Marriage in Othello
Disasters in Marriage Marriage is a part of life that most people look forward to. Once people get married their whole life is devoted to each other. Married couples are supposed to work through their problems and support each other. In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, he suggests otherwise. Both Desdemona and Emilia were killed by their husbands. The only girl left at the end of the play is Bianca, a prostitute. Marriage, while generally a positive concept, is fatal and dangerous in William Shakespeare’s play Othello. Both Desdemona and Othello were happy with their marriage until Iago purposely sabotaged it. He convinced Othello that Desdemona was cuckolding him. When Othello believed Iago’s lies and decided to kill Desdemona it showed how he had immediately lost all trust in Desdemona and that Iago must be right. Othello and Desdemona’s love was based on trust, which made their marriage successful in the beginning. The marriage started to fall apart once Othello stopped trusting Desdemona. Desdemona did nothing wrong and trusted Othello when he did not trust her. Shakespeare is suggesting that even if you do nothing wrong in a marriage that it will eventually fall apart.
Iago
She did deceive her father, marrying you; […]
Othello
And so she did. (3.3.18)
When Iago is trying to convince Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful, he suggests that if a woman will disobey her father then she is likely to cheat on her husband. Othello agrees with him when in reality Desdemona’s decision to go against her father and marry Othello shows loyalty to Othello. She never talks badly about him, even when he is abusing and accusing her of not being loyal to him. Shakespeare suggests that if jealousy enters your marriage it will completely take over any trust the relationship once had. Jealousy was powerful enough to break apart a strong marriage, like Desdemona and Othello’s. Iago and Emilia’s marriage consists of Emilia being blinded by her love,
Iago
She did deceive her father, marrying you; […]
Othello
And so she did. (3.3.18)
When Iago is trying to convince Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful, he suggests that if a woman will disobey her father then she is likely to cheat on her husband. Othello agrees with him when in reality Desdemona’s decision to go against her father and marry Othello shows loyalty to Othello. She never talks badly about him, even when he is abusing and accusing her of not being loyal to him. Shakespeare suggests that if jealousy enters your marriage it will completely take over any trust the relationship once had. Jealousy was powerful enough to break apart a strong marriage, like Desdemona and Othello’s. Iago and Emilia’s marriage consists of Emilia being blinded by her love,