A friend is studying Othello this month, so I thought we would as well for the next couple of weeks to hear from Shakespeare his message to Catholic audiences. Specifically, Catholic audiences under a new political regime, being released from tyranny and possibly entering into an era of hope.
Historical Background
The evil Queen Elizabeth is dead. In March 1603 she died and that same day her successor, King James VI of Scotland, was proclaimed king of England as well, becoming King James I of England.
For English Catholics, this was a time of hope. Forty-five years of tyranny were possibly coming to an end, and the English Catholics who continued to practice the old religion in times of heavy persecution had glimmers of hope that with the new king, the plight of English Catholics would be alleviated. There were reasons to hope.
King James of England, though Protestant, was the son of a Catholic mother, Queen Mary of Scots. Also, his wife was rumored to have been secretly Catholic. The fact that she abstained from Anglican communion gave some proof to those rumors. As time would go on, she supported Catholic spouses for her sons, these were the years where it was still legal to be a Catholic spouse to an English royal. While things were complicated in England during the transition between Elizabeth and James, there was hope among the Catholic faithful.
Our goal today, is not to look at the story of Othello with eyes of hindsight, where we know the outcomes of history – the troubled marriage, the creation of a government-sponsored propaganda bible, the charters for the first English colonies in America, the beheading of his son and successor, the continued sufferings of Catholics for centuries – but instead to look at it as Shakespeare's audience might have seen while living through it. Living through the transition of two political regimes. One overtly evil and anti-Catholic, and the second not yet known.
What was the message this English prophet had for his people? We know Macbeth's tragedy ends with the refrain "“Hail King of Scotland,” a not-so-veiled double meaning and important message for the English play-going audience. But what was the message behind Othello?
Today, let’s consider the Set-Up of Act 1 in the story of Othello.
Set-Up
Othello is possibly the first tragedy written upon King James’s ascension, and potentially the first of Shakespeare’s new plays to be brought before the new king. What could the great English playwright possibly say to this “outsider” king, brought from another land, another country, to head and lead the people of England?
Well, Shakespeare gives us the story of the Moor, an outsider in Christian Venice, centered on the importance of a naval power, the affairs of state, wars, and an unexpected marriage, where a bride flees her father’s household for another in a clandestine marriage. And that’s Act 1 alone! The parallels for Catholic audiences are unmistakable!
An outsider rising to power, whether a New York builder going to political D.C., a rude and peculiar Scotsman to sophisticated London, or a Moor in Christian Venice, is part of the staying power of Othello. It is a cautionary tale for outsiders brought into new centers of power, whatever the reason or circumstance. This is one reason it was General Washington’s favorite plays.
In the play, we hear about Othello before we see him. We are first introduced to Othello via rumors and those who serve him talking about him. Iago hates him, and though he might appear to serve him as one of his key commanders, he makes it very clear to his conspirator Roderigo that he only does so in appearances only and not in heart. He tells him, “I hate the Moor,” and in another moment, “I do hate him as I do hell's pains,” and confirms elsewhere, “I am not what I am.” Clearly, the anti-God, the opposite of the Christian God who reveals himself to Moses as “I am who I am.” From the beginning, we know Iago is a fake, a deceiver, and potentially a devil.
This detail is important. King James had a fascination with the demonic, he had previously published a book on it, Daemonologie. Hence the witches in Macbeth, the accusations of witchcraft in Othello, and also this clearly devilish self-description, “I am not what I am,” the inversion of the revelation of God’s divine name revealed in Exodus as well as in Christ’s self-descriptions in the gospel of Saint John. Shakespeare is not simply telling a story that would matter to English audience, but also crafting the story in ways that would grab the new king’s attention.
It’s interesting that he chose the name Iago, for it is the Latinization of James’s own name. I don’t know what to make of that. It could be a warning to King James of the possibility of self-sabotage, so not only a warning on those close to him as advisors, but also our mind’s own ability to listen to the devilish voices in our head.
If so, like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, the story of Othello is very much a warning tale on the importance of listening to the right voices, mainly God’s.
Another key character is the figure of Othello’s wife, Desdemona. Translated from Italian, her name means ‘Of our Lady.’ And so, for a Catholic audience, one already used to Shakespeare’s stories of slandered or stolen brides in tragedies past, like Titus Andronicus or Much Ado About Nothing, the figure of Desdemona is imbued with symbolism starting with the meaning of her name.
Moreover, in Act 1, we learn that Othello and her were married without her father knowing. Othello makes clear that there were no enchantments to his wife becoming enamored with him, but simply the natural affections of learning of his service to the State. But for the potential Catholic symbolism, when King James ascends the throne of England, he also becomes head of the church in England, so a usurper of Christ’s own bride.
Part of the genius of Shakespeare is to set up the symbolism of Desdemona as potentially either the Anglican or Catholic churches, or a combination of both. We’ll have to see how the play plays out to see how the symbolism shifts throughout the story.
But in Act I, Desdemona’s father forgives her secrecy in marrying Othello, telling the Duke,
God be with you. I have done.
Please it your grace, on to the state affairs.
I had rather to adopt a child than get it.
Come hither, Moor.I here do give thee that with all my heart
Which, but thou hast already, with all my heart
I would keep from thee. (to Desdemona) For your sake, jewel,
I am glad at soul I have no other child,
For thy escape would teach me tyranny,
To hang clogs on them. (to Duke) I have done, my lord.
And shortly after, he warns the Moor,
Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see.
She has deceived her father, and may thee.
What a set-up from this Catholic playwright! He has created a story of a budding naval power, wars, tremulous affairs of State, a runaway or secret bride, and an outsider who is a needed leader to quiet and stabilize the affairs of State, all themes with strong and clear parallels to the situation of England at the time of King James’s ascension.
In the coming weeks, we’ll unlock more details about the Catholic side of this great play. For now, let those with ears to hear, hear Shakespeare.
The Fall of Man by Jacob Jordaens, ~1625
Lovely setup, can't wait to read the next installments!