Calvin Chang

- by Comparing the Characters in Othello and Romeo & Juliet

Set in the late 15th century,Othello and Romeo & Juliet took place in two similar polises of Italy when it was the zenith of Italian Renaissance. For the almost same conditions between the two stories, they both reach their literary statues in the history of the Theater. And the similarities also reveal some similarities between the roles in two dissimilar dramas. For example, Desdemona,who was born in a noble aristocratic family of Venice in Othello,was like Juliet the Verona in the other script. More importantly,with the influence of the Renaissance,Shakespeare showed us much about the Humanism in those dialogues,and the conversations between the roles reminds us of the spirits of the movement. So the article is based on the plays and the analysis the role shaping of the Nobility in the two great tragedies.

With the spreading of the Humanism,the traditional nobility were under the pressure of the new nobility who were rising by virtue of their fortune and wisdom,which could be called the upstarts. Though lacking the aristocrats education,the new riches still gained power in the name of senator. Brabantio,who appears in Othello as a Venetian senator and the father of Desdemona,has entertained Othello in his home countless times before the play opens, thus giving Othello and Desdemona opportunity to fall in love. He is furious upon learning they have eloped, and Desdemona's decision is reported to be the cause of his death in the last act.

Brabantio makes his first appearance when Iago and Roderigo rouse him with the news that Desdemona has ran away. And the anger he showed reflects the trust in Othello and Desdemona with the doubt in paternal love. Then Brabantio is led to the Sagittary, where the newlyweds are found and there accuses Othello of using magic to bewitch his daughter, which accelerates his wrath to the climax throughly. He brings Othello to trial before the Duke and once again accuses him of using witchcraft upon his daughter. However,when Desdemona arrives, she tells her father that she respects him only because they are related, and that Othello is whom she truly loves. Brabantio grudgingly accepts what she says, but not without complaining to the senators in an attempt at having Othello stripped of his title; when this is unsuccessful, he disowns his daughter. 

The paradox inside his emotions is filled with helpless and rage,but he cannot help but see his daughter off. We could find that though Brabantio is the senator of the polis,he could still do nothing but complying with the decision of the Duke of Venice. That means,on the one hand,the power of the senators cannot hold his power virtually,and on the other hand,the Humanism shows the rights have converted to the civilians from the nobility partly. The civil expands the right to speak and gains the freedom of marriage. Thus the core of the Humanism begins to presents gradually.

Compared to Brabantio, the Capulet and the Montague are all traditional nobles in Verona on the south of Venice. Being clearly different from the upstart,  aristocratic families focus on the property and ancestry which they inherit from era to era while the advocating qualities of loyalty,romance and demeanour. More importantly,they treasure their honor more than themselves to show their privileges to the civilians.

Lord Capulet,the patriarch of the Capulet family, the father of Juliet,is very wealthy. He highly believes he knows what is best for Juliet,and when Juliet is grieving over Romeo's being sent away, Capulet thinks her sorrow is due to Tybalt's death, and in a misguided attempt to cheer her up, he wants to surprise her by arranging a marriage between her and Count Paris. The catch is that she has to be "ruled" by her father and to accept the proposal. When she refuses to become Paris' "joyful bride", saying that she can "never be proud of what she hates", Capulet becomes furious,and says God's giving Juliet to them was a "curse". He then storms away, and his wife also rejects Juliet before following him. He fixes the day of the marriage for Thursday and suddenly advances it to Wednesday out of anger and impulse. His actions indicate that his daughter's wants were irrelevant all the way up to the point when he sees her unconscious on her bed (presumably dead) and later, when she is truly dead during the play's final scene.

For the fewer scenes,Montague,the father of Romeo,presumably, is also wealthy, and is always in feud with Capulet. Montague clearly loves this son deeply and at the beginning of the play, worries for him as he recounts to Benvolio this attempts to find out the source of his depression. He wishes Benvolio better luck. After Romeo kills Tybalt, Montague pleas to the Prince to spare him of execution as Romeo did only what the law would have done, since Tybalt killed Mercutio. He appears again at the end of the play to mourn Romeo, having already loss his wife to grief.

Dramatically,the two chiefs of the families conflict in two scenes. The first one is the time that Romeo is sentenced when the leaders hold different measures to foul Romeo. Apparently,the Montague endeavour to protect his son from strict punishment while the Capulet doom Romeo to death out of the revenge for Tybolt. Those two chieftains’ tit-for-tat attitudes reflect their attention to the fame and honor. The other scene the two leaders appear is the time after Romeo and Juliet both died for love when the Prince takes the opportunity to make peace of the two families. It is also interesting that the Montague and the Capulet rush to show who will give in more than the other. The ridiculous act in the scene reflects the nobles’ characteristics vividly that they treasure their fame as life.

From what has been discussed above,we can draw that Brabantio gives up his reputation for the lost of Desdemona without saving his daughter from the Moor while the two chiefs in Romeo and Juliet argue loudly for their family and beloved ones. And the Montague and the Capulet have the power to control the development of the situation while Brabantio can do nothing to change the status. The two different points in two plays shows the differences between the new riches and the traditional nobles,which reflects the changes in the Citizens' rights and status because of the Renaissance.

Reference: Wikipedia