Music in Othello

"Now, I do love her [Desdemona] too; not out of absolute lust…but partly led to diet my revenge". Iago is saying that he is sexually attracted to Desdemona but that it is not because of lust, but because of the hatred he has towards Othello and the need he feels to have revenge upon him. He feels that if he was to sleep with Othello's Desdemona than he and Othello would be even,

Desdemona believes that Othello is, in fact, a noble for the heroic acts that Othello has performed. As Bell suggests: "It is the heroic character Othello has made for himself that achieves his success in his wooing. He makes Desdemona put aside the prerequisites of class and race assumed for her appropriate suitor" (4). Iago,

The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.

Desdemona is the last frontier between Iago and Othello, and Iago puts everything at stake to ruin her reputation.

Othello’s trust for Iago enables Iago to completely discredit Othello as the good guy of the play when Iago manipulates him into thinking Desdemona was unfaithful to him with Cassio. Even though Othello must know in his heart that Desdemona would not betray him, he is so caught up by Iago's efforts and has fallen for his manipulative lies, that all rational thoughts abandons Othello and he ultimately ends up murdering his wife since to Othello betrayal was immoral. At the end of play, even Othello can hardly believe what he has done because he thinks of himself as, "One not easily jealous, but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme..." meaning that he has acted out of character and only in the interests of honor. Iago’s betrayal to those such as Othello and Desdemona, ultimately successfully destroyed everyone, himself included.

Desdemona is portrayed as a very inquisitive women, whom loves to explore the things and people outside of her class. She fell in love with Othello because of her curious nature and being attracted to his acts of bravado. Her intentions are sincere; however her curiosity in this act is seen as folly. She asks her cousin Lodovico about his arrival and informs him of Cassio’s dismissal. This angers Othello as she is praising another man, taking a persona of being proactive about him. For Othello this concludes that she is disobedient and has dishonored him - to put her in place, he resorts to violence:

Iago seems sincere enough, and he makes a concerted effort to ensure that he remains aces in everyone's book. So when Iago begins to plant the seeds of doubt into Othello's mind, Othello has no cause to doubt him. Desdemona is his wife, the woman that he loves with all his heart. Yet, see how quickly he is dissuaded, and how he disparages her. "Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damn'd tonight, for she shall not live. No, me heart is turn'd to stone, I strike it, and it hurts my hand?I will chop her into messes. Cuckold me!" (1167). But Othello never thinks to disbelieve Iago. He believes Iago to be an honest man, wise and simply trying to help. So he doesn't stop to think that maybe he should talk this over with his wife before he launches himself into a state of panic.

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".

Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello

It is here that the audience begins seeing a different identity of Othello. Who was once regarded as so valiant and courageous, was now beginning to show signs of severe insecurities dealing with matters, most importantly, such as his lack of experience in love and marriage causing shadows of doubt over his confidence in himself and his ability to be loved by and worthy of someone like Desdemona. Desdemona, although not intentionally, seems to be the reason for all the unrest in Othello. This is an instance in the play when irony shines it's smiling face upon Shakespeare's most tragic characters. Othello feels truly happy with the presence of Desdemona in his life (Act II.1, 181-187):

A key figure, if not the most important in the play, is that of the malcontent Iago, who sows the seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind, and presents him with ‘proof’ to back up his suspicions. Iago acts as a catalyst to Desdemona’s murder and it is his intricate

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.

In Cyprus, Iago designs a brawl with Cassio and Roderigo by having the latter insult the former while they are drunk. This, of course, results in Cassio’s dismissal by Othello but it far from satisfies Iago. He then in turn advises Cassio on how to regain his

Iago’s relationship with Othello becomes a power struggle where Iago attempts to degrade Desdemona in order to position himself so he can ‘poison’ Othello. Here Shakespeare is showing how powerful and manipulative Iago can be with his use of words, and how powerful they can be. This power struggles is exemplified

Everything about Othello’s mind, on the contrary, is direct, healthy, objective; with an openness and docility of childhood he loses himself in