Preview

To What Extent Does Othello Love Desdemona

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
267 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To What Extent Does Othello Love Desdemona
Finally, readers start to even call into question Othello’s love for Desdemona. When confessing his love for her in front of the senate Othello says, “She loved me for the dangers I had passed,/ And I loved her that she did pity them” (I.iii.193-194). At the beginning of the play Othello clearly states the reason why he and desdemona fell in love with each other. Neither of them fell in love with each other's personality, but instead fell for the idea of the other.Desdemona fell in love with Othello for the stories he told from his past, leaving no room for her to love the man he became after the stories ended. Othello fell in love because she pitied him, mistaking compassion for love. ago says to Roderigo “It cannot be that Desdemona should

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Islam Worksheet

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When studying Islam, it is important to understand the essential elements of the faith, how they are practiced, and the distinctions among the three branches: Shiite Islam, Sunni Islam, and Sufism.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Citizens of Venice, we are gathered here today to honor and remember Othello and Desdemona who even in death are still bound by their love that is everlasting. Othello, how can words even describe him. He was a valiant moor and an honorable general who fought and did everything in his power to protect Venice against the Ottomans. Oh how he loved Desdemona who loved him despite the color of his skin. I remember him telling me about how she used to listen to the stories of his life and his struggles. He loved her because of her ever radiant skin and beauty. There love is what led to his demise. I am so honored to of had been Othello’s Lieutenant and fought with him in battle. Othello was my best friend and my role model. He taught me everything…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite having done his services to the state, he reveals his foolishness as someone who existed within and outside Venetian society giving rise to a series of contradictions. In line 342, he asks others to speak of him as he truly is being, “nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice.” The first contradictory sentence reveals that he does not wish for his guilt to be lessened as suggested by the diction “extenuate.” Nor does he want be considered evil which he would feel ashamed for as Iago is the real villain in the play. Othello reveals in the next line that he has “loved not wisely, but too well” indicating that he was unable to convey the same amount of affection back to Desdemona as she had done to him. Othello’s love for Desdemona reveals a sensitive part of Othello despite his military background. It was Othello’s love for Desdemona, however, that acted as a catalyst to…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Doomed from the start or unlucky beyond belief is what the name Desdemona means. If the readers looked this up, then this would be a hint as to what happens at the end of the play. Othello is a story that is filled with scandal and betrayal. Most of these topics are passed around each character, but they stand out between Desdemona and her new husband Othello. Othello and Desdemona are partly at fault for their failed marriage, but Iago is the main reason that their marriage ended.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Desdemona after leaving her father to be with Othello and accompanying Othello on his voyage to Cyprus has had a similar motivation throughout the piece. Desdemona has wanted to prove that she is a good wife to Othello. By Act three Scene three Desdemona has noticed something is not quite right with Othello. However, she believes that it is just because of what is happening in Cyprus and because he has just been forced to fire his lieutenant for the time being. Desdemona wants to make Othello happy again and she believes by him making Cassio his lieutenant again he won’t be as stressed. Othello approaches Desdemona several times hinting at the “affair…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Othello’s path to obsession begins with Iago planting seeds of doubt into his mind, which convinces Othello that Desdemona is being unfaithful. He says to himself, “She is gone. I am abused, and my relief/Must be to loathe her” (3.3.283-84), and later claims that he “will withdraw/To furnish [him] with some swift means of death/For [Desdemona]” (3.3.492-94). These lines reveal that although there has not been any solid proof, Othello’s mind is already constantly occupied by the mere possibility of Desdemona being unfaithful to him. His obsession finally becomes clear when he says “In the due reverence of a sacred vow/I here engage my words,” (3.3.470-71). This line reveals that he is set on getting revenge for being betrayed and thus, has become a goal. It is his goal to get revenge so even when Desdemona after insists that she has done nothing wrong, Othello tells her to “confess thee freely of thy sin” (5.2.61) and that even if she denies it all, it will not change his mind, as he makes clear by telling her “Thou art to die” (5.2.65). Othello’s refusal to listen to Desdemona is what leads to his failure, for it was his goal to kill her no matter what she said and only after she is dead does he learn that she was actually innocent.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Roderigo In Act 1

    • 1835 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Othello argues that he did not force Desdemona into marriage but rather married her out of their shared love. The Duke sends for Desdemona to confirm his account, while Othello says she fell in love with him after hearing his life story – a story filled with redemption, adventure, and danger. The Duke sides with Othello, especially after hearing Desdemona confirm Othello’s claims and say she owes the loyalty of marriage to him. Desdemona’s father accepts. The Duke decides to send Othello to Cyprus in light of the impending attack, because of his knowledge of the area.…

    • 1835 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Othello: Religious Motifs

    • 1935 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The seemingly perfect love between Othello and Desdemona is initially emphasized by Shakespeare’s use of heavenly images. Through images of heaven, Othello’s passionate love for Desdemona is revealed. After being accused by Brabantio of using enchantments to win over his daughter’s love, Othello swears against it assuring their love is true:…

    • 1935 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Othello believe that if he can’t have her no one can and that her death is for the better. The repercussions for his actions are that he loses what he treasured the most. He later admits that, “(he) threw away a pearl richer that all this tribe” (5.2.343-344). He loses all of his honor and dignity as he is replaced by the man he thought his wife loved over him and called a murderer. What he feared most has now gotten the best of his character. He was afraid about how people would see him the whole time that is why he was so anxious about Desdemona cheating because he didn’t want to look like a fool who was unloved. In actuality he brought on his fear upon…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    By stating that Desdemona “loved me [him] for the dangers I [he] had passed” and that he “loved her that she did pity them” corroborates Carol McGinnis Kay’s argument that the basis for Othello’s and Desdemona’s love “is the grand romantic picture of Othello that they both admire and pity” (265). Hence, Othello’s “love” for his wife derives from “the image of Othello that Desdemona reflects to him” (265), which is, I would argue, even more explicitly indicated by Shakespeare when he has Othello proclaim to Desdemona that he “does love thee [her]”, and “when I [he] love[s] thee not, chaos is come again” (1314). Although I would insist on approaching those hypothetical nature of the roots of the couple’s relationship with a non-absolutist attitude, considering the limited access the audience has to the two characters either in the form of revealing asides or an adequacy of mutual interaction in any of the acts, I concur with Kay’s point, in that Othello’s love for Desdemona is rather self-oriented, a mirror of his own desirable self-concept as a romantic warrior, contrary to Mose Durst’s rather simplistic perception of “Othello’s love for Desdemona”, namely as having “given his life its most profound meaning” merely…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Othello is easily persuaded and this leads him to put his trust in the wrong people. He unfortunately gets ensnared into Iago’s devious plan. Othello treats Iago as a trust-worthy friend who he has known for a long period of time. When Iago realizes that Othello believes the story about Cassio’s relationship with Desdemona, Iago decides to take the scheme further. Iago places horrid images in Othello’s mind that turn Othello into a rash man. Othello’s tragic flaw ultimately leads to his destruction. Othello’s personality vastly transforms due to the madness. Othello ironically mistrusts his loyal wife Desdemona and good friend Cassio. When Othello places Desdemona on her deathbed, he states, “Be thus when thou are dead, and I will kill thee/And love thee after” (V.ii.20-21). At this moment in the play, Othello’s actions are ironic. Originally, Othello worried that Desdemona would stab him in the back, but he is the one who betrays his beloved wife. Othello is brought to this action because Iago places extreme jealousy within…

    • 1585 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    First of all, the relationship between Othello and Desdemona is weak because it is merely based on pity and not true love. Othello tells the Duke of Venice about how his love for Desdemona began after he was accused of eloping and marrying her without her consent.…

    • 858 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare ’s play Othello, Iago’s words and actions cause Othello to change and to stop loving Desdemona; as a result, Othello and the people around him plunge into chaos. After much manipulation from Iago, Othello, like a coin, flips sides and hates Desdemona. When Desdemona leaves with Emilia, Othello says that “when I love thee [Desdemona] not, / Chaos is come again” (3.3.91-92). This clearly shows that Othello is in love with Desdemona and has no doubt in her faithfulness. Little does Othello…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on…" (Othello, III.iii 169-171) In his rage, Othello charges Iago with the killing of Cassio, his lieutenant who supposedly slept with his wife. Othello then plans to kill Desdemona. Even during the course of the killing, Othello maintains his love for Desdemona (although this might seem a contradiction.) He refuses to defile her body in any way. "Yet I'll not shed her blood; nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, and smooth as monumental alabaster." (Othello, V.ii 3-5)He then proceeds to choke or smother her to death. The theme of love in Othello changed from puppy love, the lighter side of love, to jealousy, the darkest side of love.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare, the protagonist of the story is Othello, an African, Muslim general who is married to Desdemona. Desdemona is a fair, young, courteous woman who also happens to be white. At the end of the play, Desdemona is killed by her own husband, Othello. Some would say that she is responsible for her own death, the following pieces of evidence support this claim.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays