Theme Of Love In Othello

However strong Othello's and Desdemona's marriage seems, it begins to deteriorate as a result of Othello's self-pride. At first, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful. Iago suggests to Othello that Desdemona slept with Cassio. Iago uses a handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona that he got Emilia to get for him as his proof against

She is then disowned by Barbantio with no further words directed to her by him but is referenced as a liar and should be kept on watch for her conniving ways by him towards Othello. Which then begins Shakespeare’s in depth writing on Othello and Desdemona’s relationship where she is as “a child to chiding” (4.2.119-120). Not even a moment after her father leaves Othello commands Iago to tell his wife, Emilia, to tend to Desdemona as a babysitter. Irony occurs within (2.1.169-171) where Desdemona challenges Iago and stands as an independent woman for Emilia objecting to his conclusion, that women no matter how beautiful or intelligent play the same “foul pranks”. However, as Othello’s jealousy and rage arises throughout the play it seems as her character has to fight even harder to breathe under his control; symbolic for her death of suffocation. Desdemona is a gentle women living under her love’s control with no power to object even if she had opposed this type of controlling relationship. As a higher class woman she had more power and respect over other women characters such as Emilia or Bianca, but is this dominance enough to feel in control of oneself? It is believed that Shakespeare added the 2 other

The ability of passion to bring destruction upon the lives of the unsuspecting is illustrated in Shakespeare’s Othello with the use of both manipulation and deceit. The curse of fierce passion fell namely on Othello as he transitioned from a respected general to an unstable murderer. His downfall is demonstrated through his increasing self-doubt, lack of ability to articulate, and violence. In the start of the play, he is an accomplished general and happy newlywed, and has yet to be significantly held back due to his being a Moor and outsider in Venetian society. As passion overtakes him, however, Othello truly ingrains the idea that he is less than, and those around him begin to blame his actions on the nature of his ethnicity. He has completely lost his identity to his desires and is unable to think rationally. Shakespeare juxtaposes this version of Othello with his initial composed self in Venice to demonstrate the damage of ignorance to logic and heighten the sense of tragedy. The effects of an overwhelming passion involving love, jealousy, and revenge are shown through Othello’s degradation and loss of stability.

Her silence causes Othello to become in rage with his wife this leads us to believe that Emilia is a liar. Although Emilia doesn’t intentionally lie to Desdemona she fails to tell her that she took the handkerchief as a token to win praise from Iago. This causes conflict between Desdemona and Othello just as it is the reason for Othello’s jealousy.

In addition, Emilia proves her underrated intelligence by standing up for what she believes is right. Desdemona, Othello's wife, and Emilia's relationship grows because of her great loyalty towards her. At the end of the play Emilia stands up for Desdemona because Othello kills her. She explains Desdemona's true love for him and would never do anything to hurt him, which proves Desdemona's innocence. Not only does Emilia stand up for Desdemona, but she also voices her opinion to Othello. Emilia shows no fear standing up to Othello to prove to him that his wife has always been faithful. At first Othello finds it implausible but then Emilia says, "Thou art rash as fire, to say that she was false. O, she was heavenly true!" (Shakespeare V: ii, 165-166).Women are looked at in Othello as unintelligent and unfaithful, but Emilia changes that stereotype by standing up to the men. From the start Emilia and Iago's relationship always seemed rocky. Emilia's confidence in herself shows that she is not afraid to stand up to her husband. Emilia realizes the danger she puts herself in when she stands up to Iago. In order to make things right, she does whatever it takes, even if that means ruining their marriage or taking her life.

Strength in Contradiction of Renaissance Women During the Renaissance, women were expected to be loyal, powerless, and obedient. In The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, by William Shakespeare, the roles of women contradict this. The characters in Othello are stronger than many Renaissance women of the time. They are strong because of their opinions on loyalty, opinion on equality of the men and women, and disobedience to do what is right.

She emphasizes as well that Othello's jealousy and irrational suspicion feeds on itself. Thus, it only takes a seed of doubt before it grows into an insuppressible obsession. With this in mind, Emilia's character is proven to be more complex since her warning displays her genuine concern for Desdemona yet her betrayal of stealing the handkerchief for Iago makes her loyalty to Desdemona questionable. Accordingly, this demonstrates that she follows Iago only because of her wifely duty, but her true loyalty resides with Desdemona. Notably, proving that Shakespeare's social commentary about Emilia's internal conflict is brought upon by highlighting the difficulty of being a woman during the Elizabethan era. Torn between society obliging her to devote her life to pleasing her ungrateful husband and her integrity of remaining loyal to the people she truly cares about, such as Desdemona, Shakespeare evokes to accentuate the sacrifices women in the late 1500s had to endure. Furthermore, Emilia's ambiguous loyalty best connects to the theme Appearance v. Reality. Her conflicting loyalty results from her duality both to Desdemona and Iago. On one side, Desdemona fully trusts Emilia and fails to see her crucial role in the handkerchief scheme. On the other, Iago underestimates his own wife. Despite her submissiveness, she's the only one who can ultimately cause Iago's downfall.

The critical landscape in regards to cuckoldry in Shakespeare’s works varies greatly in its scope, especially in regards to the true perpetrators and victims of cuckoldry. The importance of this dialogue becomes especially significant when applied to Othello, a play that features cuckoldry as an invisible but ever present specter waiting to corrupt and ruin the lives of all. In Othello, we see cuckoldry, in the case of Iago, as the malignant supposition that motivates Iago’s perpetration of villainy against the entire cast of characters; indeed, few escape from the wrath of Iago and his male anxieties. In Othello himself, the fear of cuckoldry is so intense that he believes Iago’s word over his own wife’s. With the acknowledgement of the male anxiety of cuckoldry present in Othello, the question of who suffers most from a wife’s unfaithfulness is raised. There are some critics who assert the true victims of cuckoldry are the men, as they have now been shamed and have lost all preconceived notions of honor. In a play such as Othello, where male honor is such a relevant factor of

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.

She has a loyalty to her husbands in all aspects of life, whether it is mental or physical. If Desdemona had been an emotional void then Iago would not have succeeded in his plan. This would have meant that she would not have lied to Othello about losing the handkerchief, which she did so as not to hurt his feelings. However Othello sees this as an attempt to deceive him and conceal the alleged truth about her affair with Cassio. Even her final words, indicate that she blames her death on herself, and not her jealous husband.

Many crimes of passion are the result of jealousy. “Othello” shows readers how the jealousy of one or two people can result in violent actions and even death. In “Othello,” Roderigo was in love with Desdemona, who was already married to Othello. He teamed up with Iago, who possessed envy because Cassio had been promoted to the position Iago desired. Together, Iago and Roderigo plotted to destroy Cassio’s image and reputation as well as Desdemona’s marriage. As Iago began setting Cassio up, he began to develop feelings of his own for Desdemona. Iago and Roderigo’s actions resulted in numerous deaths throughout the play. First Iago stabs and kills Roderigo. Then, Othello’s jealousy leads him to smother Desdemona because she was “false with Cassio” (Shakespeare 767). After Emilia outed Iago, he pierced her with a knife, killing her. Lastly, Othello knifed himself. All of these deaths occurred because two men were desirous of things other people had. These acts exhibit the abominable effects jealousy can have on people’s

In each of these readings, love malady is seen in similar and different ways. I believe the most obvious reading to see the love malady is in Othello and The Sorrows of Young Werther. In the reading of Othello, Othello murders his wife because he believes her to be cheating on him. In the reading of The Sorrows of Young Werther, Werther commits suicide because he cannot be with the woman he loves. These acts of murder and suicide are seen as these men driven mad because of love. Each of these readings has some form of love malady in it.

Shakespeare shows the readers and viewers of the play, The Tragedy of Othello, an impression on what love really is and how it can have different meanings to different people. Love takes many different forms and can change over time. There are many different examples of love that is seen throughout this play, there is Othello and Desdemona, Emilia and Desdemona, Emilia and Iago, and Michael Cassio is in love with Desdemona. Love plays a large role in this play, it is what brings the characters together but it is also what kills them in the end.

Women must be granted freedom from stereotypical gender roles in order to achieve dominance over their own lives. This is exemplified in the various romantic relationships in Othello. Immediately in the first act, Brabatio accuses Othello of being a “foul thief, where hast [Othello] stow’d [his] daughter” (I.ii.62) classifying women as a property that can be traded amongst other men. This suggests that women are in the possession of their father before wedlock and of their husband prior to.