Othello and the Virtue of Love Essay

In the beginning of the play, Othello and Desdemona have a strong relationship. When others interfere with their marriage, Othello

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – popularly considered by many to be the quintessential love story of all time – is a play that we are all familiar with in one way or another. Whether it be through the plethora of portrayals, adaptations and performances that exist or through your own reading of the play, chances are you have been acquainted with this tale of “tragic love” at some point in your life. Through this universal familiarity an odd occurrence can be noted, one of almost canonical reverence for the themes commonly believed to be central to the plot. The most widely believed theme of Romeo and Juliet is that of the ideal love unable to exist under the harsh social and political strains of this world. Out of this idea emerge two

Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’, set in early Venice, focuses on the key relationship between titular character Othello and his wife Desdemona, to comment on the human condition through the text. The relationship between the married couple allows us to understand Shakespeare’s commentary on human nature, particularly how humans are inherently selfish, prone to falling victim to jealousy, and are made both stronger and weaker by their emotions.

Shakespeare’s Othello is a play consistently based on jealously and the way it can destroy lives. One is quick to think this jealously is based on Othello’s lack of belief in Desdemona’s faithfulness to him or his suspensions over Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Upon closer inspection of the jealously that exists throughout the play it becomes clear that his jealously is not the sole start and reason for all of the destruction that occurs. Iago, a good friend of Othello, is not who he appears to be. Iago’s own jealously of those around him pushes him over the edge. He begins to deceive all those who believe he is a true, honorable, and faithful man. Throughout Othello, Iago incites his own jealously in

In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his hatred for the general Othello for his having chosen Michael Cassio for the lieutenancy, he contrives a plan to partially avenge himself (“I follow him to serve my turn upon him”), with Roderigo’s assistance, by alerting Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, to the fact of his daughter’s elopement with Othello: “Call up her father, / Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight [. . .] .” Implied in

Furthermore Desdemona finds herself and her self-worth in question after Othello’s cruel treatment to her. She says " And his unkindness may defeat my life,/ But never taint my love" (4.2 line 159-160) Shakespeare makes the characters think love will bring them the most joy, but it actually brings them the most pain and suffering. This is done to portray that uncertainly of all that is in life and to make one think more about putting all ones faith, or hope in one object or person.

    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.

He gloats about the easy in which he can manipulate Roderigo (the fool) into giving him money. Directly after this, you hear of Iago’s feelings towards Othello (the Moor). You learn of Iago’s suspicion about his wife having an affair with Othello. This gains pity from the audience, because you feel that Iago is a man deeply distraught over the idea of his wife cheating on him. Iago then begins to contemplate how he would seek vengeance on Othello and gain his title. Iago plans to use Othello’s trust and opinion of him to his advantage. He speaks about how he will use Cassio as his pawn to lure Othello into believing his wife, Desdemona is being unloyal to him. Iago discloses that Othello’s character is naive and will be easy to manipulate. As his closing statement he states that, with a little help from the devil, his monstrous plan will be a success.

At the outset of the play Iago persuades the rejected suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two awaken the senator with loud shouts about his daughter’s elopement with Othello. In response to the noise and Iago’s vulgar descriptions of Desdemona’s involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed and, with Roderigo’s help, gathers a search party to go and find Desdemona. Once that Brabantio has located Othello, the general stands with heroism before the group of armed men with swords drawn, saying confidently, “Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.” The father presses charges publicly in order to have Desdemona returned:

A.C. Bradley describes Othello as "by far the most romantic figure among Shakespeare's heroes"(Shakespearean Tragedy, 1). This is an unusual description of a man who murders his own wife. However, Othello's feelings of hate for Desdemona started as an overwhelming love for her when their relationship began. This transformation from love to hate also inflicted the characters Iago and Roderigo and like Othello their hatred resulted in the murder of innocent people. Roderigo's love for Desdemona was transformed into hate towards any man that he thought was loved by her. Iago's love for his job and his wife, Emilia changed into a destructive hatred of Cassio and Othello. As a result of

Roderigo’s love and obsession for Desdemona puts himself in a dangerous position with Iago, as seen in Act 1, Scene 1, Lines

The play heavily emphasizes the relationships of people with characters like Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Emilia, Cassio and so studying these key character’s will not only expose the humanity’s nature in the play but also explains how these natures were fundamental to the character’s success or downfall. In a sense Desdemona is Othello’s only connection to the Venetian society, other than being their general. Othello and Desdemona are fascinated in each other’s traits for they know they could never know such depth for themselves. This is love is expressed for each of these is state at the meeting of the senators and Othello, to which he said “She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, And I lov'd her that she did pity them.”(1.3.166-9). Desdemona sees him not as moor but as a great knight with whose grizzled face and hardened eyes are enough to tell tales. Othello see Desdemona not as spoiled girl but as a nice lady with caring demeanor. Their relationship is one in which the inner mind, their souls are revealed to both and is accepted by both. This drama entails the “moor” general of Venice, Othello who marries Desdemona, the young daughter of a prominent Venetian senator. From this knowledge, it may be concluded that this is Shakespeare’s attempt to express Othello rather than a moor but as a human, but adds ethnic alienation to the mix of troubles. Shakespeare does this to isolate Othello from the people of Venice, to make this rugged man look vulnerable but not to spears and but to deception. Shakespeare gives the reader his example of true love, in which the mind of each other is laid out for only him/her to know and also reminds the reader that even one’s good nature can be taken advantage of for the

   The Shakespearean tragedy Othello contains a number of themes; their relative importance and priority is debated by literary critics. In this essay let us examine the various themes and determine which are dominant and which subordinate.

A victim of the villainous Iago, Roderigo was jealous of Othello’s marriage with Desdemona and tried to break it up by hiring Iago. His jealousy is seen taking its toll on Roderigo after he reacts to the confession of Desdemona’s love for Othello in front of the Duke and Brabantio. After hearing this, Roderigo feels as though all hope is lost and expresses his despair to Iago saying,

The polysemic nature of Shakespeare’s Othello means that throughout time, different cultures have found certain readings of particular characters more relevant than others. For example, there are many possible readings of Desdemona, but two of the more dominant interpretations include seeing her as the ideal wife who falls victim to an abusive husband and viewing Desdemona as a progressive woman who contributed to her downfall by being outspoken and challenging the position of women in her time. Both readings are relevant to contemporary society especially when you take into consideration the role feminism has played in shaping modern thinking and the number of abusive relationships portrayed in our media. However as will be shown,