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William Clark
ENGL 105B
Professor Mark Rose
13 February 2018
Othello: Understanding Character Motivation Through the Comparative Analyses of
Hypothetical vs. Actual Modes of Speech, Paralleled with a Comparative Examination of the
Influences of Divine Wrath, Social Reduction, and Marital Infidelity
A lingering question among academics is Othello’s inner motivation, or what propels him
towards his ultimate downfall. Is Othello motivated more by the loss of Desdemona’s love or by
the humiliating loss of his own social stature? Are they mutually exclusive? Could it possibly be
both, and if so, which is the more determining factor? Through the figurative language, modes of
speech, water metaphors, and biblical allusions in Scene 4, Act 2, Lines 48-65, Othello provides
a definitive clarification of his motives by invoking hypothetical versus actual modes of speech,
mirrored with comparative reactions to divine wrath, social reduction, and the (supposed) marital
infidelity of Desdemona. This brief, yet highly critical, passage definitively answers the question
of Othello’s primary motivation as well as demonstrating that the key determinant in his tragic
response to Iago’s treachery has little to do with his personal concern for social standing, but
rather his soul-crushing heartbreak over the loss of Desdemona’s love.
This passage is composed of two separate but related juxtapositions, with both
components involving pain and loss. The first component revolves around divine wrath, the
reduction of social stature, and marital infidelity. The second component involves Othello
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considering pain and loss through the paradigm, or lens, of hypothetical versus actual modes of
speech.
In the first component, there is divine wrath, or the “sores and shame” (4.2.49) that one
might receive from an angry god. Second, there is the loss of social standing amongst peers, or
the “time of scorn” (4.2.54). Finally, there is the pain resulting from betrayal and infidelity, or
where Othello has “garnered up [his] heart” (4.2.57) only to have it decimated by Desdemona’s
(supposed) duplicity. It is this last transgression, this heartbreak and loss of love that drives the
passage, the play, and ultimately, Othello himself. It is what really hurts him. Othello claims that
he could survive the torments of heaven with a “drop of patience” (4.2.53) and that he could bear
scorn and humiliation with even less difficulty, or as he states, “well; very well” (4.2.56).
However, Othello can “bear no life” (4.2.58) without the love of Desdemona. Scorn is of little
consequence and is dismissed almost as an afterthought. This is proven by the fact that he speaks
of it only in the hypothetical.
But if the Shakespearean reader is going to entertain hypotheticals, it is critically
important to remember that hypotheticals do not actually exist. Categorically and by definition,
that is what makes them hypotheticals. Theoretical divine wrath and public scorn, as opposed to
the material pain of infidelity, live only in the abstract realm of the possible. This passage begins
in the hypothetical, with Othello considering the Job-like torments of “sores and shames”
(4.2.49) raining down upon his bare head. He goes on to state that if they ever do come to exist
he could tolerate them stoically with but a “drop of patience” (4.2.53). He then moves on to the
hypothetical “time of scorn,” (4.2.54) which again, he claims that he “could…bear that too; well,
very well” (4.2.56). Critically, Othello defining these torments as non-existent hypotheticals
shows that, in his mind, they do not exist. Othello says, in hypothetical terms, “Had it pleased
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heaven...” (4.2.48). He does not say, in actual terms, “As it pleases heaven...” Othello also
hypothetically states that “Yet I could bear [scorn] too…” (4.2.56). He does not say “Yet I am
bearing scorn too.” There is considerable semantic greenbelt between “Yet I could” and “Yet I
am.” Linguistically and conceptually, “Had” and “could” comprise two entirely different
meanings than “As” and “am.” For further proof of what Othello privileges, compare his use of
the word “bear.” Othello claims that he could bear the loss of pride, dignity, and honor “well;
very well” (4.2.56), but that he could “bear no life” (4.2.58) without the love of Desdemona.
Conversely, and in consideration of opposing viewpoints, one cannot speak of pride,
dignity, and honor without considering the effect of the chivalric code on Othello. But what
effect should we expect it to have had on him? Othello was not born into Europe’s highly
stratified social structure, but rather as a Moor in North Africa. It is quite presumptuous, even
egotistical, to expect Othello, who follows only a warrior’s code, to feel bound to or obligated by
European rules of chivalry or decorum. The foppish Venetians fully recognize this separation of
social identities as well, considering him only as just one more exotic Other. They see in him
only his utility as a solder. He is not now, nor ever will be, one of them. Brabantio proves this in
the first scene by his outraged response to his daughter’s marriage.
Finally, an analysis of this passage would not be complete without consideration of its
water metaphors, where, once again, Shakespeare provides us with locutionary elements for
comparison. Water often serves as a metaphor for life, but in this passage, it also represents
Desdemona’s love. At a subconscious level, Othello is possibly having premonitions about his
future. He is envisioning the withering death of both his life as well as his love, and his speech
reflects that. Othello can only see life-giving water in terms of “drops,” (4.2.53) not rivers. He
sees his “fountain” (4.2.59) drying up, and even when the heavens do send rains they are
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composed only of “sores and shame” (4.2.49). Cisterns, normally used for the containment of
water, are now suitable only for “foul toads” (4.2.61). Everything related to water has had an
element of death and desiccation added to it. Even the shame of poverty can only be
“Steeped…to the very lips” (4.2.50) yet never drowned.
This passage conclusively shows that it is being “discarded” (4.2.60) by Desdemona, and
not the cuckolding loss of social stature, which provides the dominant downward thrust for
Othello’s ultimate demise. Ranking, according to their significance, the three types of pain and
loss considered in the passage, public scorn would come in a distant third, well behind biblical
torments and even further behind Desdemona’s (supposed) abandonment. Othello’s use of the
hypothetical versus actual modes of speech, along with his use of water metaphors and biblical
allusions, provide further and final proof of his inner motivation. It is sadly ironic that in the
enduring battle amongst academics for determining Othello’s dominant motivation for his
actions and whether it was love or pride, once again, love has conquered all.
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Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Othello. The Pelican Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Orgel. Penguin
Books, 1999.
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Othello, Act 4, Scene 2, Lines 48-65
Had it pleased heaven
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To try me with affliction; had they rain'd
All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head.
Steep'd me in poverty to the very lips,
Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes,
I should have found in some place of my soul
A drop of patience: but, alas, to make me
A fixed figure for the time of scorn
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To point his slow unmoving finger at!
Yet could I bear that too; well, very well:
But there, where I have garner'd up my heart,
Where either I must live, or bear no life;
The fountain from the which my current runs,
Or else dries up; to be discarded thence!
Or keep it as a cistern for foul toads
To knot and gender in! Turn thy complexion there,
Patience, thou young and rose-lipp'd cherubin,-Ay, there, look grim as hell!
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