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Shakespeare & Beyond

Cervantes, the Moors of Spain, and the Moor of Venice

Othello, the Moor of Venice. Desdemona loved to hear him tell the story of his adventures [graphic] / Louis Rhead. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Othello, the Moor of Venice. Desdemona loved to hear him tell the story of his adventures [graphic] / Louis Rhead. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Of all Shakespeare’s plays, Othello is the one that is most frequently compared to Spanish literature in the age of Cervantes.

This is due in large part to the role that jealousy plays in driving Othello to kill Desdemona. We might recall Iago’s famous warning: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; / It is the green eyed monster which doth mock / the meat it feeds on.” Like Othello, jealous husbands in numerous early modern Spanish plays conclude that they must kill their wives because her questionable virtue threatens the husband’s honor. Cervantes examines jealousy as a destroyer of marriages in stories like the novella “El celoso extremeño” (The jealous man from Extremadura) and the dramatic interlude “El viejo celoso” (The jealous old man).

We can see connections between Cervantes and Othello not only in these themes of jealousy and honor, but also in Spain’s Moorish history and even Cervantes’ own life experiences.

Comments

I am greatly enjoying this series of posts on Shakespeare and Cervantes. I recently completed a Yale online course about Cervantes, in the process rereading Don Quixote and some of the short plays (entremeses) and the exemplary novels. It is fascinating to see the linkages in subject matter and style between the Spanish authors of the siglo de oro and the Tudor ones. I look forward to additional posts.

E. O. Pederson — March 26, 2016