The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare

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4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy… it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. (New International Version, 1 Cor. 13.4-8).
Marriage is the union between two individuals that love each other and vow to be loyal to one another for the rest of their lives. In The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, William Shakespeare writes about two marriages: that of Othello and Desdemona and Iago and Emilia. Throughout the majority of the play, Desdemona and Emilia’s love for their husbands appear to be almost identical. However, towards the end, it becomes more and more evident that the loyalty and love they possess for their husbands are completely dissimilar, with only one remaining absolutely loyal until her last breath.
Since her first appearance in Othello, Desdemona demonstrates her great love for Othello, her new husband, by defending him against false accusations. In act 1, scene III, Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, is furious after finding out his daughter has secretly married a much older black man. He takes Othello before the duke of Venice and accuses him of using sorcery and black magic to enamor his beautiful, young daughter. Othello denies this, saying that Desdemona has fallen in love with him because of his astonishing war stories. Desdemona then enters and Brabantio asks her whom she owes the most obedience to. She replies, “To you I am bound for life and education… [b]ut here’s my husband; and so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father, so much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my lord...

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...stified death and she needs to tell the truth. She confesses that it was she who stole the handkerchief and had given it to her husband, which he used to destroy Othello and Desdemona. Although love, obedience, and loyalty are extremely important in a marriage, it is sometimes best to give one up for what is just.

Works Cited

Iyasere, Solomon. "The Liberation Of Emilia." Shakespeare In Southern Africa 21.(2009): 69
72. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Jain, P. K. "Othello: A Tragedy Of Passion." Poetcrit 19.1 (2006): 55-59. Literary Reference
Center Plus. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice." The Norton Anthology of
English Literature. Gen. ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 9th ed. New York: Norton, 2013. 555-
635. Print.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan House, 2011. Print.

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