Final – Transformative Justice in Othello

My favorite project this semester was my Othello project: “Transformative Justice in Othello.”

“On a smaller, community scale, TJ serves a similar purpose – to move beyond anger and arrive at a peaceful, agreed upon conclusion by all parties involved. In practice, this looks like a series of deeply honest conversations, sometimes with a mediator, about an event where harm or abuse took place. These conversations are informed by intersectional understandings of identity, including principles like trauma, race, gender, class, education, mental illness, and so on. TJ is inclusive by design, as opposed.  to most conflict resolution frameworks, which serve to “other” the victim or their abuser.”

Honestly this is probably my favorite project I’ve done in a while! This semester I’ve been trying to tailor my assignments as close to my interests as I can within the guidelines, and this is a result of that. For my project, I compared two quotes: one from adrienne marie brown’s “What is/isn’t Transformative Justice” chapter from Beyond Survival. I searched both texts, looking for overlap and presented the quotes side by side. The two concepts played into each other so well, and I think showed the story in a different light.

“Iago manipulates anger throughout Othello, forcing Othello into a “fight or flight” state. Making decisions in that kind of heightened mode of functioning frequently leads to more harm. Othello choses to fight, rushing to procure a “swift means of death.” Alternatively, “flight” could present itself in two ways: first, Othello running away, feeling cast out by his friends and wife. Second, and ideally, it means stepping away from the drama and tense emotions to process the facts and adjust reactions accordingly. Instead, Othello verbally insults his wife before going off to kill her.”

Overall I think this project presents a new and nontraditional way of looking at Othello. By thinking of the characters as a community struggling to get along, it introduces new concepts and explanations for their behaviors.