Gambling, political dissidence, and economy may not seem to have much in common at first, but all have a key goal of “beating the system”. Michel Foucault presents a method of discipline that attempts to destroy an individual’s likelihood of going against government rulings: panopticism. Panopticism advocates the idea that a prisoner or subject potentially under constant scrutiny will not misbehave under observation. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is under constant scrutiny. Likewise, in 1984, by George Orwell, Winston explores a dystopia where the Oceanic government has the capability to see his every action. Occurring in two immensely different settings, both novels use the notion of surveillance to manipulate behaviour. Winston
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In contrast to Othello’s Renaissance-era technology, the overseeing body in 1984 has virtual omniscience. The futuristic, dystopian government installs plainclothes agents, microphones, and video cameras in almost every single location. From the onset of the novel, Winston makes conscious efforts to avoid surveillance. Before he begins writing his book, Winston tries to avoid the gaze of the telescreen: “By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as sight went” (Orwell 6). Winston assumes the capabilities of the government are fallible and attempts to evade oversight simply by staying out of the camera’s field of view. Even though he recognizes the power of panopticism when he says that, “there was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment… It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time,” (Orwell 3) Winston still tries to elude the grasp of Big Brother. As he gets bolder with his defiance, he is eventually caught: “‘We are the dead, he said…’You are the dead,’ said an iron voice behind them” (Orwell 221). In his last act of resistance, the iron-voiced police who record his blasphemy capture him in his previously private room. Winston’s hubris in avoiding an all-knowing government leads to his
In contrast to Othello’s Renaissance-era technology, the overseeing body in 1984 has virtual omniscience. The futuristic, dystopian government installs plainclothes agents, microphones, and video cameras in almost every single location. From the onset of the novel, Winston makes conscious efforts to avoid surveillance. Before he begins writing his book, Winston tries to avoid the gaze of the telescreen: “By sitting in the alcove, and keeping well back, Winston was able to remain outside the range of the telescreen, so far as sight went” (Orwell 6). Winston assumes the capabilities of the government are fallible and attempts to evade oversight simply by staying out of the camera’s field of view. Even though he recognizes the power of panopticism when he says that, “there was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment… It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time,” (Orwell 3) Winston still tries to elude the grasp of Big Brother. As he gets bolder with his defiance, he is eventually caught: “‘We are the dead, he said…’You are the dead,’ said an iron voice behind them” (Orwell 221). In his last act of resistance, the iron-voiced police who record his blasphemy capture him in his previously private room. Winston’s hubris in avoiding an all-knowing government leads to his