A View of Biblical Archetypes in Othello

Wang Yan

As a classic of Western Christian culture， the Bible， have been shedding light on numerous men of letters with its diversity and richness of subject matters ， many vivid characters have come into shape and human nature fully displayed. This paper is designed to analyze characteristics of the main characters in Othello from the perspective of biblical archetypes， namely the archetype of lust， devil， Virgin Mary and the triangle relationship，and it aims to make an analysis of the main characters in Othello bases on well-known biblical archetypes.

1 The archetype of lust，devil and Iago

The archetype of lust is explicitly displayed by different characters and lust is something that touches no boundaries and leads to nowhere. The character， Roderigo， perfectly fits into the lust of flesh and falls into degradation due to it. The archetype of devil has never failed to win a place throughout the western culture， and the origin of it is commonly deemed as the serpent .Iago in Othello is a proper archetype of devil with malignant narcissism who touches no boundaries of desire and power， only live for private ends and destroys those who excel him. Iago then harbored more envy and hatred for Othello since it was he that made the pick.

2 The archetype of Virgin Mary and Desdemona

Shakespeare has invested a great deal of words and mind to her characterization directly and indirectly，When Desdemona was falsely discovered to have an affair with Roderigo， Othello still uttered words of compliment， Moreover， out of affection and admiration， Roderigo chased after Desdemona all along from Venice to Cyprus. On the other hand， she was highly merciful and tolerant. Her loyalty to love and her calm endurance to the tragic fate all closely bounded to the background of the Christian culture and fits into the characteristics of goodness in the Bible.

3 The archetype of a triangle relationship

Adam is the image of a husband， Eve the wife and the serpent the devil. The lure of the evil serpent lead to their steal of the forbidden fruit and thus the fallen of them form the Garden of Eden as well as the loss of the paradise.Thus in Othello， the triangle relationship is between Othello， Desdemona and Iago. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona seemed at first to be unbreakable since they fought for their marriage by confronting with Desdemonas father， Brabantio. However， something in this marriage has gone wrong in the first place. From the beginning of their marriage， Othello had developed a sense of self-abasement and become more suspicious and doubtful.

4 Conclusion

In Othello， Shakespeare creates a powerful drama of a marriage that begins with fascination and elopement， and with intense mutual devotion and that ends precipitately with jealous rage and violent deaths， although the title suggest that the tragedy belongs primarily to Othello， Iago plays an important role in the plot. He reflects the archetypal villain， and has the biggest share of the dialogue. In Othello， it is Iago who manipulates all other characters at will， controlling their movements and trapping them in an intricate net of lies. He achieves this by getting close to all characters and playing on their weaknesses while they refer to him as “honest” Iago， thus furthering his control over the characters.

Works Cited

[1] Hunt， Maurice. “Predestination and the Heresy of Merit in Othello.” Comparative Drama 30.3 （2006）.

[2] Hunter.K.G. “Shakespeare and the Traditions of Tragedy.” The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies. Oxford：Cambridge University Press， 1986.

（作者單位：Shanghai Kongjiang Senior High School）