Shakespeare’s Othello

If the novel works The media is used by Shakespeare’s Othello and the US government to manipulate the people and keep them busy with what the government is doing.

The proles are the lower classes that constitute the bulk of every society’s population. Controlling the proles allows governments and ruling regimes to carry out their plans without being challenged. The media were mostly used by US governments to divert the populace from their actions. Othello by William Shakespeare is also a representation of the same, in which governments dominate the masses by throwing up other topics so that they are not confronted about their behavior, thereby suppressing any potential rebellions. Shakespeare’s Othello and US government have both used media to control the proles and keep them distracted from what the government. They have both expressed their support for democracy and its underlying principles which are equality, tolerance, and people_x0092_s government. Nevertheless, their support and level of media usage have varied in different degrees for various reasons. This paper is set to compare how the book Shakespeare’s Othello and US government use the media to control the proles and keep them distracted from what the government is doing.

The US government uses the media to broadcast of the endless wars around the world (Anup, 72). The Proles concentrate too much on the progress of these conflicts and are washed away from concentrating and questions the operations of the ruling regime. These endless conflicts, for instance, include the wars in the Arab countries which is significantly covered by the United States Media, it is not because the media is too concerned about it, but the major aim is to distract the majority of the population in the US, proles, from concentrating on government operations. Similarly, In William Shakespeare_x0092_s Book, Othello, the writer brings out conflicts which switch the attention of people from the issues affecting them. For Instance, Desdemona father is not happy about her engagement with Othello. He plans to use Brabanzio to go and arrest Othello with the claim that he had stolen Desdemona. It is during this time that the news of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus reach Othello. He is set to appear before the Duke and the Senate, to discuss the matter. The Senate finds the accusations on Othello unjustified and continues to discuss on issues of the invasion. This brings out the picture of how conflicts are used to distract things influencing people while making them believe that they are not that important.

The government of United States also uses the Media to distract the people from important decisions made by the ruling class through the differing strategy. The media presents decisions made by the government painful but necessary. The media convinces the people that despite the changes in question seem to be unfair; they are also reasonable (Shah, 62). In doing so, the government can counter any rebellion since the media can prove the necessity of the change in question. The decision, therefore, gains public acceptance at the time it has been made and referred for future application. In the same way, Shakespeare in his novel, Othello, presents the same situation. Othello, who has married Desdemona, manages to convince Duke and the Senate that he had not taken Desdemona through witchcraft but consequently by the stories he explained to her of his adventures in travel and war. The Duke and the Senate find the explanation by Othello Convincing and agrees with him. In this case, despite the frustration In Brabanzio, Othello_x0092_s description even convinces him. The same way the media is used by the government of United States to convince the proles to accept a painful but a necessary decision, Othello manages to justify his actions to Duke, Senate, and Brabanzio.

The US government makes use of the media for distracting the proles from its efforts by creating the notion of self-blame (New York Daily News, 11). The people blame themselves for their misfortune since they blame their failure to their low intelligence, low ability, and weak efforts. The people are brainwashed, so instead of focusing on rebelling against the economic system, the people feel responsible for their ordeal. The self-blame creates depression which is believed to lead to inhibition of an action. Without action, the people, therefore, cannot revolt, they don_x0092_t question the government. The same strategy is also used in the Shakespeare_x0092_s Novel Othello, where Roderigo and Iago lay plans on how to separate Othello and Desdemona. Their plan works out well since Othello finally thinks that Desdemona is unfaithful and he is furious with her. Through different setups, Othello is brainwashed and made to believe how Desdemona is unfaithful. He ends up calling her a whore. The plan used by Roderigo and Iago plays the same role as the media today. The plan, just as the media, is used to make characters blame themselves or blame other characters for their troubles, without really establishing what the cause of the problem really is.

The character of Othello portrays both courage and weakness; he calls himself “an honorable murderer” (V.2, 295). Been an African general in the Venetian forces, he secured his place uprightly through handwork and excellence. He has courageous, intelligent and commands respects and expertise from the troops. He makes an inspirational speech under intense pressure. When threats face the colony, he is requested to take the lead role. This shows how the Dukes use the media in controlling the proles thus distracting them from commenting on their activities. They actively engaged them in activities like wars, and that meant they had no time to meddle in the business of the dukes and the Senate. Similarly, the government highly publicizes the insignificant events making a mountain out of them thus ensuring that the proles are sufficiently distracted. They are actively engaged in less important discussions like the importance of family planning as opposed to matters of national significance like budget allocation and efficient governance.

In Othello, mainstream media has been used to enslave the mentality of the whole nation. The people have been made to embrace racism and belief that blacks are inferiors. That is the reason why the marriage of Othello was not successful. His skin color is seen as one of the major factors for his fall since his alien racial identity, as well as his newly wed bride, make him more prone to the machinations as compared to how he would be treated if he was a purely white man. The media has made people believe that blacks are fewer humans and whites are superior (Jeff, 22). This is similar to the modern-day life in U.S whereby racial segregation is still present, and people are judged unfairly based on their background, and sad enough the media is used by the government to cover all these atrocities. It only reports on the achievements of the government and closes its eyes to the challenges faced by the citizens which the government could solve. In this day and era, racial discrimination should be a thing of the past.

All through history, vast empires with a lot of commands have time and again been affected by corruption. Political scientists have always held the view that power corrupts. Othello by William Shakespeare’s has upheld the truth of the corruption and blackmail by the politicians to the disadvantage of the local citizens. The media is under control of the most powerful cartels and as such cannot report anything to do with the corruption going on. All its reports have to be positive to please the master. In the same manner, the US government has barred the media houses from reporting about any corruption allegations whereby the government is implicated till such cases are finalized. Thus, they both use the media to hide on the unfair practices carried out by the vast empires. The media is utilized by both the government and Othello in his play to keep people ignorant. The proles have been left all alone. Through a collective decision not to educate them, the proles seem not to rebel as they do not have any knowledge of the way the government operates. In both the US government and the Othello, the minds of the people are occupied by sex, alcohol, a search of food and children as such they have little or no time to question on anything done by the government.

At the time when Othello was authored by Shakespeare, there were no televisions. As at that point, life was so different from what it is in the modern-day society. There was no war on drugs and many shootings as there is today (_x0093_Huff Post Australia_x0094_ 23). The audiences that Shakespeare addressed Othello to were in in the current living conditions. Instead of the media been used to address real issues, the government is using it mostly to publicize war on drugs. While the attention of the proles is diverted to the drug menace by the media, they cannot question anything that the government does as they are even too busy to take note of the happenings. With such extensive differences in both lives, the government has attempted to use the media to control the proles and keep them distracted from what it is doing.

Works cited

Anup, Shah. _x0093_War, Propaganda and the Media._x0094_ Global issues. March 31, 2005. Web. http://www.globalissues.org/article/157/war-propaganda-and-the-media

Jane, Caro. _x0093_We’re Living In A Modern-Day Shakespearean Tragedy._x0094_ Huff Post Australia November 2, 2016. Web. http://www.smh.com.au/comment/true-lies-fact-and-fiction-merge-in-modernday-shakespearean-tragedy-20161101-gsf8u5.html

Jeff, Fenske. _x0093_George Orwell In _x0091_1984_x0092_: _x0093_Films, Football, Beer, And Above All, Gambling Filled Up The Horizon Of Their Minds. To Keep Them In Control Was Not Difficult_x0085__x0094_To be free February 3, 2013. Web. https://tobefree.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/george-orwell-in-1984-films-football-beer-and-above-all-gambling-filled-up-the-horizon-of-their-minds-to-keep-them-in-control-was-not-difficult

Keri, Blakinger. _x0093_A Look at Some of the Ways George Orwell_x0092_s _x0091_1984_x0092_ has Come True Today_x0094_. New York Daily News. June 6, 2016. Web. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ways-george-orwell-1984-true-article-1.2662813

William, Shakespeare. Othello; the Moore of Venice. New York: Doubleday, 1993. Print.