My internet went out at my house over the weekend which is when I normally post the second wave of the work for the week, so you get to read half a week’s work today! Lucky you … it’s a dump I know, put the blame on Qwest. But I’m glad I saved it for today because it’s a perfect post for Valentine’s Day … sort of.
In the play “Othello”, Othello kills Desdemona after believing she had cheated on him. Was it “the very error of the moon” that “makes men mad” or in other words was Othello crazy or did he kill her with some other motivation?
The Timeless Act
In the small town of Dallas Penn. this last week, a 24 year old man murdered his longtime lover of six years who was also 24 years old, then killed himself. This was the first murder suicide in the small town in decades. The senseless death shocked the whole town because the couple was well known. The young man was a cop in town and the lady played on town sports teams. I decided to call and ask the mother of my friend that told me about this story to see if I could get some insight into the play. One thing she said was that “the reason the death was so shocking and devastating to the town is because in a small town everyone knows everyone and the town is like a small family. The murder was not an act of violence but the murder of two family members.” This conversation with my friend’s mother really showed how “tragic” a murder suicide is. The tragedy isn’t just the death of those that loved and lost but the effect the two had on the whole community that knew and loved the couple. In the play the culture is probably use to death because of the wars but the murder suicide of well-known and influence lovers compounds it into an even greater tragedy. In the play a whole country must have been shocked and devastated just like the small town of Dallas by the senseless killing of two who love each other and make each other so happy. The cop and his girlfriend were the same age and had been in a relationship for years. Even though they only officially had been together for six years they had grown up together. Their relationship was far deeper than their age of mid 20’s suggests. But that still doesn’t answer the question of “was Othello crazy and that’s why he killed Desdemona?”The Cop and Othello ... the same crime and punishment?
Research done by Milton Rosenbaum showed that murder–suicide perpetrators to be vastly different from perpetrators of homicide alone. Whereas, murderer–suicides were found to be highly depressed and overwhelmingly men. Other murderers were not generally depressed and more likely to include women in their ranks. In the play, Othello was “perplexed in the extreme” at the thought of his true love cheating on him. The soldier Othello knew Desdemona had to be punished for her crimes and the penalty for treason is death. Only her death would allow for Othello to find another lover so Desdemona’s memory would die too and He could move on (If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore should I repent me, Othello act 5 scene 2). In retrospect of Rosenbaum’s research, after he realized that he had killed the girl he loved so much and she was innocent, this must have plunged him into depression just as it says in Rosenbaum’s studies. Some believe that Othello killed himself out of a sense of duty for justice of killing Desdemona and his friend. Othello was a romantic person, but he couldn’t have become a General of an army unless he had sound logic in the face of adversity. As stated above he was “perplexed”. Perplexed means “of a person: troubled by deep uncertainty, esp. because of a complicated or unexplained matter.” (OED, perplexed) Perplexed to me seems that he was not an emotional irrational crazy but was thinking hard and deep about this situation. In the play, Othello recognized that he was tricked and asks that when this story is told that he be shown that he wasn’t jealous and emotional person other than tears (Drop tears as fast as Arabian tree’s, Othello act 5 scene 2 ). Of one whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicinal gum.
“Unused to the melting mood” means not used to “melting” or weak mood or thought (OED) (Othello act 5 scene 2). A weak thought for a soldier would be a lack of bravery that lead to irrational un-intelligence action that got you killed. In the text Othello wants to be seen as simply being outsmarted by an enemy into being “perplexed to an extreme”. He knew he wasn’t completely at fault but tricked (I did nothing out of hate, only out of honor, Othello act 5 scene 2). In retrospect of Rosenbaum studies I believe that Othello plunged into deep depression after realizing what he had done and couldn’t live with himself and that’s why he killed himself. His trial would be embarrassing for him and he would be punished but he knew justice was on his side. If he went to the trial he could defend himself and save his name as he so much wanted as shown above. It would have been greater justice for Othello to live. Othello killing Desdemona and himself in a crazy emotional tirade of justice just doesn’t add up. In retrospect Rosenbaum’s studies and the text of “Othello”, Othello’s depression was a result of knowing he killed his lover and that was the motivation of his suicide. The murder of Desdemona by Othello was the best, honorable, and most logical resolution He understood. His depression didn’t mean he was crazy but that he knew that he couldn’t live on with himself knowing what he did. People will generally associate suicide with a permanent solution to a temporary problem. But Shakespeare put Othello in a much deeper quandary than some readers can’t identify without modern research of human psyche. Othello knew he could never live with himself. Suicide was the only way for Othello to possibly feel peace by resolving the conflict with Desdemona in person in the next life. (to me, death is happiness, Othello act 5 scene 2)
Othello, the Cop, the timeless Genius, And the picture of the bad/ugly couples
In Dallas Penn. the murder suicide was so senseless that many believe drugs must have been involved. However, from this article I believe that the cop had the same problem Othello did. The cop “Of one that loved not wisely, but too well.” The difference is that the cop did kill the girl in a crazy jealous tirade unlike Othello. The cop’s act was a permanent answer to a temporary problem. I’m not trying to say the cop’s actions were justified like Othello’s were. What I am saying is that the cop developed a love for the girl he knew he could not live without. After he killed the girl he realized he couldn’t live with himself. Killing the girl was him “not loving wisely” and killing himself was one that loved “too well”. The problem of loving too well but not wisely is a timeless one and Shakespeare’s ability to identify timeless problems and create a dilemma with regard to the problem is what makes him such a timeless genius. Oxford English Dictionary
http://www.oed.com/
Study on murder suiside
Story about murder suiside
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