Harold Bloom on Othello
"Othello is heartbreaking, and a true tragedy, and a purifying ordeal for us."
The world lost a great mind when it lost Harold Bloom. We were able to speak with him shortly before his death about one of Shakespeare’s greatest works: Othello, a play with tremendous resonances in modern conversations around race and power. For Bloom, the play is an essential work about the nature of evil, narrative, and death, and this lucid, economical interview shows him still in full command of his powers. The art accompanying this essay is an original commission from renowned painter John Currin: his Desdemona.
Octavian Report: You have chosen to write about Iago and not Othello. Why?
Harold Bloom: It is Othello’s tragedy, but Iago’s play.
OR: What do you think motivates Iago? Is he a disgruntled employee? A jealous husband, as he hints?
Bloom: He is motivated by the ontological catastrophe of having been passed over for promotion by Othello, whom he had worshiped as the god of war, his only religion.
OR: Do you think Shakespeare has any sympathy for Iago? That he admires his intellect? (You point out that he is basically functioning as a playwright.)
Bloom: It is not a question of sympathy. Like Macbeth, Iago burns with a furious energy. As William Blake said, “Energy is eternal delight.”
OR: Do you believe Othello is meant to be a sympathetic figure, given that he seems not to learn from his own mistakes?
Bloom: He is very sympathetic. He should never have married. As the pure warrior, he has no peer.
OR: You point out that Iago is ripe for great performances while you’ve never seen a good Othello. Why do you think this is the case?
Bloom: Perhaps Shakespeare’s Richard Burbage did the part well. But we have lost our esteem for great warriors.
OR: Othello is almost always played as a Black sub-Saharan African. Is this a correct reading — or is he meant to be an Arab North African?
Bloom: He is probably a Black African of royal lineage.
OR: Is Othello a play about racism? Do you think Shakespeare felt Desdemona’s mistake was in marrying the Moor to begin with?
Bloom: It is not at all about racism, and Desdemona showed very bad judgment indeed. But remember, she is just a child.
OR: Why does the slow pace, almost somnambulistic, of the play’s action (up until the very end) work so effectively?
Bloom: Because it is a slow dance of death.
OR: Is the play sympathetic toward women? The scene where Othello slaps Desdemona reads as particularly powerful in today’s atmosphere.
Bloom: All of Shakespeare is sympathetic toward women. He regards men as incomplete women. Is that not the truth?
OR: You note that Shakespeare expanded the role of Emilia. In what ways? Why do you think he did so?
Bloom: In revision, he made her more vital. Only she could bring Iago down.
OR: Why should we read Othello?
Bloom: Because it is heartbreaking, and a true tragedy, and a purifying ordeal for us.