Crime And Punishment And Othello: Comparison And Contrast Essay

Crime and Punishment and Othello: Comparison and Contrast Essay

by: Aubrey Wood

In both Crime and Punishment and Othello there is a theme of necessary
balance.   Crime and Punishment"s theme that man must be balanced in order to
function properly is very similar to Othello"s theme that, tragically, jealousy
is destructive, even to the one that holds it.
In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov"s extreme intellectualism caused
him to stop functioning as a complete and balanced individual which ultimately
cost him his freedom.   For Othello, it was his extreme jealousy that caused him
to become emotionally unbalanced, which cost him both Desdemona and his own life.
In both cases the extremes create unbalance which ends up costing a lot.   There
is a difference, however, and that too lies in the extremes; while Raskolnikov
is too intellectual and lacks emotion, Othello is a rage of emotions and
requires some intellect or rationality.
One stylistic device both authors used to demonstrate this unbalance is
foreshadowing.   On page 84 in Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov says, "If they
question me, perhaps I will simply tell.   Fall to my knees and tell."   This
foreshadows Raskolnikov"s confession to the police and his subsequent sentencing
to Siberia.   Raskolnikov is obviously unbalanced if he can detachedly
hypothesize about his confession. Similarly, Desdemona"s willow song
foreshadows her own death.   In this way we realize Othello must be extremely
unbalanced if his wife can foresee her own death when they are still newly wed.
Both foreshadowed events would usually be considered as negative.   The main
difference is that while Raskolnikov"s imprisonment is temporary, Desdemona"s
death is permanent.
The interesting thing about both foreshadowed events is their irony.
While both events are usually construed as negative, good things come from both.
Not until he has been in Siberia a year does Raskolnikov finally renounce his
overman theory and become complete and balanced...