"What Is the Matter?" in Othello Author(S): John Shaw Source: Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol

George Washington University

"What is the Matter?" in Othello Author(s): John Shaw Source: Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Spring, 1966), pp. 157-161 Published by: Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2868241 . Accessed: 22/03/2013 07:55

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This content downloaded from 140.233.2.215 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:55:20 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions "Whatis thematter?" in Othello

JOHN SHAW

HE actorplaying the role of Gratianoor Montanoin Othello has the unenviabletask (as minorcharacters must have) of asking the necessarybut wholly inadequate question when confrontedby theghastly spectacle in theMoor's bedchamber at the close of the tragedy:"What is the matter?"It is a feeble expressionof astonishment,for does not the divine Desdemona lie murderedon her bed, and is not Emilia in the processof vio- lentlydisabusing Othello of his fatalmisjudgment of the characterof "honest, honest Iago"? Indeed, what is the matter,and how could it ever be fully explained?Obviously, Othello and Emilia are not going to pause long enough to explain,even if theyfully understood what the matterwas. The point is, however,this plain questionhas takenon a cruel ironyas it cuttinglyexposes the bewilderingdiscrepancy between the naive request,on the one hand, and the appallingjumble of intrigueand error,on the other.It is my contention that Shakespearehas used the question in a patternof repetition-itoccurs no fewerthan twenty times-in orderto generatejust such irony. Let us begin by tracingquickly the appearanceof the phrasethrough the play,measuring with it thesituation to be explained. At first,logical explanationsto the questioncan quite easily be returned, thoughthey are not alwaysforthcoming. Brabantio asks "What is thematter?" (I. i. 83) afterIago and Roderigohave so brazenly"called him up". The answer is simple,a fact:Desdemona has eloped withOthello. Next, Othello puts the question to Cassio when the latterhas requestedOthello's "post-haste appearance"at the Senate: "What is thematter, think you?" (I. ii. 38). The answer is again factual: "Somethingfrom Cyprus." It is the Turkish prepara- tions,we findlater. Then comesthe Duke, speakingto the fumingBrabantio: "Why, what's the matter?"(I. iii.58). But now the matterhas become some- what complicated,for the explanationfor Desdemona's deception of her fatheris both simple and mysterious,her love having so strangelydefied therules of socialdecorum and logic:

She is abused,stol'n from me and corrupted By spellsand medicinesbought of mountebanks. For natureso preposterouslytoerr, Beingnot deficient, blind, or lame of sense, Sanswitchcraft could not. (I. iii.60-64)

Othello and Desdemona are able to convincethe Senate,and us, of the reality of theirlove, unlikely though it is; but thesituation, for Brabantio at least,must neverthelessremain "a mangledmatter".

This content downloaded from 140.233.2.215 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:55:20 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions I58 SHAKESPEARE QUARTERLY In the secondact the situationgrows complex and entangledas the question requestingan explanationis repeatedlyput. Montanocries "What's the matter, Lieutenant?" (II. iii. I50) to Cassio when the latterhas been pommelingRo- derigo.We, the audience,know what "the matter"is: lago, fromspite, has been tryingto have Cassio "on the hip", to "abuse him to the Moor"; he also lustsafter Desdemona whom he hopes somehowto win to his bed in orderto repayOthello for having (as Iago thinks) seduced Emilia; he also hopes to put Othello into a jealousy"so strongThat judgmentcannot cure"; and he is exploiting"this poor trashof Venice",Roderigo, for these purposes in addition to the fun of gulling him of his money.That is what "the matter"is. Thus, Cassio's drunkenoutburst in answer to Montano'squestion, "A knave teach me my duty?I'll beat theknave into a wickerbottle", is some distancefrom the truthof the situation. Then, the brawl concluded,Othello demands an explanationthree times: "What is thematter here? . . . What is thematter, masters? ... What's thematter?"all withinthirty lines (II. iii. 63; I76; I93). An explanationis indeed offeredby Iago, but it is not the whole truth,as he himselfcunningly implies: "More of this matter cannot I report" (I. iii.240). Othello, however, re- luctantlyaccepts Iago's statement,but he misconstruesthe doubtlago raisedas bias in favorof Cassio: I know,Tago, Thyhonesty and lovedoth mince this matter (246-247) At thismoment Desdemona appears,and with the situationabundantly com- plicatedby half-truthsand innuendoes,cross-purposes and evil intentions,she too asks the simplequestion: "What's the matter?"(II. iii. 251). We are now well aware of the discrepancybetween the plain, directquestion and the per- niciousweb of malice so skilfullyspun by Iago. Even by the conclusionof the thirdact Desdemona persistsin believinglogical explanationscan be found somewhereto accountfor Othello's "clear spirit"having been "puddled",perhaps something"sure of State".And Emilia can only reply,"Pray heaven,it be State matters. . . and no conceptionnor no jealous toy" (III. iv. I59). From the fourthact on the questionassumes a heighteneddramatic irony. First, Cassio, upon discoveringOthello in his trance,asks earnestlyof Lago, "What's thematter?" (IV. i. 50) to whichIago replies,"My lordis falleninto an epilepsy",an answerwhich, whether it be the propermedical diagnosis or not, is hardlythe full truthof the situation.Soon after,Iago himself,feigning innocence,and with great dramaticirony, asks the question of Desdemona: "What's the matter,lady?" (IV. ii. II4). She cannotreply, but Emilia does: Alas,Tago, my lord hath so bewhoredher, Thrownsuch despite and heavyterms upon her, As truehearts cannot bear. (IV. ii. 115-II7) Again, the answertouches only the surfaceand consequentialmanifestation of "thematter", a factIago well knows. But we are not done withthe question.In the firstscene of thelast act,during the scufflein the dark, and again with pretendedinnocence, Iago asks "What's the matter?" (V. i. 50), this time with increasedirony. Though he

This content downloaded from 140.233.2.215 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:55:20 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions "WHAT IS THE MATTER?" IN OTHELLO I59 knowsthe general circumstances of the brawl, he doesnot realize as yetthat itsoutcome has not been entirely successful: Cassio and Roderigoboth still live. He is able to killRoderigo, but, before he can stabCassio, Lodovico and Gra- tianoapproach. Then Bianca enters upon this scene in which,for the first time, evenIago is beginningto losehis strong grip on thewhirling events: "What is thematter, ho?" (V. i. 75) she cries.But she is ignoreduntil lago beginsto improvisehis scheme to implicateher, at whichpoint Emilia also appears: "'las, what'sthe matter? what's the matter, husband?" (V. i. iii). By thistime, with Roderigomortally wounded and withOthello on his wayto killDesdemona, havingheard (as he thought,mistakenly) Cassio lament "O villainthat I am"; withCassio bleeding; with Lodovico and Gratianofrightened and bewildered; and withIago castingsuspicions upon Bianca-and the wholescene having takenplace in thedark-the situation could hardly be moreconfused. What is thematter, indeed! And so we arriveat thefinal scene. Here Desdemonain all innocencefirst asksOthello desperately: "What's the matter?" (V. ii.47), a hopelessquestion now,for Othello is alreadygnawing his netherlip and passionis shakinghis veryframe. Nor doesOthello respond to her question; it is toolate for explana- tions.So theirrevocable deed is done.Then comes Emilia with the news of the brawljust witnessed, and Othelloputs the question to her:"What's the matter withthee now?" (V. ii. I05). Desdemona'sdeath is discovered,and soonothers arrive.Montano asks, "What is thematter?" (V. ii.i68); Gratianoasks, "What is thematter?" (V. ii. I70); and finallyGratiano, as he returnsto thebedcham- berin whichDesdemona and Emiliaare now dead and whereOthello is pre- paringfor his "journey'send", asks the question for the last (and twentieth) time:"What is thematter?" (V. ii. 259). Whileit is truethat this question is a naturalone to ariseoften out of a playin whichso manystrange events tumble one uponanother, and therefore itsunusually frequent repetition might not appear to be a calculateddramatic effect,the fact is thatin no otherShakespearean play is it usedanywhere nearly so persistently.In Hamlet, to takeonly one example,though the phrase does occur,it doesnot strike one as usedfor any dramatic effect. We note,in fact, alternatephrases substituted where we mightexpect the question.When Gertrudeenters with the sad newsof Ophelia'sdeath, Claudius says "How now,sweet Queen" in placeof "What'sthe matter?" Or, Fortinbras,entering uponthe disorder of the final scene-a parallelwith Gratiano entering upon the dismal scene in Othello-rathergrandly cries, "where is this sight?"In Hamlet,the point is, "to ravel all thismatter out" is farsimpler than in Othello, and indeedso is it in theother plays. The contrastbetween what the reality is,as againstwhat various characters think it to be,is nevermore marked than in Othello.Accordingly, the simplequestion asked by participantsand on- lookersin thatplay, "What is thematter?", may serve a functionwhich it could neverdo in othertragedies. And thusShakespeare, by establishingthe ques- tionin a patternof repetition, has turned a conventionalnecessity into a dramatic instrument. The ultimatesource for Othello reveals a hintwhich might perhaps have startedShakespeare's imagination working in thedirection of conceivingthe

This content downloaded from 140.233.2.215 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:55:20 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions i6o SHAKESPEARE QUARTERLY questionas a dramaticdevice. In translationthe questionoccurs only once in Giraldi Cinthio'stale, and at the point when the Moor has begun plotting Desdemona'sdeath: And as he ruminatedover this day and night,he couldnot prevent his wife'sobserving that he was notthe same towards her as he had beenwont; and she said to him again and again,"What is thematter? what troubles you? How is it thatyou, who were the mostlight-hearted man in the world,are now so melancholy?"'' This is not the place to argue whetheror not Shakespearefound his direct source in some adaptation of Cinthio,or whetherShakespeare could read Italian,for the pointis not thatimportant. It is simplythat the phrase,"Et gli dissepiui volte, che cosa havetevoi, che cosi vi turbi",might have providedthe hint which resultedin the question being asked twentytimes in Othello. The juxtaposition,at any rate,of thisreiterated question against a situation fastsinking beyond the depthsof human understandingdoes constitutea dramatic ironyof some proportionsin Othello. And it is an ironyreadily ex- periencedin the theater,perhaps more so thaneven in frequentreadings of the play. Moreover,it seems likely some of Shakespeare'scontemporaries might have foundother ironies in the use of the phrase.We recallthe briefexchange betweenHamlet and Polonius: Whatdo youread, my lord? Words,words, words. Whatis thematter, my lord? Betweenwho? I meanthe matter that you read, my lord. At leastthree senses of the word "matter" are involvedhere:

i. the"material of thought,speech, or action"in general(NED definition III). This is thesense Polonius meant when he asked"What is thematter,my lord?"

2. a "subjectof contentionor dispute,litigation or thelike" (NED defini- tionIV. 20). This is thesense in whichHamlet ironically took Polonius' question. 3. the idiomaticphrase referring to the "circumstancesor stateof things whichactually involves or concernssome person or thing,especially one whichcalls for remedy or explanation"(OED definitionIV. 25 b). This is thesense in whichwe todayordinarily take the phrase, "What is the matter?" While the question"What is the matter?"in Othellowould have as its first meaningthe idiomaticsense in Number 3 above, at least for us, the phrase stillmight carry with it othersuggestions for Shakespeare'saudience. For in- stance,the meaning of Number 2 would clearlyapply when Montano asks Cassio,"What is thematter?" during the Lieutenant's fight with Roderigo, and so withOthello's question at theend of thebrawl. Or meaningNumber i could well be relevantin Desdemona's questionof Othello,when he looks upon her

1 VariorumOthello, p. 384. My italics.

This content downloaded from 140.233.2.215 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:55:20 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions "WHAT IS THE MATTER?" IN OTHELLO i6i with love and murderin his mind. But perhapsmore importantthan these standardand well-knownmeanings of the word "matter"is a use of the term in technicallegal application.Though obsoletetoday, this meaning could well have struckyoung lawyers,like JohnDonne, in the audience of the Renais- sance: "Somethingwhich is to be tried or proved; statementsor allegations whichcome underthe consideration of the court:'matter in fact"' (NED defi- nitionIII. i6 c). Consideringthe contextof thisquestion in Othello,where the innocence of Desdemona is "on trial", where for the agonizing Othello "justice"must not be allowed "to breakher sword"since "the cause" demands her death,this more precise legal sensecould certainlycontribute a richirony. A case in pointwould be when Gratianoasks the question,"What is the matter?"in his astonishmentat findingDesdemona murdered and Emilia berating Othello.With thehandkerchief and "theother proofs" in evidence,the "matter" has been tried,and, as Othello thinks,"justice" done. But withthe entranceof Montanoand Iago, along with Gratiano,the evidencemust all be reconsidered. "Disprove thisvillain", cries Emilia to Iago, "if thou be'sta man." Still,in the end, "the matter",which began as a nastybit of logicallycon- trivedintrigue out of Iago's wit, has reachedsuch depthsof "motivelessma- lignity"that we, along withMontano and Gratiano,will neverquite fathomthe answerto "what is the matter?": Demandme nothing. What you know you know. Fromthis time forth I neverwill speak word. Hiram College

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