Creative texts hold up a mirror to contextual factors. What does that actually mean? Context shapes our interpretation of events, emotions and understanding of human nature. As for how jealousy reflects context, well, that’s what I’m here to talk to you about. The contexts in which William Shakespeare’s play Othello and the film O, directed by Tim Blake Nelson were composed are very different. Although they were composed in different contexts, jealousy is conveyed as a powerful, potentially all-consuming, destructive emotion in both texts, and reflects the context at the time of composure.
As you may already know, Shakespeare’s context is very important when considering the representation of jealousy in Othello.Iago’s jealous, deceitful and cunning character and his jealousy of Cassio reflects Shakespeare’s context, however what you may not know is that it was the Elizabethan belief that Venetians were hot blooded, easily tempered, easily jealous, deceitful people living lives of loose morals and treachery. Iago’s belief that Cassio is unworthy of the promotion to lieutenant and that he himself should have been promoted instead because of his experiences in battle. Iago’s jealousy of Cassio’s promotion is emphasised through the alliteration of “mere prattle without practice” and insults such as “counter-caster”, conveying to Shakespeare’s Elizabethan audience Iago’s quick temper, jealous nature and treacherous, murderous potential.
Also in Othello, Shakespeare conveys Othello’s descent to chaos through the use of exclamation marks. In Elizabethan England, the stereotypical view of black men was that they were ‘hot blooded’, making them more prone to strong emotions including jealousy. Iago manipulates Othello, convincing him that Cassio has been sleeping with Desdemona behind his back, to the extent where he changes from a rational, controlled and rational man to a furious, unrational beast-like man, unlocking murderous thoughts, such as might be expected of a hot blooded black man. Othello’s jealousy inspired fury is emphasised through exclamation marks in “Damn her, lewd minx!” and “Death and damnation!” This can also be seen through the repetition of blood in “O, blood, blood, blood!”, when he calls for Desdemona’s blood, damning her and wishing her dead. Shakespeare shows his context through jealousy using techniques such as exclamation marks and repetition.
Nelson’s context is reflected through his portrayal of jealousy as a destructive, all-consuming emotion in O using slow motion, absence of sound, symbolism and high angle shots. A series of high school shootings in the USA contributed to the belief that adolescents were hot-blooded and hot-headed and would react in a more emotional rather than rational sense. As you have learnt in your studies, Odin’s jealousy and suspicion of Desi and Mike’s relationship becomes so strong that he looses all logic, reasoning and control. Slow motion and the absence of sound at the slam dunk competition creates a moment of expectation and high tension which emphasises the loud crash and fast movement after the dunk, when the strength of Odin’s slam dunk smashes the backboard and the basketball ring falls down. This action represents the strength, determination and madness behind Odin’s jealousy, and the shattered backboard and broken basketball ring symbolise the most deteriorated, uncontrollable stage of Odin’s jealousy. You can see that he is consumed with jealousy in a high angled shot looking down on Odin, who snatches a basketball from a young boy and grabshim by the jumper, hurling him backwards across the court. Odin’s loss of self control and his wild jealousy and furyreflects to the audience the hot-headedness and violence of adolescence and their more strongly emotional than rational reactions.
Also in O, Hugo’s jealousy of Odin’s basketball prowess reflects the modern American admiration of sports figures, something that I’m sure you can all relate to as well. These sports figures are highly respected and deemed popular with everyone.Nelson uses slow motion to capture and emphasise Hugo’s jealousy of Odin’s popularity, with Odin being lifted above everyone else’s heads like a hero.A long shot shows Hugo watching him from the outside, his expression mixture of sadness and envy. Nelson uses Hugo’s jealousy of the crowd’s admiration and love of Odin for bringing success to their school to reflect the American culture to respect people with such athletic ability through the use of slow motion and long shots.
Creative texts hold up a mirror to contextual factors. The representation of jealousy in Shakespeare’s Othello and director by Blake Nelson’s O reflects the context at the time in which these texts were composed. Even though the contexts are different, to me, jealousy is a universal emotion of power and envy with the potential to be all-consuming and extremely destructive. So what does it mean to you?