Weekly Blog Response 2

"The low-Other is despised and denied at the level of political organization and social being whilst it is instrumentally constitutive of the shared imaginary repertoires of the dominant culture. This is evidenced by the history of the representation of 'low' entertainment and the carnivalesque..." (Stallybrass, 6)

"Cassio: Dost thou hear, mine honest friend?
Clown: No, I hear not your honest friend: I hear you.
Cassio: Prithee keep up thy quillets. There's a poor
 piece of gold for thee. If the gentlewoman that attends
 the general be stirring, tell her there's one Cassio
 entreats her a little favor of speech. Wilt thou do this?
Clown: She is stirring, sir. If she will stir hither, I shall seem to notify unto her." (Othello, Act 3, scene 1, lines 21-28)

How does Shakespeare portray the low-Other and the treatment of the low-Other in relation to this quote in Othello?

The low-Other in Othello is seen through the Clown; he acts as the entertainment by telling jokes and playing with words. An example of this is seen in the second line of the quote above from Othello. Cassio asks the Clown, "Do you hear, my honest friend?" and the Clown responds that he does not hear Cassio's honest friend, only Cassio. It is through this humor that he acts as the entertainment. Cassio tells him to shut up and pays him to do his tasks. It is apparent through these lines (23-26) that Cassio does not think highly of the Clown, since Cassio is superior to him, and that he only uses the Clown to do his bidding. The beginning of the passage starts friendly enough; Cassio calls him an honest friend. It's when the Clown responds in a way that Cassio does not like that he gets rude, telling him to be quiet. By that use of language, it seems as if Cassio believes he can talk down to him just because he is below him. He then proceeds to pay him gold to give the woman a message, which he probably could've easily done himself. Instead, he has to get someone else to do it for him.