Introduction
Literature is an evolving discipline where stories entwine with the complexity of human existence, opening windows into many worlds and reflecting the common threads of experience, emotion, and social structures. Readers explore the many layers of two different works, William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by using the concept of “Reader Response” literary criticism. This critical analysis technique prompts one to examine how readers engage with texts, placing their viewpoints, feelings, and interpretations at the center. This paper examines the literary landscapes of these masterpieces through the lens of “reader response” literary criticism, revealing the complex tapestry of gender, power, love, mental health, and social expectations that is woven throughout.
Shakespeare’s Othello
Themes
In the tragedy “Othello,” Shakespeare presents a historical and contemporary twist on the battle for love and power in this specific piece. Such situations lead to ongoing conflicts among the parties concerned, which affect their social status. Love and power are critical to the numerous scary consequences brought on by common characteristics like race, greed, and gender.
The resistance of marginalized subject positions causes the actual manifestation of impulsive human nature in attempts to occupy the center, as seen in “Othello.” The theme of jealousy serves as a metaphor for the conflict between appearances and reality (Tearle). The problem to be solved upon close reading is the damaging power of unwarranted mistrust and unrestrained jealousy in relationships. Othello’s journey from a brave and self-assured man to a troubled and envious spouse is generally a troubled one.
Protagonists
Shakespeare utilizes two primary protagonists, who are connected to Iago and Othello, as well as Iago and Othello, to unfold events. Iago and Cassio both exhibit an apparent resistance that ultimately works to bring down Othello, the main character. The union of the black figure Othello with Desdemona establishes the storyline of Othello. Iago attempts to dissolve this union for two potentially recognized causes. He wants to exact revenge on Othello for not appointing him as lieutenant. In place of Iago, Othello selects Cassio, a less skilled militant. Iago also plans an attack on Othello and Iago’s union because of greed and jealousy.
Desdemona, who is now wed to Othello, is the object of Rederigo’s hidden affection, and he wants to win her. Roderigo quits trying to win Desdemona’s affections and asks Iago for help. Iago conspires against Othello’s wedding to avoid losing out on the enormous payoff he would receive for helping Rederigo win Desdemona. His plan to destroy Othello’s marriage involves making up for Desdemona’s affair with Cassio.
Ultimately, all of Iago’s plots fail when Cassio neither gets promoted nor wins Desdemona. The plot is shockingly horrible, and at the end, numerous characters die, like Desdemona, Roderigo, and Emilia, Iago’s wife. This result shows the fight to marginalize women and people of color that results from the resentment and desperation of certain other characters. Shakespeare highlights the effects of desperation, greed, and envy in this piece. Despite being a classic, Othello has garnered the interest of several contemporary authors due to its extensive use of literary tropes.
Literary Devices
Allusion
Shakespeare frequently employs allusion, irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism to enrich his writing in “Othello” in the most thrilling way imaginable. Allusion appears frequently in the tragedy “Othello” by William Shakespeare. He employs it to allude to objects, settings, events, or artistic creations in the hopes that his audience will catch on to what he is getting at. Shakespeare employs allusion on multiple occasions to describe specific events to his readers. In Shakespeare’s Act V, Scene II, Othello says, “It is the very error of the moon; She comes more nearer earth than she was wont, And makes men mad” (Shakespeare 126). By saying this, Shakespeare assumes that his audience is familiar with the plot’s development. He compares Cassio’s moves toward the fictitious Desdemona to the moon’s movement toward the Earth. This is viewed as a disastrous activity that instantly drives “men” insane. In this instance, the author represents Othello’s angry demeanor due to Iago’s fabricated accusations of adultery against his wife, Desdemona.
Additionally, Othello’s declaration of “O devil” after discovering Desdemona lost the handkerchief is an allusion. He does not mean to reference the devil; instead, he refers to a circumstance. Through pathos, this term conveys his unfavorable thoughts about the circumstance. His allusion to the devil represents the fatal emotions he experienced when his wife misplaced the handkerchief. This illustrates the significance of the handkerchief to Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. In defending Othello’s conduct at the play’s conclusion, the audience’s comprehension of this is crucial. The handkerchief symbolizes Desdemona’s love for Othello; thus, when it is lost, he turns to murder her. This development supports Iago’s assertions that Desdemona was engaging in marital adultery with Cassio.
Irony
Shakespeare also employed irony to engage the audience in his works. He employs various irony techniques, primarily linguistic and dramatic irony, in Othello. With his line, “What sayest thou, noble heart?” Iago creates sarcasm (Shakespeare 27). Iago’s description of Roderigo as a man with a noble heart is rather amusing, considering that, in reality, he does not have one. Desdemona is not open to Roderigo’s secret affection for her. Roderigo is so overwhelmed by the situation that he even hints at suicide in Act 1, Scene III, arguing that it is foolish to continue living when life brings only suffering and that death should be accepted as the remedy for such pain (Shakespeare 27). Iago refers to Roderigo as having a noble heart, although such an action can only come from the ideas of a weak heart. Only positive thoughts, not such horrible ones, may come from noble souls.
The line “My friend is dead; ’tis done at your request,” by Iago to Othello, is another example of linguistic sarcasm (Shakespeare 80). While Cassio is his enemy, Iago paradoxically refers to him as his friend. He has opposed Cassio’s elevation and is working to degrade him by inciting a conflict between him and Othello.
Another instance of dramatic irony in this piece is how the characters are unaware of what is happening while the readers are aware of it. The audience is aware of Iago’s scheme to prevent Othello and his wife from being married from the play’s very beginning, but neither Othello nor the other characters is. In Act 1, Scene III, Iago reveals his ambitions by saying, “After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear That he is too familiar with his wife. He hath a person and a smooth dispose.” (Shakespeare 30). The words are connected to the course of events by the reader, creating a clear image of what is happening. These words clearly indicate that Othello is uncertain whether his wife is involved in another relationship, which makes him insecure about their relationship. Eventually, Iago successfully forces Desdemona and Cassio to commit adultery, costing Othello his marriage.
Foreshadowing
Shakespeare also foreshadows events to help his audience understand the fundamental principles of Othello. Through their remarks, several characters in this piece foretell various circumstances. Iago conveys the story’s most prominent foreshadowing by revealing the resolution through his several soliloquies. He immediately informs the audience about the entire play by outlining his plans to exact revenge on Othello for his rejection.
In scene III of Act 1, he says, “Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me, For making him egregiously an ass, And practicing upon his peace, Even to Madness.” (Shakespeare 42). These statements reveal his intention to deceive Othello into completing his task. Iago knows that if his wife’s infidelity were mentioned, Othello would lose his mind and end the relationship. Roderigo would then have the chance to fulfill his commitment and take up Desdemona. Iago would still have a chance to advance to the rank of lieutenant, thanks to the breakup.
In the tragedy “Othello,” there are further indicators of Desdemona’s demise. Othello, the executor, provides the first forecast and the second. Othello predicts Desdemona’s demise in Act 3, Scene III, following her rejected invitation to lunch with Cassio. Othello foretells her demise in his soliloquy after Desdemona leaves: “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again” (Shakespeare 64). Othello exemplifies the duality of his love for Desdemona. He must love and adore her to avoid experiencing painful and emotional difficulties if he loses her.
Symbolism
Lastly, Shakespeare employs symbolism to elicit sentiment and meaning in Othello. Shakespeare employed both living and non-living elements in his works as symbols to convey specific ideas and sentiments. Notably, the handkerchief is Othello’s most well-known emblem in Shakespeare’s works. It directly affects this story’s unfortunate conclusion.
The handkerchief Othello gives to his wife is sacred to him and represents marital fidelity. On his mother’s deathbed, Othello received it as a symbol of his family’s legacy. She employed it to keep her spouse faithful. Othello gave his wife the identical item as a token of his hoped-for fidelity and constancy.
The handkerchief’s disappearance is a symptom of the marriage’s waning devotion and commitment. It is the primary factor in how Desdemona’s loss of the handkerchief escalates the conflict between Othello and Desdemona. It prompts him to pay attention to Iago’s admission that Desdemona was having an extramarital affair with his younger brother, Cassio. It is a violent encounter that leads to Othello’s ultimate horrifying treatment of Desdemona. He assumes that her wife is cheating on her and that she deserves to die without repentance.
Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Background and Summary
“The Yellow Wallpaper” was written by the author Charlotte Perkins Gilman as an outlet for her anger and anguish at the treatment of women in the 1800s. It was written to illustrate how women have been treated throughout history, not just at the time of its publication. This was created with postpartum depressed women in mind, and those who felt trapped in unequal relationships.
The plot entails the reader’s journey into the protagonist’s psyche as she navigates social pressures and mental health challenges. Readers follow her on a road of isolation, annoyance, and, ultimately, psychosis through her open notebook writings. As the audience watches her disappear into the maze of the yellow wallpaper, which serves as a metaphor for her incarceration and mental decline, the reader’s sympathy grows. The paper also examines how the author presents her message in the short story in this literary study.
Themes
A tension between societal expectations and personal autonomy appears in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” as the theme of women’s mental health. After close reading, the problem to be solved is the social standards’ suffocating imprisonment and deterioration of women’s mental health. A close reading reveals the protagonist’s journey into lunacy as she struggles with her declining autonomy and self-expression. Gilman uses vivid descriptions, first-person narrative, and a worsening mental condition to express the protagonist’s growing isolation and fragility.
Literary Devices
Metaphors
Gilman based her writing of this tale on her struggles with depression, evident in her metaphorical language, such as when she utilizes metaphors. The narrator uses a metaphor to describe her feelings about the wall. Gilman utilizes the wallpaper as a metaphor for the interior space of one’s mind, which may be thought of as the room itself.
Gilman states, “It is a dull yet lurid orange in some places, a sickly sulfur tint in others. No wonder the children hated it! I should hate it myself if I had to live in this room long” (Gilman 8-9). She was illustrating graphically how awful and odd the yellow paper was. Charlotte consciously conveys to the readers the narrator’s mentality and propensity to succumb to the wall’s insanity.
Imagery
Gillian compares the two characters via imagery; John is portrayed as the more powerful individual, while the narrator is shown as the one who submits and is hidden by his shadow. She does this to illustrate oppressive relationships in which women were also silenced. The fact that the narrative took place in the 1800s, when women were viewed as physically and psychologically weak, played a significant part in the plot. They primarily played supporting roles in their husbands’ lives at the time, and judging from how John treated his wife in the narrative, it was clear she had no say.
Gillman uses this example to illustrate the discrimination that women faced in this era. She writes, “And I know John would think it absurd. But I must say what I feel and think in some way. It is such a relief!” (Gillman 25). A double standard occurs when John finds her ideas ludicrous, but the narrator finds them logical. That demonstrated how the narrator understood what her spouse would think of her, whereas she felt safest in her thoughts about herself in relation to her spouse. The narrator should appreciate that, even though they were married, they were not on equal footing.
John was always in the right, leading her to assume he understood what was best for her. This notion served to illustrate how poorly this couple communicated. Gilman gave the narrator a self-assured yet helpless voice. When the narrator states, “Personally, I disagree with their ideas,” she clarifies that she disagrees with the therapies her husband and brother suggested for her (Gilman 3). She seems inevitable because she believes she knows what is best for her alleged nervous condition.
The narrator begins by stating: “John is a physician, and perhaps (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind) — perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see, he does not believe I am sick!” (Gilman 2). John decides not to validate any worry and does not take her sickness seriously, which irritates the narrator. He frequently treats her like a child and as if she is not in the proper frame of mind, which is not the case. However, what aggravates her is how he refuses to pay attention to her thoughts.
The narrator reaches her breaking point due to John’s decision to ignore her for his purpose, and by keeping her thoughts a secret from everyone, she starts to sink further into sadness. When Gilman says, “He laughs at me so much about this wallpaper!” she adds another tone of annoyance (Gilman 11). He first intended to repaper the room, but he changed his mind after seeing that he was letting her emotions get the better of him and that caving into such fantasies was the worst possible anxious patient behavior. She asks him to change the wallpaper, and he agrees, but he says the narrator should not let her silly fancies get the better of her (Gilman 27). It can be deduced that watching John laugh at her makes her furious and upset.
Sarcasm
Throughout the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Gilman uses a sarcastic tone. The narrator once said, “Life is much more exciting now than it used to be” (Gilman 38). Her sarcastic and hilarious tone makes the tale more engaging because, despite its profound message in many aspects, her word choice makes it interesting. She uses sarcasm to lighten the mood of the reader. The author utilizes comedy to lighten the tale, as it is evident that she is continually afraid to express her opinions and is fascinated by what is happening around her.
Generally, the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman explores women’s mental health, captivity, and the symbolic meaning of the yellow wallpaper. This paper interpreted the protagonist’s journey as a representation of the era’s contempt for women’s autonomy through attentive reading and the study of literary aspects. Collectively, these pieces support the idea that literature connects the past and present. It resonates with people’s contemporary senses while capturing the hopes, challenges, and victories of earlier times. Transcending historical borders, the issues of societal restrictions, gender relations, and mental health explored in these writings shed light on the universality of human experiences across time and space.
Conclusion
To sum up, Shakespeare used a variety of literary strategies in “Othello,” as observed in the reader response analysis above, to communicate his thoughts and improve his writing. He ensures that these tactics effectively link the writing’s characters, topics, and ideas before employing them. On the other hand, the author of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman, employed literary strategies and tone to convey her feelings throughout the narrative and vividly describe her emotions during that time. She used this tale to convey her sense of helplessness and failure. The repulsive wallpaper is a metaphor for the family life that many women in Gilman’s work are ensnared in. Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” provided many women in the 1800s with an opportunity to express their feminist views. As a result, it is a significant tale that has helped many women, both past and present.
Works Cited
Tearle, Oliver. “A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Othello.” Interesting Literature.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. United States, Small, Maynard, 1901.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. United States, Dutton, 1905.