「오셀로」: 타자의 위장된 자아와 경계 허물기

Disguised Self-Identity of the Other and Boundary-Crossing in Othello .

In Othello, Othello is othered to Venetian society because of his race and foreignness, but he cannot distinguish himself from the Venetian because he self-identifies as Venetian. Othello’s effort to assimilate himself to the Venetian community seems successful, but his sudden marriage with Desdemona, a Venetian daughter who chooses her husband without her father’s consent, causes an unnoticed but formidable resistance from Venetian society, especially from Iago. Iago’s plotting against Othello leads Othello to question his own identity as well as Desdemona’s chastity, and ultimately leads to Othello’s murder of Desdemona and his suicide. Othello’s and Desdemona’s attempt to cross boundaries is inevitably doomed to fail because Othello does not see himself as a real self and neither does Desdemona. In other words, Othello and Desdemona attempt to cross the cultural and political boundaries of Venetian society, but they fail due to the lack of understanding on their own internal boundaries.