Analysis of Guilt Feeling in Shakespeares Othello - Research Paper Example

Outline A guilty person tries to find ways to erase his past. Moral standard are set by individuals that are not meant to be violated. In order to avoid guilt feelings, motivation to attain a good moral character is developed in every individual to some extent. Guilt involves anxiety Guilt is found to be the motivating factor for the development of empathy in an individual. A guilty person is motivated to help others due to distress caused by him or others. The ethical code of an individual can be witnessed by his autonomous guilt feelings which arise from the acts which are not in accordance with the moral standards. The morality of a person is not always a consequence of guilt feelings. Guilt can either be devastating to one’s life or the person learns a lesson and has a positive impact of his guilt. According to psychologists, guilt is a feeling of responsibility for offences or from some kind of wrongdoings. There are various favourable and unfavourable effects of guilt on a person’s moral character, psychological and physiological health. A person in guilt always tries to find out ways to erase those actions from his past which have caused guilt or do something which would re-pay to his wrongdoings which caused discomfort for his fellow humans particularly those closer to him. Generally the feelings of guilt are acceptable if the person is aware of his wrongdoing. It would not be wrong t o state that it is immoral for a person not to have guilt feelings even after realizing that he or she has done something wrong which has affected people adversely. The sense of guilt as depicted in Shakespeare’s Othello is portrayed beautifully when Othello the noble man changes to a corrupt and an obsessed individual and after killing his own wife Desdemona, and knowing the truth from her faithful servant Emily, commits suicide like a coward in order to give himself a punishment of killing his innocent wife. However, there is some kind of connection between integrity and guilt. According to some psychologists, moral standards are those standards which the individual sets for himself/herself which should not be violated and if they are violated he feels guilty. Othello gives a clearer understanding of this concept. Though he kills his wife in anger and misunderstanding, inside his heart he knew that he has done something wrong which was the feeling of guilt that arose in him. This feeling was only because he was a noble man, a man of principles. This concept has also been illustrated in the famous “The Epic of Gilgamesh” where Gilgamesh the mighty king (who was two-thirds God in the beginning of the story) feels guilty of all his wrongdoings which he has done to the people of his country. The incident that led him to grief and guilt is when his only friend Enkidu endangers his own life to save his friend’s. According to psychological and physiological researches, motivation to attain a good moral character is developed in a person in order to avoid any guilt feelings. Hence, it can be stated that a person who is not alleged to possess guilt feelings is not alleged for his moral motivation. (Rogne 68).Guilty feelings are closely related to the sense of morality. This theory is supported by both Shakespeare’s Othello and the Epic of Gilgamesh. On one hand Emily the faithful servant of Desdemona, reveals her husband’s malicious plot against Othello as a sense of mortality whereas on the other hand, Gilgamesh is overwhelmed by the noble act of his Enkidu of saving his life. Some theorists believe that guilt feelings also involve anxiety. This anxiety is shown in Othello when he kills himself after killing his innocent wife as he does not know what else to do after knowing the truth whereas Gilgamesh sets on an excursion to find immortality as he was touched by the death of his friend. According to several empirical psychological studies, at times guilt can be a motivating factor in the development of empathy and kindness in a personality. Though this does not happen in all cases, but in most of the non-psychopath adults, empathy caused by the feelings of guilt is long-lasting and leaves a positive and profound impression on one’s moral character. The character of Emily in Shakespeare’s Othello, who helped him learn of her husband’s game not worrying for the consequences, is a good example of empathy arising in her heart after the sense of guilt. Any individual is motivated to help others as a result of his guilt because of one or more of the following reasons: To help someone to whom distress has been caused by the person directly To help someone to whom the person has observed someone else causing suffering or distress To help someone who has witnessed the person causing distress to anyone. (Calo-oy 95) Important to note that Emily was inclined to help Othello more since she has observed her husband causing distress to him and his wife for his vicious plans. However, Gilgamesh is eager to find immortality in order to bring Enkidu back to life as he himself was the one who caused distress to his friend and other countrymen. In some cases as experts suggest the wrongdoings and distress caused to people is irreversible, it is then, when people tend to help others whom they have not caused any harm. According to (Rogne 156), an individual’s ethical code can be witnessed by his autonomous guilt feelings which arise from the acts which are not in accordance with their moral motivation. He continues to state that an individual’s morality is not always a consequence of one or the other guilt feelings in fact, morality comprises of fundamental aversions to certain acts and corresponding disposition of feeling guilty. However, (Lams 215) is of the opinion that if a person never feels guilty in his life he cannot be regarded as a fully moral individual or he does not belong to the moral system of the society. Hence, these theories are justified by the sense of integrity that arises in the heart of Gilgamesh and he recalls all the bad deeds that he has done in the past and he strives to make everything alright Guilt often takes place when an individual has faced some failure in past. Every individual can be motivated to commit an act for pleasure careless of right or wrong. The human psyche is always to cry over spilt milk; many people get this feeling after showing some aggression state from their negative emotions. As anger is one of negative emotions which ends in a couple of minutes but the decisions that has been taken in that state of mind stay longer and sometimes that guilt never lets them come out of that state. Like Othello, despite of his trust on his wife, falls prey to the game of Lago and kills his wife in intense anger but in the end he is left with nothing as his action is irreversible when he gets to know the truth from Emily. In the same state of anger he kills himself on his wife’s death bed to treat himself the same way he treated his wife. Similarly Gilgamesh realizes all his bad deeds once his friend Enkidu is killed while saving his life. In this case, he does not harm himself like Othello in extreme guilt, but sets off on a quest to find immortality to bring Enkidu’s life back. Hence, guilt can be either devastating to one’s life or leaves positive after-effects on his social and moral character, which is evident from the two stories that have been discussed here. Othello in great rage kills himself as a punishment whereas Gilgamesh learns a lesson and sets off to find immortality and repay for his wrong doing. Later, he learns that death is an inseparable part of a human’s life which takes him out of the guilt and move in his life. A positive effect of guilt should be to learn something from the experiences if one has done something wrong then punishment is not the only way to go as everything in life opens towards escalation. Works Cited Belgum, David R. Guilt; Where Religion and Psychology Meet. Englewood Cliffs, N. J: Prentice-Hall, 1963. Print. Calo-oy, Starr, and Bob Calo-oy. The Caring Caregivers Guide to Dealing with Guilt. San Antonio, TX: Orchard Publications, 2004. Print. Lams, Victor J. Anger, Guilt, and the Psychology of the Self in Clarissa. New York: P. Lang, 1999. Print. McCaughrean, Geraldine, and David Parkins. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2003. Print. Rogne, Carol. Dealing with Guilt. Fargo, N.D: Discovery Counseling and Educational Center, 1992. Print. Shakespeare, William, and J O. Halliwell-Phillipps. The Works of William Shakespeare. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1912. Print. Tangney, June P, and Ronda L. Dearing. Shame and Guilt. New York: Guilford Press, 2002. Print. Read More