Obsidian and Alabaster:
Othello and Desdemona
Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was doomed from the start. Even considering the racial nature of the marriage, his lack of a constant home, and the improper method of his courting, there is another reason why their marriage would never have worked. Othello’s label of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as “Alabaster”(5.2.5) he will never consider her capable of responding to his love.
Because Othello is at his wit’s end when he refers to her as “Alabaster”, he is speaking out of his heart. After Othello reads the letter from Venice, he begins to speak in less cohesive manner. For instance the line, “Pish! Noses, ears, and lips. Isn’t Possible? Confess! Handkerchief! O devil!”(4.1.42) contains none of Othello’s former eloquence. He begins to speak with word association, rather than in complete sentences. For instance, the word “confess!” brings up the word “Handkerchief!”, and “devil!”. Because Desdemona, the handkerchief, and the sense of maliciousness were on his mind so much, he begins to express with abstract words and ideas instead of sentences. Although this makes his lines harder to read, they show us what he is constantly thinking of. Instead of clear and concise lines, they are a torrent of his true feelings. Therefore when he describes Desdemona as “Alabaster”, we can be sure it is his inner picture of her.
Alabaster’s beauty gives you an idea about his feelings of bodily inferiority to her. Alabaster is a naturally beautiful stone, used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese to make statues and vases. This word choice gives the reader a sense of his feelings of inadequacy to Desdemona. He is never said to be ugly, on the contrary, he is described as “far more fair than black”(1.3.291). He must have felt some sensitivity about his physical appearance. In contrast, he describes her face as “fair as Dian’s visage”(3.3.389), Dian most likely being the god of healing in Celtic mythology. This implies both beauty and health. He then goes on to say “begrimed and black as mine own face”(3.3.390). Othello superimposes her clean and young white face with his grimy old black face. The fact that he believed her to be unfaithful with Cassio further proves his insecurity.
Othello, takes place in Venice during an attack of the island of Cyprus . The
In the play, Othello views women very differently. He see’s women almost as an object. Something that should never be seen nor heard unless wanted. This is a value assumption because it derives from ethics and morals. In the play this is shown through verbal irony. Throughout the play he is seen talking to Desdemona in a very demeaning way. He sees his wife not as a partner and a lover but as someone who works for him and must follow everything he says. That is one of the reason’s he was so angry when Iago told him that his wife was cheating on him. He felt betrayed, but not by a wife, by a soldier. A.C Bradley explains that Othello “was newly married; in the circumstances he cannot have known much of Desdemona newly married” (831)...
Desdemona acts contrary to these plans by choosing to marry Othello who is a Moor, not a Venetian, which automatically lowers his stature. He is also an army general; he does not have a lot of money, only some prestige. In addition, he is old - he could be Desdemona's father nearly; in fact, he is Brabantio's friend. Army life would keep him (and her) out of Venice, and prevent Brabantio from seeing his daughter, or future grandchildren. Consequently, Brabantio is extremely upset when he learns that they have eloped.
Interestingly, as Othello is preparing to kill Desdemona, he still believes that he is using reason to make his decisions. He says, “It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul./ Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,/ It is the cause” (V.ii.1-3). While he does not speak his reason, he is confident that he has one good enough for which to kill. This continues into an emotional set of lines about how much he is dreading preforming the necessary deed. It is not until the last set of Othello’s lines that he admits to being a fool overcome with
The truth comes out after Othello has murdered his wife and before he kills himself he says, “must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well.” (Shakespeare 360), meaning that he wants to be described as someone who loved too much, but who was not wise. His jealousy and fear of ruining his reputation after murdering Desdemona lies within his final speech. Although, he mentions in his speech, “Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, perplexed in the extreme” (Shakespeare 360), trying to convince the audience not to see him the way the events seem to make him look. He is trying to imply that he was not easily made jealous, but was tricked and manipulated by Iago. Othello wants to avoid having a bad reputation and would like the audience to remember him as an honorable
In Act 1. Desdemona admits that she fell in love with Othello's eloquence and harrowing adventures; 'I saw Othello's visage in his mind'. This outlines his sense of nobility in language,which empahsis how much of an experienced warrior ans revered noble man he is. Moreover Desdemona reveals Othello's nobility of love, 'She loved me for the dangers I had passed/ I loved her that she did pity them'. She succeeds in unveiling a side in Othello's nature which show him as a loving, respectful husband. He is clearly trustful of Desdemona and is not by any means jealous of him, as he allows her to travel to Cyprus with Iago,' To his conveyance I assign my wife'.
From this point on, Othello insecurity manifests into a seemingly irrational fear of being cuckolded, and his self-perceived worth diminishes exponentially. Othello comments on the likelihood of Desdemona cheating, by explaining how it may be “for [he is] black / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have…” (3.3.280-282) Othello’s frustration with the threat of being cuckolded puts strain on his relationship with Desdemona, and she quickly becomes a victim of domestic abuse. For example, Othello acts as an interrogator, demanding to see the handkerchief which he gave her that symbolizes faithfulness and commitment towards Othello. (Quotation) When she is unable to produce their symbol of trust, Othello’s anger manifests inside him. The audience is shown a stark contrast to Othello’s typically cool, collected and composted nature. This abrupt and irrational change in behaviour is emphasized when Othello strikes Desdemona in front of Lordovico, (4.1.245) Othello’s
Othello is very particular in how he wants to be remembered by stating that he does not want his image to be exaggerated or toned down, but subconsciously, he is only trying to protect his reputation. After murdering Desdemona, Othello pleads with Lodovico and Gratiano, Desdemona’s father’s kinsmen, not to ask for forgiveness for committing such a heinous crime, but to remember him as an adequate man who made an irrevocable mistake. Instead of acknowledging his wife’s lifeless body, Othello is more with how he will be described in Lodovico and Gratiano’s letters. In the beginning of the play, Othello would profess his love for Desdemona at every available opportunity, but now he cares more about his own reputation than he does for his dead ...
The first love one may want to peer into in both Othello and King Lear is the Love one may hold for a significant other. This type of love is prevalent in Othello between Othello and Desdemona, and can be compared to King Lear through Goneril and Regan with their husbands and having Edmund thrown in the mix. Desdemona's love for Othello is made very clear right from the start when she goes to bat for him against her father. This is seen when her father was so upset that he brought charges upon Othello to try and revoke their vows. She gives reasons why her explanation of the reasons she loves Othello defines her essential character as a woman of loyalty and fidelity to him, and not simply to a picture of him gleaned from a story told by him (B. Long). Later on in the play Desdemona's loves continues to shine through until the very end when Othello has became so enraged he is over her about to take her life she pleas to keep through her reinstating her love for him. According to the critic B. Long this is not just a scapegoat to save her life but that she truly loves him in a very genuine way; one may have a hard time finding text to prove otherwise. If Desdemona's love for Othello was a subservient love, generated by seeing his facade in his mind and fueled by her delight in his honors and heroic parts, Othello's love towards Desdemona is rather different.
These lines are the first hint given that Desdemona may not have always been completely captivated by her husband. These words, not denied by Othello, sit in contrast to his own. Upon hearing her words, Othello seems a changed man, depressed and submissive, his new attitude brought on by “Desdemona’s own honest account of her original feelings for Othello and the role Cassio played in Othello’s winning of her” (Macaulay 269). With just a little concern for Othello’s own pride, Desdemona have chosen to withhold some words or soften their blow. Instead, her own pride continues to lead her headlong onto a destructive
In Greek, Desdemona means ‘the unfortunate’, perhaps reflecting an ideology that she is not meant to be liked, merely pitied for her misfortune as a tragic victim (commonly defined as someone who dies due to the faults of others). Throughout Othello, Desdemona is presented as pure and innocent – in regards to this, Auden’s comment is unusual as Desdemona is seldom criticised; indeed many critics are complementary, giving her titles such as ‘gentle Desdemona’.
Othello is a man of romantic nature. He fell in love with the beautiful Desdemona. He was accused of stealing her away from her father. Othello was of a different race and did not fit in with her family. Othello makes a plea for Desdemona and tells his story which wooed her to begin with. Othello tells of the love that her father showed him since his boyish days. This was like a match made in heaven that overcame many obstacles which got in their way. Othello could not understand why he was good enough to work and fight alongside of her father, but was not good enough for his daughter.
The Relationship Between Othello and Desdemona We first learn of there being a relationship between Othello and Desdemona when Iago and Roderigo are telling Roderigo (Desdemona's). Father, that ''an old black ram is tupping your white ewe''. This is referring to Othello and Desdemona having sexual intercourse, and. Shortly after hearing this, we became informed that Desdemona is "Tying" her duty, Beauty, Wit, and Fortunes In an extravagant and wheeling. stranger''.
The society in which Othello takes place is a patriarchal one, where men had complete control over women. They were seen as possessions rather than being just as equally human and capable of duties performed by men. All women of the Elizabethan were to obey all men, fathers, brothers, husbands, etc. Which leads me to the most reliable and trustworthy character of Desdemona, whom goes through many trials just to satisfy her love. Shakespeare brings the thought of Desdemona into the play by Barbantio, her father, “It is too true an evil. Gone she is....Oh, she deceives me Past thought! …” (1.1.163)(1.1.168-169), whom has just found she has taken off with Othello and firstly suspects they have been hitched. Shakespeare gives reader the impression Desdemona is a devious imp full of disrespect towards her father. However, surpassing normal tradition of asking of her fathers’ permission to wed, Desdemona ran off and did marry the moor. This in a sense was her emancipation of her father’s possessiveness and oblivion of Othello’s dominance over her. Othello replies to Barbantio’s accusation, sedating or using black magic on his daughter, by saying, “My very noble and approved good masters, That I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter. It is most true.” (1.3.79-81), which brings me to the claim that Desdemona’s character in this tragedy, was only to become and to serve as Othello’s private possession rather than a typical beloved daughter or wife as in modern time. Shakespeare bases this tragedy on the foundation of Desdemona’s character by the symbol of the discrimination of women in the Shakespearean time era. Desdemona even for the first and only time within the play stands up and challenges her inferiority under her father’s aut...
Ophelia and Desdemona play the role of the "innocent lady" in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Othello. The roles of these characters provide a sense of completeness, faithfulness, and obedience to the leading male figures. In both plays, these innocent ladies end up dying. These deaths are both due to a false rejection of love. Othello kills Desdemona because he believes her love is false, and Ophelia dies ultimately because she reads Hamlet's mask of madness as rejection. These deaths exemplify the pattern of harmony turning to chaos in both of these plays, and provide proof of the decay that is spreading to everyone in Venice and Denmark.