Victory of Dionysus

陳雪瑩

Abstract：The problem of blindness pervades throughout Shakespeares play of Othello. And the search for the truth and freedom exists all the time with Othellos story going on. To reach the ecstasy，Othello suffers and endures as the rebellion against the convention and gradually shifting to nirvana as an awakening Dionysus. With the ultimate victory of Dionysus over Apollo，the tragic spirit sets Othello free and bestows him the significance of returning to the primitive nature. The essay aims to interpret Othellos tragic spirit by virtue of Nietzschean aesthetics.

Keywords：Othello；Dionysus；nirvana；tragic spirit；Nietzschean aesthetics

1.Introduction

Othello has been so far，and will be，remaining its prestigious reputation since its publication. The essay is about to perceive in an Apollonian and Dionysian manner. Resorting to Friedrich Nietzsche，the essay attempts to analyze through Nietzschean aesthetics the tragic spirit of Othello as well as his nirvana.

The idea of Friedrich Nietzsche is very much employed in order to expound the tragic spirit of Othello. Nietzsche is a German philosopher whose influence remains substantial. In his great book The Birth of Tragedy，Nietzsche renders the respective features and significances of both Apollo and Dionysus，the two Greek deities. In Nietzschean depiction，the whole world and humanity are in the charge of Apollonian and Dionysian spirit，an alternative way of addressing the “idea” and the “will”. Both the gods find expression in Greek Mythology in which Apollo is the God of sun，of dream and of reason，while Dionysus the God of wine，of ecstasy and of intoxication.

2.Dionysus in Othello

From a Nietzschean perspective，Othello is overwhelmed by Dionysus. It is true to say that he is of dual personalities，the alleged Apollonian and Dionysian spirits. However，Dionysus gradually comes to awakening as the tragic fate goes on，and therefore，Othello finally achieves his epiphany.

2.1 Othello as the Awakening Dionysus

Othello is packed with great feats. To others，he is nothing but an outsider. Only in the eyes of Desdemona was Othello a decent lord. In a society so imbued with sickness of human spirit，Apollonian life might turn out to be the optimum state to escape from the big blow of reality. Being marginalized，Othello would rather evade the reality and indulge himself in a self-deceptive dream than face the truth. He reassured himself that “Let him do his spite……May speak unbonneted to as proud a fortune ”

By composition of sweet dreams，he always got himself lost in the Apollonian visual art. Apollo “is the god of light；he also rules over the beautiful appearance of the inner fantasy world”. Othello has noticed the nicknames the white people imposed on him：“the Moor”，“the thick-lips” and “an old black ram” and the like. He ignored those insulting labels for him and buried them beneath the hypocritical appearances of noble existence and sumptuous enjoyment. While Nietzsche noted that “the illusion would deceive us as crude reality”，and escape from reality will eventually turn into the loss of truth. The illusion makes the dreamers rejoice over a perfect life and sketch a beautifully luxurious prospect so that they can experience the ecstasy. Surrounded by the phony pleasure，Othello rejected the revelation of truth. Instead，he is much more fascinated by the false Utopia.

2.2 Suffering and Redemption

As Dionysus collected himself，Othello was enlightened to depart from the Apollonian way of life. Placed in such a real world，Othello will not seek for survival in the shadow of magnificent dreams and glorious illusions any more. Out of the fantastic space，he has no alternative but to accept what has occurred and will befall，the sacrifice of friendship，the elapsing of love and the loss of self，for instance.

Tortured by the loss of friendship，Othello was on the way to intoxication. Slowly did he extricate himself from the ideally woven Apollonian world，Othello was struck by the distress and sorrow in reality. Continually manipulated by Iago，his love for Desdemona was thoroughly gone. Her teasing expressions could no longer raise a smile of him，and her oath to him was like a curse punching him on the mind bitterly.

At the moment，all Othellos innate conflicts and feelings were finding the way to crowd into the appearance impelled by Dionysus. The fabricated reality yet eclipsed his eyes，and led him to the ultimate tragedy，heroically and nobly. In short，he is a doomed hero who had to suffer so as to realize his heroic deeds and reach resurrection of himself.

2.3 Nirvana of Othello

It should be noted that the sufferings Othello went through can merely be considered as the transition of Dionysus. By undergoing a great deal of obstacles and hardship，Dionysus at the moment outstands Apollo. Still，the progress of his suffering is no more than a prelude of the real climax of the play，that is the nirvana of Othello.

In Othellos terminal soliloquy，he realized that “then must you speak…Their medicinal gum. Set you down this；” This is the moment of Dionysuss ecstasy. “The psychology of the orgiastic as an overflowing feeling of life and strength”. He became aware of the hamartia and when he got anagnorisis，everything was over，and he is doomed to be a tragic hero. He unfolded his flaws in trait，and he could never be the lesser being in the society in his time hence entrance into the stage of intoxication.

All in all，as a combination of Nietzschean tragic sprit，Othello commerces disintegrating so as to return to the primal nature and that is the victory of Dionysus over Apollo.

3. Conclusion

Extreme as the Dionysian spirit is，the charm of Dionysus makes solitary people unite with all the others. In Othello，Dionysus victoriously conquers Apollo，and predicts more splendors on the way for the truth.

References：

[1] Nietzsche，Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy. Beijing：Central Compilation & Translation Press，2012.

[2] Shakespeare，William. Othello，The Moor of Venice. Othello. Beijing：China Renmin University Press，2007.