Textual Analysis

 William Shakespeare, King Lear, 1.2.117

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that,
when we are sick in fortune,--often the surfeit
of our own behavior,--we make guilty of our
disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as
if we were villains by necessity; fools by
heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and
treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards,
liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of
planetary influence; and all that we are evil in,
by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion
of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish
disposition to the charge of a star!

 This passage, spoken by Edmund, discusses man's tendency to blame his ill-fortune on fate. Shakespeare communicates this idea by using distant, natural elements like "the sun, the moon, and the stars," things that can only be observed from a distance but never controlled.  Phrases like "heavenly compulsion, spherical predominance and planetary influence" also allude to natural elements and the absence of human control as far as disposition and agency is concerned. When I was in India, something that was always interesting to me was how the people I interviewed, when a sensitive subject was brought up, would run their finger across their head and say "tala rata" meaning "it is written." There is a Hindu ideal that says that a man's fate is written on the inside of his forehead where it cannot be seen by that man. It is not seen, but it is there. When they believed something was just out of their control they sometimes would not even say the words but just run their fingers across their forehead. They would do it if they didn't have enough money, if they didn't couldn't send their children to school, if they didn't have food. It was their way of coping with reality and this excerpt by Shakespeare embodies the human tendency to remove the responsibility from ourselves by assuming we never had a choice to begin with. The woman would say "if it is his fate to go to school he will go, if not, he will not go," and they never felt they had a choice in the matter. They often sat on the sidelines of their own lives, afraid to interfere with fate. I can't help but wonder what Shakespeare is trying to do by having these lines spoken by Edmund. If he's trying to voice his opinion through Edmund that's certainly odd because he's an odd character to identify with. I don't believe he's trying to mock what is being said by virtue of who is speaking it but perhaps Shakespeare is saying something about Edmund - something oddly positive - by having him speak these words.


Othello


I am glad I have found this napkin.
This was her first remembrance from the Moor,
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Wooed me to steal it, but she so loves the token—
For he conjured her she should ever keep it—
That she reserves it evermore about her
To kiss and talk to. I’ll ha’ the work ta’en out,
And give’t Iago. What he will do with it,
Heaven knows, not I.
I nothing, but to please his fantasy. (III.iii.294–303)

The first thing that stuck out to me from this passage was that Emilia referred to her husband as "wayward" and then said "I nothing, but to please his fantasy." This passage shows how unstable Emilia and Iago's relationship truly is, and clearly not one with open communication. All she desires is to please him so rather than asking what he will do with it, she gets Iago the handkerchief to appease him for a day and to stay in good standing with him. In "Omkara" Emilia is portrayed as very desperate and alone. She is trying to be playful with Iago, teasing him with the belt and he, rather than thanking her, is unamused by her flirtatious attempts and gets angry with her. Emilia, because of her husband, seems to have a bitter view of love. In the time that she spends with Desdemona I can't help but feel that her combined bitterness with Othello's hostility lessens Desdemona's innocence, making her seem jaded. This passage was also interesting because of the idea of Indian women being submissive to their husband and carrying out their will whenever asked. There are hundreds of stories about women who enter into arranged marriages and are abused physically and emotionally. Emilia's attitude reflects many of theirs, "I nothing, but to please his fantasy." It makes me wonder if part of the reason this play was popular in India is because of the themes of female subordination and victimization. It is a relate-able play, no doubt, to those in the India audience.