Aijing

Song
ENG 364
Dr. Lalita P. Hogan

Dramaturgy of Blame in Othello and Hamlet

Tragedies often happen in our everyday life because it is easily to let our suspicion and
miserliness control our rationality and decision-making. But most of the time we find someone
else to blame and take responsibility for our tragedies because it makes us feel better. But who
should really be blamed for tragedies? This essay focuses on the analysis of how the
everydayness of tragedy contributes to the question about who should be blamed for the
tragedies in Shakespeares Othello and Hamlet. Additionally, this essay will also demonstrate
the different perspectives between characters and readers on the issue of who is to blame.
In Othello, the everydayness of tragedy appears oftenfor example, the broken
friendship between Othello, Iago and Cassio, as well as the broken marriage between Othello
and Desdemona, which eventually contributes to the broken families and self-destructions. It is
obvious that Iago is the manipulator in Othello because he manipulates almost every character
in the play to achieve his personal goals; this happens to Othello, Cassio, Desdemona, Roderigo
and even Iagos wife, Emilia. His manipulation is the result of his jealousy and greed, which
make him embark on a road that aims to cultivate and insert the distrust and betrayal among
families and friends, ultimately leading to the destruction of the characters.

Regardless of whether Iago and Cassio are friends, Iagos jealousy of Cassios position as
Othellos lieutenant makes him wants to destroy Cassios career, and even his life. Iago is only
the ancient of Othello, but does not resign himself to the fact that he is inferior to Cassio
because he believes he is more qualified for lieutenant than Cassio. I know my price, I am
worth no worse a place . . . But he, sir, had th' election;/ And I, of whom his eyes had seen the
proof/ At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds/ Christian and heathen, must be beleed and
calmed/ By debitor and creditor (1.1.12, 29-33). Iago also hates Othello for not assigning him
the position he deserves, so Iago disguises himself as a loyal friend of Othello for the sake of his
own interests. I follow him to serve my turn upon him. . . In following him, I follow but myself./
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,/ But seeming so, for my peculiar end (1. 1. 45, 64-
66). Iago is jealous of people in the upper class like Othello, who possess more power and
reputation than him. He thinks they should be blamed and responsible for his dissatisfaction of
his life and career. Therefore, he makes up lies and tries in every way to distort the truth and
destroy everyone he hates in the play.
However, characters are all regarding Iago as an honest friend as they often share
concerns with him and rely on his suggestions. They are completely deceived by Iagos disguise,
which offers Iago perfect opportunities to take advantage of their weakness and manipulate
them. This also helps him to avenge Othello and Cassio by setting up the traps for almost every
character in the play. For example, Iago takes advantage of Roderigos keen love for
Desdemona to possess his money and take control of him. As Iago repeats put money in thy
purse (1.3.384) and later in the play, Iago instigates Roderigo to enrage and kill Cassio. Later,
when Iago considers Roderigo as a threat to his career, he kills Roderigo without any second

thoughts. Moreover, Iago seduces Cassio to over-drink. Cassio then loses his temper in front of
others and he loses his job. Later, Iago suggests Cassio ask for Desdemonas help in order to
accuse Desdemona and Cassio of adultery and destroying Cassios career in the process. By
doing so he is able to build a barrier between Cassio and Othello. Therefore, he can successfully
evoke the jealousness and insert the distrust in Othellos mind and thus break the friendship
between Othello and Cassio
Additionally, Iago uses his lies to destroy Othello and Desdemonas marriage, which is
another everydayness of tragedy caused by Iago. He makes Othello believe that Desdemona
and Cassio are having an affair by making up lies about why Cassio has Desdemonas
handkerchief and what Cassio says in his dream. He also divulges his conversation with Cassio
to make Othello believe that Desdemona has been sleeping with Cassio. Iago generally uses his
language to manipulate Othello and thus stimulates Othellos distrust and anger for
Desdemona. By doing do, Iago is able to generate a chasm between the two lovebirds, which
eventually leads to the death of Desdemona and Othello.
However, the everydayness of tragedies that happened in the play is not only the result
of Iagos individual action, but also the consequences of the characters own behavior. Roderigo
is so naive and simple minded that he believes everything his friend (Iago) says and he gives
all his money to Iago. Roderigo should have made up his mind to give up chasing Desdemona
after she married Othello, so he wont be deceived by Iago, such clever manipulator and
horseleech and therefore avoid ending up with tragedy. Cassio could also have avoided losing
his career and friend, Othello, if he firmly rejected over drinking and directly talked to Othello

rather than Desdemona. In addition, his blindness regarding Iago leads him to experience the
unnecessary tragedy in his life.
Othellos tragic flaw is his lack of self-confidence. Because he is not confident as a dark-
skinned Moor, Othello is more susceptible to Iagos false accusations regarding Desdemona.
Othello believes it is possible that Desdemona would cheat on him with a more handsome
manpossibly Cassioso it does not take much convincing on Iagos part. Lack of self-
confidence is Othellos tragic flaw, and it leads him to killing the woman he loved so much.
Othellos blindness also leads him to lose his faith of his marriage, and therefore makes his life
and career become a tragedy. Othello lets Iagos manipulation takes control of his mind and
fate because he regards Iago as friend of him and believes anything Iago says. Othello blames
Desdemonas disloyalty and stops trusting Desdemona after he saw the so-called evidence
provided by Iago; he completely trusts Iago that he never thinks of testifying the evidences.
Othello has more faith for Iago than Desdemona because Othello always calls him an honest
Iago but calls Desdemona a whore. This is ironic enough that true love is not as strong and
powerful as the lies because people are often influenced by rumors and slander.
In addition, the fact that Desdemona secretly marries Othello is also one of the causes
of her tragedy at the end. She goes against the traditional convention and her fathers will to
marry a black-skinned General. This forces her to cut off the relationship with her family and
leads her family as well as herself to end up with tragedy. As Brabantio says, I had rather to
adopt a child than get it. . . She has deceived her father, and may thee (1.3.221, 334).
Desdemona lost her fathers trust and protection that could have probably protected her from
Othello. However, people always abandon their family because they cannot see clearly when

pursuing the things or someone they love; and people never blame their beloved one. This is
why Desdemona never blames Othello for what he did to her.
It is interesting to see that characters and readers perspectives are different when it
comes to the issue of who is to blame. None of the characters in Othello blame Iago because
Iago shifts the blame to other characters and makes them point at each other. However, we, as
readers, see it in a different way. While we feel pity for the characters in Othello and think that
Iago is the one who should be responsible for these tragedies, we also notice that Iago is not
the only reason for these tragedies. Roderigo, Cassio, Othello and Desdemona deserve the
tragedies because they do that to themselves through not seeing who Iago really is, therefore,
they should be partly blamed and responsible for their miserable lives.
Similar to Othello, there is also a lot of everydayness of tragedy in the play of Hamlet,
such as the broken family relationship within Hamlets family, the broken love between Hamlet
and Ophelia, and Ophelias grief for her father, etc. Among these characters, King Claudius and
the main characters should be those that deserve blame and are responsible for the start of the
tragedies in the play. Because of King Claudius desire for kingship and Queen Gertrude,
Claudius becomes the murderer within the royal family. Also, because of Hamlets fathers
death and the quick marriage between Claudius and Gertrude, Hamlet becomes depressed and
he blames his mother for her unfaithful love for his father. As he says, (frailty, thy name is
woman!)/ A little month, or ere those shoes were old/ With which she followed my poor
fathers body,/ Like Niobe, all tearsWhy she married with my uncle,/ My fathers brother;
but not like my father (1.2. 150-157). Hamlet cannot understand why his mother can get

over his father so soon and choose his uncle, someone he considers as far less great than his
father.
After Hamlet saw the ghost, he starts to blame his uncle for his crime, and embarks on a
revengeful road. For Claudius, Hamlet has to be killed in order to maintain his kingship, whereas
for Hamlet, Claudius has to die to pay back his crime for killing his father. Additionally, Hamlets
revenge forces him to sacrifice his lover. He has to pretend to become mad and indifferent even
when confronting his lover Ophelia. Hamlet denies his love for Ophelia and he keeps insulting
her, I have heard of your paintings (too), well enough. God has given you one face and you
make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nickname Gods creatures and
make your wantonness your ignorance (3.1. 154-158). But he does that because he knows he
is under Claudius watch. He has no choice but to sacrifice the love between him and Ophelia
for the sake of successfully finishing his revenge and protecting Ophelia. Hamlet accidently kills
Polonius, which directly leads to the madness and the death of Ophelia. However, after knew
Ophelia died, he admits his love for her, as he says, I loved Ophelia (255). In the end, Hamlets
love for Ophelia only hurts her, which is an everydayness of romantic tragedy. However,
Ophelia never blames Hamlet for what he did to her and her father because she loves him, too.
However, Hamlets perspective as well as other characters on the blame issue is also
different from the readers. Hamlet believes his uncle and mother deserve the blame, and he
never blames the ghost. In contrast, in readers perspective, the ghost should be blamed for the
whole tragedy at the end of the play. Since what the ghost said to Hamlet elicits the anger and
hatred in Hamlets mind, which leads to Polonius death and Ophelias suicide, as well as the
murder of Claudius. This emotion complex gives the rise of the moral doubt, which is

exemplified in these lines. But virtue, as it never will be moved,/ Though lewdness court it in a
shape of heaven,/ So (lust), though to a radiant angel linked,/ Will sate itself in a celestial bed/
And prey on garbage. (1.5. 60-64) Hamlets everyday misgivings are the result of his concern
for his mothers marriage. To some extent, the ghost plays on that kind of feeling, which
contributes to Hamlets anger. Perhaps Hamlet should be responsible for the many murders
and the resulting broken families, but without the ghosts words, Hamlet would not have
murdered his uncle or the innocent Polonius, nor would Ophelia likely have killed herself.
Therefore, the ghost is the main contributor to Hamlets tragedies whereas Hamlet is the main
doer of the tragedies.
Tragedy is destined to happen everyday because we usually let our blindness mislead us,
which causes us to misjudge what is the truth. Yet we are too often blaming others for the
tragedies because we are too blind to see through others and ourselves, and because we don't
want to take responsibility for our wrongs. After analyzing the everydayness of tragedy present
in these two plays, it is interesting to see different perspectives the characters and readers
possess when confronting the blame issue. It is also interesting to see how powerful human
beings jealousy, miserliness, hatred, rumors and slander are, and how vulnerable humans are
when confronting these emotions. This is the reason why these characters, and even ourselves,
end up with tragic lives.