In many instances, authors use powerful ideas that shift their readers in a way that intrigues their every day understanding of life. It is not debatable that Robert Browning and William Shakespeare were legendary writers of their time. It is also not ironic that although there are years separating the two writers, their work contains similar themes. As a common ground for my comparisons, this paper examines the common ideas and how the themes are brought out in William Shakespeare’s “Othelo”, and Robert Browning’s two poems “My Last Duchess” and “The Laboratory”. Using characters Iago in Othelo, The Duke in “My Last Duchess” and the evil woman in “The Laboratory”, I embark on a journey to explore how the ideas of jealousy, power, control and manipulation, revenge, death and murder are visible in the mentioned books.
Jealousy is a general idea embedded in the works of Robert Browning and William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s Othelo is not only a tragedy of love; it is also an analogy of interdependence of betrayal, credulity, and jealousy. Perhaps the epitome of jealousy is embodied by the character Iago. Iago is jealous of Othelo and Cassio for the reason that he imagines them as cheating with his wife who is called Emilia. At the end of act 1, we get to know Iago’s feelings courtesy of a soliloquy where he says that he suspects that Othelo might
have slept with his wife. While he believes it is a rumor, he has reasons to believe that it is credible. Othelo says, O, beware, my lord, of jealousy (3.3.165-170). Jealousy thus becomes a very common and powerful theme on the play, and mixes with other less pronounced themes to make Othello a powerful tragedy. In Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess” line 22 the Duke illustrates his wife by saying “too soon made glad”. This implied that the Duke was jealous because of his wife’s overfriendliness and supposed flirtations with other men. Perhaps one reason why the Duke held the Duchess on spite was because of her incapability to raise his social standing. In stanza two, the evil woman says, “He is with her; and they know that I know where they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow.” The Evil woman is a psychotic character who exhibits characteristics of jealousy at her husband. The common comparison of Jealousy in the three pieces is that while Othelo’s Iago and “My Last Duchess” jealous characters are men, in “The Laboratory”, the central character is a woman. Also, Iago and the Duke are jealous of their wives being with other men, or their success while the evil woman is jealous of her man hanging out with another man. The other common similarity is death and senseless killing for pleasure. In all those accounts, the three disturbed characters use death as weapon for finishing off their rivals. The similarity between the characters is exhibited by the Duke’s hatred for her because of how other people accept her, which is also the same attitude of Iago towards Othelo. The contrast is that Iago’s hate is directed to Othelo, while the Duke’ jealousy is directed only to his wife the “the Duchess.
Another common theme in the literary pieces is power, control and manipulation. In Othelo, Iago acquires power by being manipulative and in control of situations. Iago, The Duke and the Evil woman all have common behavior of being manipulative. Iago has a reputation of being outspoken and makes a good use of it in the play. However, it must be understood that Iago’s outspokenness is majorly a pretence Iago relies on for deception. Iago like to manipulate people. In one instance, Iago convinces Roderigo to kill Cassio, he also lobbies so that Cassio is not appointed as Othelo’s lieutenant. In another situation, after Iago has come to speak more frankly, it appears to Othello that Iago feels that loyalty to him outweigh the loyalty given to Cassio, Iago thus becomes the masterpiece of seduction and control. In another instance, Iago says: "Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; / Wear your eye thus, neither jealous nor secure" (3.3.197-198). "I would not have your free and noble nature, / Out of self-bounty, be abused; look to't." (3.3.199-200). Perchance, another analysis of Browning’s “My Last Duchess” would have a deeper view of the Duke’s narcissistic view of life. The Duke in the poem is obsessed about power. This is demonstrated by his willingness to collect and own people. As a matter of fact, the Duke has hatred for people that refuse to be owned by others. Some of the beautiful things that the Duke owns include the painting of the Duchess done by Fra Pandolf and figure of Neptune “which Claus Innsbruck cast in bronze” (line 56). While reflecting about his Duchess, the Duke said that she accepted the gifts of others as she accepted the gifts he gave her. He goes ahead to describe her smile, her greetings, and her general way that she carried out herself as demonstrated in the line “Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,/Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without/Much the same smile? [. . .]" (43-45. According to the Duke, her willingness to stoop low to other people was an abomination to her class. One can thus reason that the Duke’s obsession with self love and desire for power was some of the reason he just had to kill her. "I gave commands;/Then all smiles stopped together" (45-46). This same sentiment can also be said of Iago, and the Evil Woman. While the ideas of power and manipulation is obvious in “My Last Duchess”, In “The Laboratory”, the theme is mainly propelled through the Repetition of ‘I’ shows that she is egotistical and also shows that she only cares about herself and her feelings and doesn’t care who she has to hurt to be happy again. It could also show that she feels lonely and isolated. The Evil woman obsession with belonging and the Dukes taste for class, as well as Iago’s desire for power and influence make the three characters equals in the world of literature.
In addition to power, control, and manipulation, hate is yet another strong element exhibited by Iago, the Duke, and the Evil woman. The similarity is that all the characters have contempt and hate for other people. However, Iago pretends to respect good and do justice while he secretly hates the very people. The Duke on the other hand, does not show love to anyone and admits this in the monologue. He says “"I gave commands;/Then all smiles stopped together" (45-46). The Evil woman is full of hate; she confesses this at the Laboratory. In Shakespeare’s Othelo, Iago wears the armband of hate. Even though Iago is a Venetian, his continuous and all inclusive preoccupation with himself and his own personal problems gives him the possibility of seeing Venetians of the play with little love. His own personal world and Othelo’s are so different that he plans a tragedy just so as to seek satisfaction. Iago and Roderigo, have actually refused to call Othelo by his real name and instead focused on calling the “moor” a name referring to black people during this time. At one instance, Rodrigo goes ahead to tell the lady’s father that “ you’ll have a daughter covered with a Barbary nose, you’ll have your nephews neigh to you” (1.1.106-110). Browning’s chief character in “My Last Duchess” is crafty, intelligent and manipulative. For example, in Browning’s “My Last Duchess” the speaker’s controlling aspects are clearly understood using the concept of monologue, this also used in “My Last Duchess”, “TheLabarotory” and “Othelo.” The main characters openly confess their illegal act of killing for themselves. Even though the characters never express their crime in open-light, we as readers are able to know about his actions thanks to the style of monologue. The Dukes ability to control and manipulate the Duchess is also demonstrated by the carelessness of his words. For example, he says “The Duchess painted on the wall”. He also says that he gave a “command” that stopped her from communicating with other men. The Duke is also the line where the duke says “Then all smiles stopped working together”. In the end, as readers we are left with the question of whether the Duke had one last Duchess pointing to the possibility of other women other than the mentioned Duchess. In the end, we conclude that the Duke got rid of the Duchess so he could get another one. “The Laboratory” presents the feelings of an abandoned woman. The persona has been abandoned by her lover. The jilted lover feels the pain of being discharged of her duties for a lady that the lover feels like is more womanly. In an attempt to win back her love, the jilted woman plans to poison her rival so she can have the benefit of her man. Here the same element of pain and anger and the desire for power and possession reigns supreme just as in the other poems. In one line, “which is the poison her, prithee?” This presents the idea of using all possible ventures to finish the other lover.
Another common theme that transcends across the three plays is madness, revenge and evil. His elements of sadism connect so well with the “psycho-analysis. On one hand, one claim revenge as the ultimate prize that Iago seeks on Othello and Cassio, but on another, you could make a case for someone just fighting for survival. Iago says that it is natural for him to be protective of good values. Compare this Iago’s reaction with the Evil woman whose only concern is “people laughing at her”, for the Duke, his only piece is “ social status”. It takes a good look at his record to realize that he means exactly the opposite. He says “In "I confess, it is my nature's plague / To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy / Shapes faults that are not" (3.3.146-148). “My Last Duchess”, the Duke evil is demonstrated by his supposed murder of the Duchess for her niceness and inability to do what the Duke expected of her. The Duke says at the opening paragraph, 'That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder This also happens to the same element in Robert Browning’s “Laboratory” the emission of paranoia and hopelessness through repetition. In the second stanza, he use the word “they” such indicating that she is more careful about what other think of her, and not what she thinks of herself. In an attempt to posses her man, she gets paranoid and emotionally disturbed about aspects of life such as “people laughing at her”. The poem is such a reflection of her mind, and the deep desire to belong. The woman is consumed by anger but she finds solace on God temporarily. However, she finally decides to find happiness while working on the laboratory to find a perfect poison to finish off the woman that takes her husband away.
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s Othelo’s character Iago, Robert Browning’s character in the poem “My Last Duchess’ and his evil woman in “The laboratory” are also characters that possess the description of disturbed characters. Because of their similarity, it would be appropriate to analyze the three pieces of literature using psychoanalysis. The commonality is in the themes of power, death, manipulation, and hate. The three characters reflect what happens when love goes wrong in relationships or is influenced by other ideas more than love as it is.
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Work Cited
Browning, Robert, Eileen Gillooly, and Joel Spector. Robert Browning. New York: Sterling Pub., 2001. Print.
Cultural Studies - Introductory Lectures: Lecture Three - Borges: Fragments, Dreams, and the Meaning of Tradition Part I." Cultural Studies - Introductory Lectures: Lecture Three - Borges: Fragments, Dreams, and the Meaning of Tradition Part I. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.
Othello." By William Shakespeare. Search EText, Read Online, Study, Discuss. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.
In Browning’s “The Laboratory”, the evil woman travels to a brewing place so as to manufacture a poison to kill his ex lover and his two mistresses. The husband has been cheating on her and she is planning her revenge. She is telling the old man at the apothecary her plans for big revenge. The same is also found in Act 2 Scene 1 where Iago reinforces his thinking on Othelo and his wife. He also says Cassio also slept with his wife, He remarks that Cassio is “a proper man”. Iago cautions Othelo about jealousy. Othelo says, O, beware, my lord, of jealousy (3.3.165-170). The fascination of Shakespeare’s Iago is a function of the many different views that he evokes. However, there is little said about his intentions and engagements with other characters. Iago comes out as unusual ambiguous and subtle character.
