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In Act One of Othello Brabantio, the father of Desdemona, confronts his newson-in-law in the presence of the Duke. Furious over his daughter’s elopement,he insists that Othello must have engaged in witchcraft to coerce her into thisinterracial marriage. Othello reveals that, in fact, the courtship was based uponwords; more specifically, that Desdemona fell in love with him as she listenedto his stories. The Duke, clearly convinced that Othello is an honorable man,attempts to console Brabantio, listing the reasons why anger should be forgot-ten and peace embraced. Brabantio rebuts this argument, however, saying, “Butwords are words. I never did hear/That the bruised heart was pierced throughthe ear” (1.3.217–20). Brabantio dismisses language as impotent, rejecting thepossibility that Othello’s stories could have won the heart of Desdemona.From Othello’s perspective, however, words are never just merely words. Othelloisthegreatstoryteller.Hisheroictalesofwar,slavery,andtravelcreatehisactualityand his identity: that of army general, renowned warrior, respected citizen, andadored husband. Stephen Greenblatt refers to Othello’s stories as “narrative self-fashioning,” stating that “Othello characteristically responds to his experience by shaping it as a story” (243). Lisa Hopkins writes of “Othello’s absolute faith in the reliability of his own story as a transparent mediator of his experiences” (164).
The Moor of Venice is not only a valiant warrior but also a man who knows thepower of words. It is not simply Othello’s prowess on the battlefield that wins himhis role in the Senate and the hand of Desdemona. Rather, it is his storytelling, hisability to create and recreate his life’s narrative, that enables his success in civilianlife. This paper argues that Othello does not merely believe that individual, abstract words signify actuality but also that words can create actuality when they are spoken.From the time Othello bids Iago to “give thy worst of thoughts the worst of words,”he gives over control of his own narrative and therefore, his future.
