Othello and the joke of Yago

Abstract

After a brief context of the work and an approach to the relation between the joke, the psychoanalysis and the human behavior, the present text develops three characteristics of the joke in order to apply them to
the tragedy of William Shakespeare, Othello. These characteristics are: the motiveless aspect of the jokes: the joker's knowledge on human behavior: and the irruption of the joke on the fantasy and desire. The operation of these three characteristics of the joke is detailed and it is shown how Yago can be interpreted as a scenic assembly of this characterization, for the sake of the development that finally leads to the murder of Desdémona and the suicide of our tragic character, Othello. The article ends with a proposal of definition of tragedy.