Genre of act two

Following on from the beginning of Iago's plot top destroy Othello in act one : scene three,  act two opens with Montano and two gentlemen awaiting Othello's arrival, scanning the stormy seas for a glimpse of the ship carrying 'brave Othello' . The anxiety between the three gentlemen emphasis's  the romantic genre of act two.

Romance is a very important  genre within act two.However, not direct romance (as in between Othello and Desdemona). The three men adore Othello - 'his bark is stoutly timbered'-,it could be suggested that he is their embodiment of the Greek demigod Hercules who was the illegitimate son of Zeus . Not only is Othello physically strong as was Hercules, he is also an illegitimate 'son' of Venice. Othello is seen as almost magical to the men,they believe that not even the Turkish fleet's ships could survive this storm yet Othello's will.

Perhaps the romantic genre of act two comes directly after we learn of Iago's plans in order to reinforce just how respected Othello is,thus making the audience more empathetic to Othello in the final tragedy.

Iago's philosophy

Iago’s philosophic speech portrays humans as the masters of their own life ‘Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners’. He believes that people should not obey the social norms- shared morals and values ‘Virtue? A fig.’ and instead they should follow their own desires. Iago also denies the existence of love, to him ‘it is merely a lust of the blood and a permission of the will’, once more it is all about our own needs which according to his philosophy should be fulfilled by any means but also they should be disguised as not showing your true self is more beneficial ‘defeat thy favour with an usurped beard’. I think that Iago’s philosophy is in many ways true as following it may benefit you materialistically however I believe that as naturally moral beings it is impossible to live free of guilt and that sooner or later those immoral actions would create regrets. 

What Genre is Act 2?

Act 2 of Othello begins with a discussion of a storm and the Turkish fleet. The Turkish fleet should be returning from a battle around Cyprus but the characters do not see it. For me, this reminded me of war fictions as it showed the affects it had on characters. Whilst the war itself is not present,  characters like Desdemona are affected by it, as she fears the loss of her husband, Othello. This is similar to the books 'The Kite Runner' and 'Small Island' which do not focus on the war as much as they do the effects of it.

The genre of Act 2 however could actually be of romance. The battle may have just served as an obstacle for the couple to overcome, which they do. When Othello meets Desdemona, he says 'If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy; for I fear my soul hath her content so absolute that not another comfort like to this succeeds in unknown fate.' [184-188] What this shows is that Othello sees this as their most happiest memory together and that nothing can surpass it.  This could act as the 'happily ever after' common in the romance genre but it is not and this therefore foreshadows a tragic ending.

Perhaps then, the genre that fits Act 2 the most is a tragedy, or more specifically a revenge tragedy. Typical conventions of a revenge tragedy are: periods of plotting, a descent into madness, an eruption of violence and of course, revenge. This can be shown through the following examples: Iago says towards the end 'two things are to be done' [373] which shows plotting; Cassio is coaxed into drinking by Iago which can be said to lead to madness, Cassio whilst drunk says 'Zounds, you rogue, you rascal!' [139] showing that he has little control over himself as he is swearing on God's wounds (Zounds); the eruption of violence is shown by Montano's wounds, 'I am hurt to the death. He dies.' [157]; and finally, Iago demonstrates the convention of revenge by demoting Cassio from his position as lieutenant. Therefore, Act 2's genre is a revenge tragedy.

Act 2 - Genre of Tragedy

Act 2 fits the Classical tragedy and the Shakespearean tragedy the best.

For the classical, Othello’s flaw in reasoning about the character of Iago being a “good and honest man” meant that Othello relieved Cassio from his duties allowing   Iago’s plan to prosper. It could also be argued that Othello has a slight revelation about fate in this Act when he says “for I fear…That not another comfort like to this/Succeeds in unknown fate”. The structure of Othello also fits the classical tragedy as it has 5 Acts and in the 2^nd Act complications arises – Iago starts to stir up trouble.

For the Shakespearean, there is a mix of prose and verse in this act when Iago speaks: “She that was frail and never proud/Had tongue at will, and yet was never loud”. There are also moments of comic relief when Iago is singing drinking songs and Cassio’s failed attempt at proving he’s not drunk. The conflict caused by Iago’s success at getting Cassio drunk meant that it contrasted with the happiness before in Venice – another element of Shakespearean tragedy.

How does the setting of Act 1 allow the play 'othello' to develop as a tragedy

In Act 1 of Othello, the play is set in Venice and this allows Shakespeare to convey to us from the start, that the play is going to be a tragedy due to the fact that  Venice, is the city we associate with the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Furthermore, in act 1, Shakespeare closes scene 1 at 'grave' Brabantio's 'doors'. By doing this, Shakespeare is able to  use Iago not only  as a device to create 'malicious knavery' between Othello and Brabantio, but also as a device to set tragedy in motion because in response to Iago's 'vexation', Branbantio leaves his home with 'servants and torches' hence  introducing conflict and chaos from the beginning of the play and  reiterating the notion that Othello is going to be a tragedy.

In scene 2 and 3 of act 1, the play is first set in Othello's home then in a courtroom.It is important that the play is first set in Othello's home before the courtroom because it allows Shakespeare to depict  a  'round and unvarnished'  perspective of Othello's character. A depiction of his character which is  neither tainted by  the biased and  'bombast ' view we receive from the duplicitous Iago at the start nor by the 'bitter' view we receive from the 'noble father' Branbantio in the courtroom . Shakespeare's structure of  setting in scene 2 and 3 , also emphasises the magnitude of Iago's duplicitous nature, which in turn foreshadows his 'monstrous' plans to sabotage Othello's marriage at the end of act 1 and overall hints at the tragedy that is Othello. Shakespeare's choice of setting, also means that by the time we are in the courtroom, we have an idea who the tragic events in othello will be aimed at as well as knowing that the play will indeed be a tragedy.

What is Iago's Philosophy to Life?

Iago's philosophy to life is that ultimately, we choose who we become. 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus.' [319-320] This quote shows that Iago does not believe in fate. Iago goes on to say that 'If the beam of our life had not one scale of reason, [...] [we'd] conduct most preposterous conclusions. [325-329] This suggests that Iago follows reason more than he does fate as without reason, we'd make incredibly poor decisions. Thus, Iago's philosophy is to follow reason and will. This could be because it allows Iago to justify his actions towards Othello, his reason is to exert revenge and his will is to gain the promotion that he 'deserves'.

I agree with Iago to an extent, while I believe in the basic principles of this philosophy, it too cannot exist without reason or context, it is hard to judge whether a reason is enough to justify our wills. Iago states that he couldn't give a 'fig' to morality as it hinders our progress, but I believe this is not the case as a life without morals would lead to 'preposterous conclusions'. This point can then be seen as contradictory to his philosophy and suggests that Iago is a flawed character.

Bruce

what genre of tragedy does act 2 of Othello fit best?

Throughout the entire act, I saw a combination of both Shakespearean and Revenge tragedy. However, the act best fit into a Shakespearean tragedy as all types of this tragedy share an array of common features. I was able to point out the three main features including;the fatal flaw,the bigger they are the harder they fall and external pressure, which will be analysed and explored through evidences within the act.

• The fatal flaw:  Throughout this scene, we see a major chracter Cassio and his flaw of drinking "not tonight good Iago i have very poor brains and unhappy brains for drinking", where Shakespeare gives Cassio as a reasonable explantion for his 'weakness' . We see that at the end of the act, this flaw leads to him loosing his reputation amoung the other chracters and his post as Othello's lieutenant. Giving Caasio this weakness, acts as a device for Iago to talk him into forgetting it at once "what man! Tis a night of revels,the gallants desire it". We will see later on in the feature of external pressure where Iago cleverly pressures both Caasio and Mantano(former governer of Cyprus) at the same time. The introduction of the theme ' reality vs appearance' also brings about a flaw in "honest Iago". Within this act, Iago says that reputation is what others think of you , in the play this proves to be false. Iago is called honest many times in the play, where he himself, admits this to  the audience whom becomes aware of his deceitfulness through his Soliloquies at the end of each scene in the act. Othello also posses a fatal flaw as within this scene we him becoming very easily deceived which later leads to the tragic ending of the play- killing his wife Desdemona and later himself.

• The bigger they are the harder they fall: within scene 1 of act 2, the audience see's Montano's regard for Othello as well as Cassio's concern for him. This builds the picture of how greatly love and respected Othello is as a commander. However, his use of imagery through the  'sea' to talk about love and life can almost me seen as dramatic irony "if it were to die,Twere now to be most happy, for I fear my soul  hath her content...that another comfort like this succeeds in unknown fate". The irony of this is that Othello does say what would happen if he was to become aware of his wife's infidelity. This further prepares the audience of the tragic ending and the downfall of Othello.

• External pressure: picking up from Othello's ironic speech of the 'sea' in comparison to life and love, the audience see's external pressure from Iago where use of the word "discords" (which is the Elizabethan idea of heavenly harmony, healing or symbolism of love), his intentions are to "untune" the instrument by altering the "pegs". This adds emphasis to Othello's' down fall and how pressure form one character cause an emphasis on the danger, the disturbance will represent to the city, throughout the play. From the perspective of Cassio and his fatal flaw,Iago dialogue with Montano, manages to cast doubts on both Cassio's character and Othello's command while Iago retains his reputation of being an "honest" and loyal friend to both. In addition to his, through Iago's soliloquies, the audience see's that his prime victim is Othello as Iago tries to build a relationship of trust between himself and Othello. A very important symbolism from the fight between Cassio and Montano caused by Iago is "blood". Blood can be seen as passion or emotion which contrast wit judgement. In Othello's opening speech of the event, "now by heaven",  it shows that the primitive side of nature is taking over, and the civilised side, contributed by Venice is being over rules. They are no longer in Venice, they are in Cyprus.

Revenge tradgy does play and important part as we see the use of psychical  approach by Cassio toward Mantano. The audience also gets the feel that  revenge is being played toward Othello by Iago because, of  Iago had not received the post in the Venice society which he wished for.