Love and Desdemona

“Othello” begins in middle of an argument between Roderigo and Iago. Desdemona and Othello’s wedding is the main topic of their argument. Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who is treated as a possession of her father, Brabantio, but by marrying an outsider Othello, she goes against the tradition of venetian custom which she is expected to marry a rich man to maintain her family’s honour. Iago reports Brabantio that his daughter is being stolen by Othello. “Awake! What ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves!” (1.1. 76). This quote depicts how unmarried women were treated back in 16’s century. However, while everyone in the play thinks that Othello has stolen Desdemona to marry him, Desdemona speaks herself to prove that she truly loves Othello. “That I love the Moor to love with him” (1.3. 246). Also, she even asks for her permission to go to Cyprus with Othello because she can’t stand the thought of remaining at home, which doesn’t have any adventure. There is a comparison between her social class and her

The relationship between Desdemona and Othello in the play ‘Othello’ is used to express and observe the way that humans are selfish by nature. Although both Desdemona and Othello do sincerely love each other, both of them find great personal gain in their marriage, which clearly contributes to their feelings for one another. Othello, who is a black leader in an overwhelmingly white, Christian society, has come from a troubled and difficult background, being “sold to slavery” and working in the military all his life. In finding a good Christian wife in Desdemona, he finds someone to always support him in hard times, as evidenced in his summary of their romance, “she loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them”. This quote suggests that their love is more self-serving than he lets on; Desdemona loves Othello for the adventures he has been on and the stories he tells, and Othello loves Desdemona because she listens and devotes herself to what he has to say. When Desdemona gets a chance to explain their relationship herself, she is particularly proud of the fact that she “did love the Moor to live with him; my downright violence and storms of fortunes may trumpet to the world”. We note that she mentions her ‘violence’, the way she deliberately disobeyed her father and fled his company to secretly marry a man who is not one of her father’s approved suitors. This furthers the idea that Desdemona seems to be in love with Othello because of the adventures he has been on, and the excitement and liberty of her being with such a man; she is seeking her own freedom in a misogynistic society by defying her father to marry Othello. Their relationship is

In the play, evil intentions destroy what we know of a pure heart as well as trust and genuine honesty by this falsehearted deception. The agony of the tragic play is captured in a nutshell when Othello admits to Desdemona “when I love thee not/chaos is come again.” There is some misunderstanding of tragedy of love between the two characters. Trust is misplaced, honesty smeared out and finally, lives are ruined by denigrating fabrications and outright lies (Lupu, Jeffrey and Westmaas-Jones 12). The tragic cautionary of Shakespeare offers a supreme warning over jealousy which is referred as “the green eyed monster with doth mock the meat it feeds on.”

In the play, The Tragedy of Othello, judging from the relationship between Desdemona and Othello, seems to say that marriage based on an innocent romantic love is bound to fail. There is a common thread of betrayal and deceit among many characters. Othello and Desdemona being the most vividly portrayed. The two appear to love one another romantically at first, but it soon after transforms into a secular love. This comes to pass because there is no foundation for a relationship. There is no trust, no communication, and no understanding.

The fact that Othello questions who Desdemona is to him reveals his lack of trust for Desdemona. Desdemona puts her life on the line to swear that she is loyal to Othello. If a person ever needs to prove their loyalty that much to their significant other their relationship is not strong.

Iago often refers to Othello as the "Moor" and when Emilia realises how Othello has treated his wife, she calls him "the blacker devil". As Iago's plan unfolds, Othello's suspicions and jealousy come to the fore. Iago's blasphemous expressions gradually infiltrate Othello's vocabulary as Othello becomes more and more convinced that Desdemona is being unfaithful. Initially he claims that while the marriage is expected to bring him some physical satisfaction, he and his wife value their mental attraction just as highly. However, as he becomes ensnared in Iago's trap, Othello reveals a more detailed acknowledgement of Desdemona's sexual appeal. As he discusses her death with Iago, he says he will not argue with Desdemona"lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again".

Jealousy plays a major role in Othello as it is the driving force which leads to the plays events being carried out. The theme of jealousy is prevalent through characterization and the dishonoring of the values of trust and loyalty. The character if Iago is the main who endures jealousy and dishonours trust and loyalty which in the end he uses as a method to lead Othello to his downfall. Iago dishonours Othello’s trust by stating “My lord, you know I love you” but this contrasts with Iago line “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”.

However strong the emotional attitude of prejudices may be in Othello, Love is the most powerful emotion and ironically the emotion that leads to the most vulnerability. Loves of all kinds are tested in the tragedy and ultimately all fail to rectify the horrible situation. Marital love for Othello and Desdemona serve as both a heaven and a hell on earth. As Othello portrays by saying,

    The meaningful term “love” can be applied to differing relationships in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello. In this essay let us examine under a microscope the “love” that we find throughout the play.

Othello and Desdemona’s manifestly love-filled relationship was somewhat shielded by society’s views of the age, social position and race differences, that would evidently cause implications. In the late sixteenth century, the time in which Othello is based, it was disreputable to do anything that was thought of as abnormal, for example, marrying below your class. Othello and Desdemona’s relationship was quickly looked down upon, simply due to the fact that it was seen as

However the textual integrity of the play can be questioned. In terms of its pacing, Othello’s transition from a love that overcame social boundaries to murderous hate is almost too abrupt, to the point that it is unconvincing and unrealistic. The fact that Othello blindly follows the words of Iago, without once consulting Desdemona, takes away the play’s realism. On the other hand, this can be attributed to the gender system of the time, and Othello’s insecurities about his race and age. Stage directions instruct Othello and Iago to kneel, and to modern audiences this symbolises that the bond between the two men is stronger than marriage representative of the patriarchal society of Shakespeare’s time.

Othello and Iago love emotions shows throughout the play that they have certain different view on their wives. Othello is so in love with Desdemona that he can’t imagine the thought of her being unfaithful to him. The aspect of him and his unbreakable love for Desdemona can be seen in these lines: “But that I love the gentle Desdemona, I would not my unhoused free condition, Put into circumscription and confine” (Othello 561;lines 25-28). Othello and Desdemona shows a healthy and genuine love for each other. Othello shows his affection for Desdemona despite their racial differences. Throughout the play Othello reassures us about their love and no one else’s thought can break it.

In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, the Moore of Venice, the central idea is jealousy. Jealousy is a powerful emotion that may induce behavior that would otherwise not be conventional. Iago uses jealousy to manipulate Othello into committing various acts against his wife, Desdemona. After reading this play, what really sticks out is that one must be careful who they trust. Conflict, Symbolism, and Dramatic Irony are the literary elements that are shown throughout the play Othello.

Othello’s immediate trust for Iago’s speculations demonstrate the truth of the matter that Othello is not close with his wife to be able to hear the truth from her. Othello exhibits assurance in Iago and goes to him for advice. In return, Iago deceives Othello by pointing out Desdemona’s actions saying “She did deceive her father” by marrying a Moor (III.iii.206). Iago is implying that Desdemona is not to be trusted because she lied to her father. Othello now disregards Desdemona and changes his attitude towards her. Othello believes that if she was able to lie and hide a relationship from her own father, she is capable of hiding her cheating ways from him. Othello is persuaded that Desdemona has what it takes to go behind the backs of the people she loves and this creates

When I hear the word trust I think of friends. You have to have a lot of trust in your friends and they need to be able to trust you. I have a huge amount of trust in my best friend, I tell her everything. There are some people who say that you can trust them, but then it turns out that you can’t and they’ve told everyone your secret. I think that trust is confiding in a person or people that you know if you say, “don’t tell anyone,” they won’t tell anyone. For instance, in Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence kept Romeo and Juliet’s trust by not telling anyone about their marriage. I think that Romeo and Juliet trusted each other enough