To What Extent Does Othello Love Desdemona

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

Othello is a soldier. A strong man. What he knows of life comes from his experiences on the battlefield. He is an honest man, who was trusting as well. He has his friends and confidants, that he holds all of his trust in; maybe too much trust. He is married to young, beautiful Dedemona. She disobeyed her father by marrying Othello, a man of another race, and another color. She has a deep and compassionate love for Othello. The story of Othello and Desdemona is not one of a story book romance. What started as a love for two people, turned out to be a marriage based on jealousy, deceit and in the end a tragic murder.

"You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not” (Picoult, 384). This quote is the definition of true love, something the two protagonists of this play sadly never had. The tragedy Othello is about a general of the Venetian army, and his beautiful wife Desdemona, whose lives are completely ruined by the deceitful, cunning, and cowardly Iago. One of Iago’s biggest accomplishments was breaking up Othello and Desdemona's relationship by getting it into Othello’s head that Desdemona was cheating on him. This really made the reader question Othello’s feelings towards Desdemona as for someone who claimed to have love Desdemona with a passion, Othello sure was quick to believe Iago’s lies and turn on Desdemona. Based on his actions towards Desdemona, Othello proved that he does not truly love Desdemona because he is insecure, lacks trust, and is a very jealous person.

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):

Shakespeare’s Othello has been known as one of the greatest tragedies throughout history. In Othello there have been main topics of issues surrounding Othello’s love for his wife Desdemona and the relationship between Othello and Iago, who is Othello’s ancient. There have been questions about whether or not Othello was a jealous person or if Iago made Othello believe that he had to be jealous about something. Questions have also arose when discussing Othello’s love for Desdemona because some people believe that it was love turned to hate. However, other people believe that Othello did not truly love Desdemona. Although, jealousy is an emotion that can be manipulated.

Othello’s true feelings for his “whore of a wife” are shown through his moans of regret at the end when the true villain is revealed. “Perplexed in the extreme. Of one whose hand, like the base Indian, threw a pearl away. Richer than all his tribe” (5.2.362-364). Othello is terribly upset because of his idiotic mistake, and all he wants is Desdemona back; however, that is not possible, especially since a handful of others died with her.

In the play Desdemona is a white venetian women who is highly desired by many men in the city. However, thru all the beautiful characteristics that shape her to be desirable to the eye, she is portrayed as a loyal and faithful wife. Even though she is white and of royal descent, she marries Othello who is of color because she is truly in love. She is a strong woman who is loyal to her husband because, besides the criticising comments of others, she is not affected by it and remains passionate towards her spouse. Another way she is portrayed as a faithful wife is by sailing along with her husband even though the dangers of war.

Othello is blinded by jealousy that he believes this is the right thing to do. It is a strange love that Othello and Desdemona share at the end of this drama because Othello is convinced that this does not act of murder but rather a sacrifice to save Desdemona (Bradley 777.) Othello believes this is an honorable act that is not to be confused with hate as he is saving Desdemona from herself (Bradley 777.) With the appearance of reality and the illusionary

While Desdemona often expresses her love of Othello and her dedication to “His honors and his valiant parts,” it is obvious that Othello does not truly love Desdemona (1.3.288). The first reason that shows that Othello does not indeed love Desdemona is that he does not completely trust her. After Iago tells Othello that he believes Cassio and Desdemona are in love, Othello immediately decides that this must be the truth, and vows to “tear her all to pieces” (3.3.490). This quote displays the fact that Othello’s trust for Desdemona is as fragile as eggshells are in an earthquake. Several times throughout the book, his own unsupported ideas completely overrule anything Desdemona could say.

The story of Desdemona is interesting in that the play implies that her nature was one of honesty, goodness, and kindness. Moreover, even on her deathbed where most would tell the name of the individual who killed them, she says “Nobody; I myself” (Shakespeare, 2014, 5.2.128). Subsequently, the significance of this declaration derives from the previous statement by Emilia, “Oh, who hath done this deed?” (Shakespeare, 2014, 5.2.127), when she asks who had harmed Desdemona. So, the likely meaning of this phrase is that Desdemona loved Othello so greatly that even though he killed her, she could not bring herself to blame him for her death.

In Othello, the men decide what their wives are worth. In the beginning of the play, Othello describes Desdemona as “[a] fair warrior” (2.1.173) and “virtuous” (3.3.188), and claims their love will overcome any challenge they face: “And this, and this, the greatest discords be that e’er our hearts shall make” (2.1.190-191). He also declares, “But I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again” (3.3.91-92), which is stating that when he doesn’t love Desdemona, there will be great strife and discord. However, when Othello is consumed by jealousy and believes that his wife is having an affair with Cassio, he uses horrible words to describe her, such as “a strumpet” (4.2.81) and “mistress” (4.2.89). Othello doesn’t believe his wife

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.

Desdemona and Othello have a strong sense of love for each other at the beginning of the play but their relationship lacks support, trust, communication and understanding for one another. They have more of love at first sight, Desdemona sees a strong

Othello is not a person acquiring potential of true love. He is not in true love with Desdemona. It is just his affection towards Desdemona that he marries him. From the beginning of the play he is not sure whether Desdemona loves him or not. He admits it at the start of the play that he loves her because she has pity for his hardship.

Shakespeare explores more than just excessive, impetuous love in portraying the Moor. Othello has been prepared for his role as a jealous, murderous husband from the beginning of the play because his love for Desdemona is suspicious. Othello immediately discloses that the love he and Desdemona share derives from his stories of war, which are strong and heroic: "She loved me for the dangers I had passed/and I loved her that she did pity them." (1.3.168-169). He explains to Iago, "But that I love the gentle Desdemona/I would not my unhoused free condition/put into circumscription and confine/for the sea's worth." (1.2.25-28). Othello tells Iago that sea treasures could not make Othello surrender his love for war and nothing could make him surrender his love for Desdemona. This shows that the power Othello derives from war describes the powerful quality of his love. It seems doubtful that the love Othello has for violent "feats of broil and battle" can be used to describe his love for Desdemona who is "of spirit so still and quiet that her motion/ blushed at herself," without compromising the safety of love (1.3.131, 1.3.96-97). In fact, when he returns from suppressing the Cyprus revolt, he calls out to Desdemona, "My fair warrior!" (2.1.180). Although Desdemona has fallen in love with Othello by listening to his "travailous history", stating that she is a "fair warrior" does not seem to be the next logical step in