A Storm is Never Just a "Storm"
At the beginning of Act II (pg. 528) in Othello, we read about a storm that has taken out the Turkish fleet that had been on their way to Cyprus. This incoming fleet was the reason Othello had been deployed in the first place, and now seems unimportant, however there is usually more than meets the eye when a storm is used in a story. The use of storms in literature usually has some symbolic meaning the author is trying to convey to readers (or in this case viewer/audience members). A Google search about the storm in Othello brings up multiple ideas regarding the symbolism of that particular storm, so here I will be analyzing my thoughts on the subject and the potential historical references the storm brings to the play.
In high school I was assigned to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. I have to say, I did not like reading this book. It was boring, dry, and yes, while it presented interesting ideas, it wasn't a story. It was how to read stories with an analytical eye, and at that point in my high school career (senior year) I wanted to read books for fun and for the story, not for hardcore analysis and dissection. However, in my college career I have found myself thinking about the ideas Foster presented in his book, including the symbolism of water (rain, tears, and in this case storms) which is chapter 10 "Its More than Just Rain or Snow." Below I have linked the PDF version of this book if you want to read this chapter or some other chapter that you have noticed in your own analyses.
According to Foster, water and storms can mean a lot of different things besides the obvious atmosphere/mood such as misery, cleansing, staining, restoration, and renewal. Although he did not add "chaos" to his analysis, I would add it to the list as well. In the case of Othello, the storm has a more ominous symbolism than those presented by Foster, although some can still be applied. Foster wrote, "Drowning is one of our deepest fears (being land creatures, after all), and the drowning of everything and everybody just magnifies that fear. Rain prompts ancestral memories of the most profound sort. So water in great volume speaks to us at a very basic level of our being. And at times Noah is what it signifies. Certainly when D. H. Lawrence has the flood go crashing through the family homestead in The Virgin and the Gypsy (1930), he’s thinking of Noah’s flood, the big eraser that destroys but also allows a brand-new start" (Foster, pg. 44). What I am looking at here is "the big eraser" and the concept of drowning. In my opinion, the storm represents Iago. He is a storm and a force that is headed to destroy Othello, represented by the Turkish navy. Othello, as a Moor, could have been a Muslim before he converted to Christianity (which is what a lot of renditions portray), and Turkey is a known Muslim country (I would assume at that time as well). Iago (the storm) destroys (essentially, drowns) Othello's life and reputation (Turkish Fleet) by manipulation and a figurative "dashing upon the rocks" with the lies he leads Othello to believe. Othello could have been victorious (if not a little battered) and led a good life with Desdemona and held in high regard, as he probably would have been promoted after his deployment to Cyprus, if only he had been bolstered and protected from the destructive storm that was Iago. Similarly, the Turkish fleet could have been victorious if they had made it through the storm that destroyed them. Iago, or the storm, has essentially erased/drowned all that Othello and his life once was, and as much as Othello did not want to be remembered as the Moor who killed his Venetian wife out of unfounded jealousy. Othello said, "I pray you, in your letters, when you shall these unlucky deeds relate, speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand, like the base Judean, threw a pearl away richer than all his tribe" (5.2, pg. 586). However, in all honesty, besides Cassio, the jealousy and murder is probably how he is remembered by those who come after him. Without the personal connection such as the one Cassio had with Othello, someone who heard the story most likely would not look upon Othello favorably at all, especially if Iago never comes clean with every manipulation he had over Othello. The storm has drowned Othello and his reputation completely.
On the historical side, the storm that took out the threat to the Venetian army reminded me of the storm that weakened the Spanish Armada, the most powerful force on water at the time of Elizabeth I, allowing the English navy to defeat it. This prompted me to do some research to find out if this was potentially the inspiration for the storm in Shakespeare's Othello. The Spanish Armada, weakened by a storm on its way to England, was defeated by the English Navy under Queen Elizabeth I in 1588. William Shakespeare, who was born on April 23, 1564 and would have been 24 at that time, would remember this momentous event (that moved England up the pole of world powers) when he wrote Othello. Furthermore, Othello was written approximately in 1603. Queen Elizabeth died March 24, 1603. Note the common year. It is possible, and not out of the realm of possibility that the storm in Othello is a tribute to one of Queen Elizabeth's defining moments during her reign. Of course we can never know for sure, but I personally like to think this was a contributing factor in his choice to include that particular scene.
So what do you think? Do you think the storm in Act II Scene I of Othello represented or symbolized anything? If so, what is its role?
Sources:
Foster, Thomas Campbell. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. Harper, 2014.
https://www.sps186.org/downloads/basic/350289/HowToReadLiteratureLikeAProfessor.pdf
Knighton, Andrew. “How The Spanish Armada Failed To Conquer Against The English.” WAR HISTORY ONLINE, 19 July 2017, www.warhistoryonline.com/history/13-reasons-spanish-armada-failed.html.
In high school I was assigned to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. I have to say, I did not like reading this book. It was boring, dry, and yes, while it presented interesting ideas, it wasn't a story. It was how to read stories with an analytical eye, and at that point in my high school career (senior year) I wanted to read books for fun and for the story, not for hardcore analysis and dissection. However, in my college career I have found myself thinking about the ideas Foster presented in his book, including the symbolism of water (rain, tears, and in this case storms) which is chapter 10 "Its More than Just Rain or Snow." Below I have linked the PDF version of this book if you want to read this chapter or some other chapter that you have noticed in your own analyses.
According to Foster, water and storms can mean a lot of different things besides the obvious atmosphere/mood such as misery, cleansing, staining, restoration, and renewal. Although he did not add "chaos" to his analysis, I would add it to the list as well. In the case of Othello, the storm has a more ominous symbolism than those presented by Foster, although some can still be applied. Foster wrote, "Drowning is one of our deepest fears (being land creatures, after all), and the drowning of everything and everybody just magnifies that fear. Rain prompts ancestral memories of the most profound sort. So water in great volume speaks to us at a very basic level of our being. And at times Noah is what it signifies. Certainly when D. H. Lawrence has the flood go crashing through the family homestead in The Virgin and the Gypsy (1930), he’s thinking of Noah’s flood, the big eraser that destroys but also allows a brand-new start" (Foster, pg. 44). What I am looking at here is "the big eraser" and the concept of drowning. In my opinion, the storm represents Iago. He is a storm and a force that is headed to destroy Othello, represented by the Turkish navy. Othello, as a Moor, could have been a Muslim before he converted to Christianity (which is what a lot of renditions portray), and Turkey is a known Muslim country (I would assume at that time as well). Iago (the storm) destroys (essentially, drowns) Othello's life and reputation (Turkish Fleet) by manipulation and a figurative "dashing upon the rocks" with the lies he leads Othello to believe. Othello could have been victorious (if not a little battered) and led a good life with Desdemona and held in high regard, as he probably would have been promoted after his deployment to Cyprus, if only he had been bolstered and protected from the destructive storm that was Iago. Similarly, the Turkish fleet could have been victorious if they had made it through the storm that destroyed them. Iago, or the storm, has essentially erased/drowned all that Othello and his life once was, and as much as Othello did not want to be remembered as the Moor who killed his Venetian wife out of unfounded jealousy. Othello said, "I pray you, in your letters, when you shall these unlucky deeds relate, speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand, like the base Judean, threw a pearl away richer than all his tribe" (5.2, pg. 586). However, in all honesty, besides Cassio, the jealousy and murder is probably how he is remembered by those who come after him. Without the personal connection such as the one Cassio had with Othello, someone who heard the story most likely would not look upon Othello favorably at all, especially if Iago never comes clean with every manipulation he had over Othello. The storm has drowned Othello and his reputation completely.
On the historical side, the storm that took out the threat to the Venetian army reminded me of the storm that weakened the Spanish Armada, the most powerful force on water at the time of Elizabeth I, allowing the English navy to defeat it. This prompted me to do some research to find out if this was potentially the inspiration for the storm in Shakespeare's Othello. The Spanish Armada, weakened by a storm on its way to England, was defeated by the English Navy under Queen Elizabeth I in 1588. William Shakespeare, who was born on April 23, 1564 and would have been 24 at that time, would remember this momentous event (that moved England up the pole of world powers) when he wrote Othello. Furthermore, Othello was written approximately in 1603. Queen Elizabeth died March 24, 1603. Note the common year. It is possible, and not out of the realm of possibility that the storm in Othello is a tribute to one of Queen Elizabeth's defining moments during her reign. Of course we can never know for sure, but I personally like to think this was a contributing factor in his choice to include that particular scene.
So what do you think? Do you think the storm in Act II Scene I of Othello represented or symbolized anything? If so, what is its role?
Sources:
Foster, Thomas Campbell. How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. Harper, 2014.
https://www.sps186.org/downloads/basic/350289/HowToReadLiteratureLikeAProfessor.pdf
Shakespeare, William. “Othello.” The Norton Shakespeare: Tragedies, by William Shakespeare et al., W.W. Norton & Company, 2016, pp. 512–586.
Knighton, Andrew. “How The Spanish Armada Failed To Conquer Against The English.” WAR HISTORY ONLINE, 19 July 2017, www.warhistoryonline.com/history/13-reasons-spanish-armada-failed.html.
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