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Jenni Zackeo

Mrs. Dawson

Honors English Foundations II

March 20, 2018

Prompt 6: Consider the role of the Great Chain of Being in the text. How does chaos

appear in the play? Cite examples.

Everyday, somewhere in the world, chaos erupts. By definition chaos is “complete

disorder and confusion,” but it is not necessarily always represented as so. In modern times,

chaos tends to be brought on by a natural disaster, such a dramatic hurricane. However

historically chaos was commonly brought on by a break in the Great Chain of Being. During

Shakespearean times, the Great Chain of Being was a hierarchy in which every object was

ranked based off of their perceived importance and spirituality. For example, a basic chain would

lead with God, angels, kings, queens, nobles, merchants and finish with peasants. Family chains

followed a similar trend; they started with the father, the head of the family, and finally the

servants. When a chain is broken, or rearranged, it was thought that the aforementioned chaos

​ would erupt. “Othello”​, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about a respected general,

Othello, and the torture he receives from a jealous and vengeful Iago. The play “Othello”

explores the Great Chain of Being and the devastating consequences of it being broken.

The first time the chain was broken in the play occurs when Iago, the villain of the play,

defies his general. Othello chose Cassio, a well respected Florentian aristocrat, to be his

lieutenant rather than Iago, a well experienced Venetian. This angers Iago and he vows to get

revenge on Othello by pretending to be his friend. He declares, “I am not what I am,” and reveals
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his plans to ruin Othello’s new marriage to Desdemona (1.1.67). Iago's famous monologue

explains that he will pretend to be Othello’s friend, but in really he will be plotting to destroy

him. Thus, the chain was broken. Iago, an ensign, went against a man of higher rank, disrupting

the natural order. The initial break is only the beginning to the treacherous path to chaos. Shortly

after Iago reveals his plans, news arrives that Turkish fleets are threatening to invade both

Cyprus and Venice, where “Othello” takes place. War can be generally described as chaotic, and

could possibly have been caused by the higher power using it as a punishment for the break.

Iago’s form of poison, twisted words chosen to destroy Othello, result in the second

breach of the Great Chain of Being. After the war, all the characters return to Cyprus, and

Desdemona is greeted by Cassio, an aristocrat raised to respect women. He kisses her hand in

courtesy as Iago watches on. The interaction inspires Iago to convince Othello that his wife is

having an affair. Iago uses many forms of trickery in order to plant seeds of doubt into Othello’s

mind. For instance, he discusses a prostitute with Cassio in front of Othello, who thinks they are

speaking of his wife. He even goes as far to plant a handkerchief, the same one Othello gifted

Desdemona with on their wedding day, in Cassio’s room. In addition to Iago lying to his general,

cuckolding also contradicts with the order the chain provides. This leads to many forms of chaos

into the play. Quickly Othello’s speech is impacted. He no longer speaks confidently and

eloquently, but instead speaks in a way that makes him seem incompetent. Further, Othello’s

mind is immediately shown to be disorganized. When Iago explains how Desdemona and Cassio

are sleeping together, Othello utters an incoherent response, “lie with her? Lie on her? We say

“lie on her” when they belie her!” (4.1.36-37). The unorganized speech exemplifies the internal

damage Iago has caused Othello, so much as to give Othello an epileptic fit in a later scene.
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Othello also takes out his anger on Desdemona to the point where he slaps her, an action he

never commits. He is so upset and his brain is so disorganized he starts to plot her murder. The

way Othello treats his wife leads her to foreshadow her own death, asking Emilia, her servant

and Iago’s wife, to put her wedding sheets on her bed, asking for her fidelity to be preserved

even in death.

The biggest consequence of the chain being broken occurs within the final scenes of the

play. Like most of Shakespeare’s plays, most of the important characters die. This is one of the

best examples of the poor punishments caused by disorder in the Great Chain. Othello is so

distraught about his wife, that he decides to smother her. A husband killing his wife doesn’t

break the chain, but the death of innocent Desdemona is a negative consequence of Iago’s lies.

Shortly before her death, Roderigo, one of Desdemona’s previous suitors, attempts to murder

Cassio. Roderigo attempting to murder someone above him in the chain is yet another break in

this natural order. Iago, takes it into his own hands and kills Roderigo after he is injured in his

fight. Finally, Emilia admits the truth, declaring that Iago set up Desdemona so she would seem

as if she was having an affair. Infuriated Iago stabs his wife ending her innocent life as well. The

final death of the play is a suicide committed by Othello himself. After realizing that he

committed an unspeakable act forno reason, Othello is overwhelmed with guilt. He decides to

end his own life next to his post mortem wife. The multiple breaks in the chain culminate into

one monumental consequence, an uncalled for massacre.

Othello, a trusted and respected general even falls victim to a reorder in the Great Chain

of Being. The power it was believed to hold is depicted throughout the play, demonstrating why

one should not always believe everything they hear. Iago was known as the ringleader, seeing as
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he was in complete control of the order and how it was to be reversed. He used multiple

personalities to frame each other character in a negative way. His deceptful mind played a trick,

and carefully rearranged the natural order. Iago’s final goal was chaos and vengeance, which he

achieved by using the Great Chain of Being on his behalf. Exploring the Great Chain of Being

allowed Shakespeare to educate the public on natural order and the consequences of its misuse.
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Citations

Shakespeare, William. ​Othello. Pearson Education Inc., 2004.