Sartrean Freedom and Anguish in "Othello"
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.6484Keywords:
Sartre, Ontological freedom, practical freedom, anguish, Othello, bad faith, decisive choiceAbstract
This article presents an existentialist reading of Shakespeare’s Othello through the lens of Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy, concentrating on the notions of freedom (ontological and practical), bad faith, and existential anguish. While Othello has been widely investigated through historical, social, and psychological frameworks, its connection with Sartrean perspective remains underexplored. By analyzing how key characters –Othello, Desdemona, and Iago– grapple with the heavy burden of freedom and the anxiety of choice, this research exhibits how existential dynamics affect the play’s moral and emotional conflicts. Drawing on Sartre’s distinction between ontological and practical freedom, the study evaluates fundamental scenes and soliloquies to show how each character copes with the issues of agency, responsibility, freedom, and self-deception. In doing so, it not only displays the philosophical depth of Shakespeare’s tragedy but also offers a more cohesive model of reading that creates a balance between theory and textual analysis.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Masoomeh Rahmani Goldareh, Fazel Asadi Amjad
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