Othello And Desdemona Love Analysis

Love’s Tragic Nature: An Analysis of Othello and Desdemona’s Relationship

Shakespeare’s Othello tells the tragedy of a black Othello’s fall from grace when he is manipulated by a spiteful, duplicitous Iago. From exploiting his insecurities to planting doubt, Iago facilitates Othello’s radical transition from being a loving husband to killing his own wife. Although Othello and Desdemona seem to be impeccably virtuous when viewed independently, their relationship proves to be vulnerable due to their common obsession with appearances (vs. reality). Moreover, in consequence of this preoccupation, Othello’s subsequent trust in a treacherous Iago, his relationship’s racial nature, and the couple’s mutual disillusionment of one another ultimately allows them to be torn apart.

Shakespeare establishes early on that Iago has an honest reputation when Othello first calls him “most honest” (II. iii. 7) and does so again repeatedly throughout the story. In doing so, it is evident that Othello has significant faith in Iago, his supposed “right-hand man”. However, when Iago’s soliloquy (I. iii. 374-395) reveals his grand scheme, the reader immediately realizes that Iago is - ironically - brimming with malice. By portraying Iago as a character that acts entirely on the contrary to what his reputation insinuates, Shakespeare establishes in him a contradiction between appearance and reality. Moreover, as Othello readily trusts Iago solely on the basis of “appearance”, a superficial side of Othello is revealed since he lacks any hint of disbelieving Iago. Through Emilia’s eventual castigation of her callous husband, “You told a lie, an odious, damned lie! Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie” (V. ii. 179-180), the play’s most explicit exposure of Iago’s deception, Othello’s ensuing reaction of surprise implies that he had still been believing in Iago’s lies up until this