Othello: The Justice of It Pleases

I want to build upon previous psychoanalytic discussions of Othello in such a way as to disclose the analytic significance of what I take to be one of the play's most revealing behaviors, namely Iago's suggestion that Othello strangle Desdemona in her bed and Othello's enthusiastic reception of this idea. Axiomatic in my discussion are two propositions which should be underscored at the outset. First, the psychoanalytic criticism of Othello has developed to the point where it is now able to present a consistent, coherent picture of the tragedy's underlying dynamics, a picture that is sufficiently detailed and specific to allow us to grasp the primary meaning of all the behaviors of all the characters including, of course, the principals. Second, to explore Iago's interest in having Desdemona strangled and Othello's interest in strangling her is to confront directly the need for multiphasic interpretations not only of Shakespeare's works but of literary, nay artistic productions in general. Shakespeare is a remarkable playwright because he is able to depict in single dramatic occurrences, as well as in total dramatic designs, the simultaneous engagement of the different levels of personality in the unfolding of human deeds. In “real life,” needless to say, we all expect human beings to behave as individuals who have passed through the major stages of libidinal development, and we attempt to explicate the character structure of the whole person in such a way as to do justice to all the phases and zones in which his experience has perforce involved him. As psychoanalytic critics we should do no less for the literary character who has been created by a writer with the rare abilty to render a psychology that has been through the whole course of human growth. Indeed, I believe that when we talk about a literary character who seems especially “real,” especially “rich,” especially “lifelike,” we are disclosing our awareness, perhaps our unconscious or “subliminal” awareness