Human beings are instilled with various virtues and vices resulting in humans, each with a unique identity. A few of these virtues are courage, friendship, loyalty, and respect. Two important vices are jealousy and most importantly, desire. Once command and desire come together, free will is formed as the ability of one to choose and carry out their own actions. In Confessions, an autobiography by Saint Augustine, Augustine attempts to reconcile his relationship with god by explaining the downfalls of his life, namely free will. In Shakespeares Othello, multiple characters act upon their desire by constructing a detailed plot that causes the demise of all parties involved. Similarly, according to Augustine, a life lived by free will causes evil while Shakespeare supports this argument by illustrating that a life lived by desire is one that cannot be satisfied because this vice is an insatiable appetite.
Desire is a leading temptation of the soul and when combined with command for ones self, free will comes into existence. The reason desire can be explained as insatiable is because it the results from free will do not typically satisfy the desire, such as Iagos actions in Othello.
In Shakespeares text, Iago forms and carries out a plan in retaliation to the promotion of Cassio by Othello. The human vice of jealousy also applies to Shakespeares novel. According to Iago, he has proven himself in the battle grounds with Othello, while Cassio is just a mathematician and has not proven himself. Iago has the desire to take vengeance on Othello and once this coincides with action it becomes free will. Free will plays a role in this text because nothing can deter Iago from taking action to spite Othello for promoting Cassio. From Shakespeares text, it is apparent that he looks down upon people and their ability to follow their desires.
Augustines autobiography allows him to come to the realization of his mistakes, much like the writings of Orhan Pamuk in The White Castle, where Hoja wrote to determine the pitfalls in his identity. Augustines desire for sexual passion is his major pitfall, My longing then [when he was young] was to love and to be loved, but most when I obtained the enjoyment of the body of the person who loved me.(Augustine, 37). His major conflict is the struggle of sexual desires relative to his struggle of spiritual desires. He wishes to be close to God, but when he follows his desire for sexual passion and acts upon it, he is deterred from God. Once writing Confessions, he realizes the free will demonstrated in his younger years is the evil that contrasts God. Augustine writes, Overcome myself by the desire of money, I offered for sale skill in speech to overcome others by.(Augustine, 55). This quote exemplifies how his desire for money wills him to sell his knowledge. He then goes on to apologize for his actions, admitting that he was furnishing evil, caused by his ability to act on his desires. In a broader perspective, Augustine believes that evil is the misdirection of human will, meaning that human will can be good, but only if disciplined. Will is evil if it is a result of only desire and action. However, if will is a product of reason and action, it can be considered a virtue.
Both authors understand that humans have the ability act on their desires; they also agree that free will is a vice. Shakespeare perceives desire to be the unfavorable counterpart of reason. Desire distorts the ability for one to reason. Roderigo demonstrates this when he is coaxed by Iago into pursuing Desdemona even though she recently married Othello. The virtue of reason should have enabled him to realize that this would be a pointless pursuit. However, his desire to woo Desdemona overcame his ability to rationalize his actions. This is comparable to Augustines predicament of spiritual and sexual desire, there is a parallel between these desires and Roderigos lust and reason. Augustine confesses that his desire of sexual passion is what led him away from God. In his writings, he uses this example to demonstrate how free will can be described as evil. The cornerstone of his belief is that if God is omnipotent, how can evil exist? He develops the idea, through his writing, that evil does not exist because there is a weakness in God, rather a weakness in humans. The vice of desire and the ability to have free will is the weakness that enables evil to exist in daily life. Therefore, humans themselves are the reason that evil exist.
Augustines analysis of evil can by applied to various texts, both modern and classic. In applying his theory to Shakespeares Othello, one can conclude that Augustine would find a number of Shakespeares characters to embody evil. One character would be Iago, as stated earlier, he is solely driven by his desires. No moral reason exists in his scheme when he plans to act. One could also conclude that as well as acting solely on desires, his scheme is harmful because it is enacted in vengeance as well. Another character that fits the analysis is Othello. Iago tells Othello that Desdemona has cheated on him with Cassio. Othello proclaims to Iago, Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned tonight, for she shall not live(Shakespeare, 100). Othello is then infected with evil as his desire takes over and he conspires to get revenge on Cassio for his suspected betrayal. Desdemona is another major character that the vice of desire reaches. Much like Augustine, Desdemona is taken over by the desire to enjoy the love of another. She desires to have Othello, despite him being a Moor. Desdemonas father is against the marriage on grounds of social desirability. However, Desdemona acts upon her own desires and wills against her fathers wishes when she elopes with the Moor of Venice.
As well as Augustines model fits Shakespeares text, Shakespeare would agree with Augustines major decision. He decides to leave a life of free will and desire for a life of spiritual passion, self discovery, and reason. Shakespeare would commend this decision because he believes that following desires inevitably leads to self destruction. According to Shakespeares moral thesis, if Augustine had continued on his path of lustful desires, it would result in self destruction. He would have died never knowing God and never realizing his own pitfalls. However, because Augustine was able to decide to turn against his natural desires and free will, he was able to be one with God, therefore, turning his head from evil. Shakespeare would also agree with the decision made by Monica, Augustines mother. She was naturally addicted to drinking alcohol. In Book Nine, Augustine discusses his mother and her sin, And so, adding to that daily drop a little more from day to day...she fell into the habit, so that she would drink off greedily cups almost full of wine(Augustine, 175). Later on in the same passage, he analyzes her ability to drop the vice, [My mother] saw her fault in its true wickedness, and instantly condemned it and gave it up(Augustine, 175). Shakespeare, as Augustine did, would applaud this decision and Monicas ability to instantly turn away from evil while it takes some a prolonged time to make the morally right decision.
It is coincidental how two authors writings can correspond to each other to such a degree as Augustines and Shakespeares do. Despite the gap of almost a millennium between the two texts, they could almost be published together. The moral belief that following selfish vices, such as desire enables evil to exist is evident throughout both texts. While Shakespeare is a play about this vice and how it can cause the demise of all parties involved, Augustine is an autobiography that demonstrates how evil can take over oneself if selfish desires such as sexual passion or alcoholism are followed. Only the ability to turn away from ones desire can allow salvation. If reason and action are fused, according to the standards of Augustine and Shakespeare, morally right decisions will be made. Therefore, using free will in a manner that disables evil. However, if selfish desire and action are fused, one is embodying evil.
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