each line consists of 20 syllables), this line is missing 4 syllables. One can suggest those 4 missing syllables are the beats of his footsteps, pacing his claustrophobic bedroom as he gathers his thoughts for what will be his last words on this earth. As he continues giving his last words to Lodovico, he than says:
I have done the State some service, and they know’t:
No more of that. I pray you in your Letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speake of me, as I am. Nothing extenuates, (2-5)
In the 1622 Quarto edition in act 5, scene 2, page 144 lines 2-3 says, “Speake of them as they are / nothing extenuate,”, instead of the line I chose, which is; “Speake of me, as I am. Nothing extenuates (5.2.2)”. It makes more sense in this setting for Othello to be saying “me”, instead of “them”. Othello is saying, “when you write about me please be truthful, do not exaggerate or tone things down”. Therefore, the word “them” would not fit into this quotation. Since the 1622 edition was the pirated one, one can conclude the manuscript was read wrong or written down wrong which is how the word “them” was put into that line.
In the quote that follows, it shows a theme of religion that is shown throughout the play:
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away, 10
Richer then all his Tribe: of one whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mode,
Drops tears as fast as the Arabian trees, (10-13)
In the 1622 edition it says, “Like the base Indian / threw a pearl away / Richer then all his Tribe: of one whose subdued eyes (5.2.10-11)”. I chose the 1623 edition where it says “Judean” instead of “Indian” because of how I see the play. Some may see it in race, where as I see it in religion. Although, “Indian” would fit since he could be comparing him-self to an Indian’s skin color (which is the same as his, black), or he could be referring to the fact that he is an invader and an outsider, just like someone would look at the Indians. When he then says, “threw a pearly away”, it is referring to an Indian throwing a pearl away because he doesn’t know it is a pearl, just like Othello didn’t realize how precious Desdemona was and how she was faithful until the end.
Even though that makes sense, since I see the play in religion I think the word “Judean” fits in there better. When Othello says “Judean”, he is referring to the Jews. That would mean the word “pearl” would be referring to Christ. “The Jew’s threw away Christ”. This fits better due to the whole play revolving around how Othello looked at Desdemona as his God. Desdemona sacrificed her life for the people she loved, just as Christ. Although, he could also be referring to himself as Christ and he sacrificed himself to make up for his sins as well as the sins of the Venetians and their wrongdoings.
Throughout the play, Othello is seen as a strong leader who is very doteful on his wife Desdemona. Although he seems to a certain extent of emotional, he would never show it with crying. As he speaks his final words, he explains what he wants written about him. Othello says, “Albeit unused to the melting mode, / Drops tears as fast as the Arabian trees (5.2.144.12-13)”. These lines are an oxymoron considering the fact Othello is explaining himself as emotional but not that emotional. This is very important considering the fact he let jealousy smother him just as he smothered Desdemona and killed her. Othello wants the on lookers to know he was not emotional but cried a lot. He wants people to know he was too easily manipulated, and it drove himself mad. He admitted to his own defeat.
To understand the rest of the play, one must discuss the significance of some questions. “Why does Othello refer to himself in the third person in the second half of the speech? Who is beating the Venetian, who is taken by the throat, who smites and who is the one that is smote (class notes)”? Othello concludes his final words with the theme of him being an outsider by explaining an experience he had on the battle field. This is evident in the quote as follows:
set you down this,
And say besides, that in Aleppo once,
Where a Malignant and a Turband Turke,
Beat a Venetian, and traduc’d the State;
I took bi’th throat the circumcised dog,
And smote him thus. He stabs himself. (13-19)
The ending, which is when Othello kills himself, shows how Othello is an enemy of the state (The state being Desdemona as well as Venice, since he is a moor) but also a defender since he is the military general. He recalls a time in Aleppo where – just like himself- there was invader beating a Venetian. He then goes on to say, “I took bi’th throat the circumcised dog, /
And smote him thus. He stabs himself. (5.2.18-19)”.
When he says, “circumcised dog”, he is referring to a Muslim invader. In the Muslim religion, men are not circumcised which is why he refers to this invader as such. Then to reenact killing an invader, he then “smotes” himself with the same sword he killed the invader. This underlying theme of him being the invader, underhandedly ruins his life and relationship.