Othello themes - LOVE & MARRIAGE
DESDEMONA'S LOYALTY, EVEN AFTER OTHELLO KILLS HER
"Commend me to my kind lord".
HONIGMANN -EMILIA
"Emilia's love (of Desdemona) is Iago's undoing".
OTHELLO'S TRANSFORMATION DUE TO....
Love.
SIGN OF EMILIA'S LOYALTY TO IAGO
The handkerchief.
CASSIO RESPECTS DESDEMONA
"Hail thee lady!"
BIANCA ABOUT CASSIO AND HER
"I am no strumpet".
HANDKERCHIEF - BIANCA
"I was a fool to take it".
EMILIA'S VIEWS ON MARRIAGE AND JEALOUSY
"Jealousy is a monster".
CASSIO DOESN'T RESPECT BIANCA
"She haunts me in every place".
BIANCA'S LOVE FOR CASSIO
"To the felt absence now I feel a cause".
OTHELLO IN LOVE AND MARRIAGE
- Othello's distrust and doubt of Desdemona. - Even though loyal to his marriage, Othello still trusts Iago over Desdemona. - Perhaps, Othello fears Desdemona will betray him. like she did when she married him (to Brabantio).
CONTEXT - OTHELLO'S DISTRUST OF DESDEMONA
At this point in time, father's were known for choosing their daughter's husbands. Othello sees Desdemona betrays Brabantio and then this makes Othello doubt Desdemona's loyalty.
CONTEXT - BIANCA
Bianca is looked down on for being an escort/courtesan.
COLERIDGE
Coleridge describes how Othello's driven by "moral indignation and regret" that Desdemona's virtue has described.
WHO IS EMILIA ULTIMATELY LOYAL TO BEFORE SHE DIES?
Desdemona - loyalty and love for her is shown by Emilia at the end of the play.
FOUR POINTS?
Emilia/Iago/Desdemona - Loyalty. Othello and Desdemona. Cassio and Bianca. Destruction as a consequence of love.
IAGO'S TREATMENT OF EMILIA
From "*****" to "good wench".
FREUDIAN INTERPRETATION OF THE PLAY
Iago secretly loves Othello and this leads to him wanting to destroy him.
CRITICS - DOUBLE STANDARDS
Some critics have argued that Shakespeare criticises the double standards applied to male and female sexuality in Othello.
HELEN GARDNER
Suggests that Desdemona is "loves martyr". By dying she wins Othello's love back again.
RODERIGO'S ROLE IN LOVE
Lust for Desdemona - he agrees to kill Cassio for no reason, simply to win Desdemona and her love.
HONIGMANN - MEN
Men in the play are "incapable of unselfish love".
LINE OF ARGUMENT?
Shakespeare presents love and marriage as something both sacred and destructive in Othello.
