Themes: Love Flashcards
How is love a significant theme in ‘Othello’?
The play is a tragedy so not everything - even the relationships - is as they seem. The play is rather about the lack or eventual erosion of love which can be seen in Desdemona and Othello but also Emilia and Iago and Michael Cassio and Bianca.
“I do perceive here a divided duty”
Desdemona - Act 1, Scene 3
AO1: plosives in “divided duty”
AO2: creates a harsh feeling as Desdemona must confess her love for Othello publicly and tell her father she is now “Due to the Moor” (love should not be difficult to profess)
AO3: Black renaissance stereotypes and women’s role in society
“She loved me for the dangers I had passed,/And I loved her that she did pity them.”
Othello - Act 1, Scene 3
AO1:
AO2: The pair provide escapism for one another - Desdemona gets to live out her adventurous fantasies through Othello she cannot experience first-hand; Othello is able to have a change from being known as “the Moor” as is graced with pity
AO3: Outsiders in Renaissance Society
“My life upon her faith!”
Othello - Act 1, Scene 3
AO1: Emotionally-charged exclamative statement
AO2: Othello exclaims his love for Desdemona in a simple statement, showing how he simply loves her and at this point in the play would risk his life for her
AO5: Aristotle’s tragic hero - Othello is willing to risk his life for Desdemona but inevitably has his “reversal of fortune” and ends up murdering her then committing suicide
“You shall not write my praise.”
Emilia - Act 2, Scene 1
AO1: Defiant tone and imperative sentence
AO2: Emilia defies her husband - unlike Desdemona who threw her life away for Othello - and demands he do things for her in defence of her reputation (this does not work as she is merely a woman)
AO3: Women in Renaissance Society
“it is thought abroad, that ‘twixt my sheets/He has done my office”
Iago: Act 1, Scene 1
AO1: Past participle verb - “done my office”
AO2: implies a sexual affair between Othello and Iago’s wife Emilia who goes unnamed until Act 3 (jealous that Othello can easily fill in his “office”, which he sees as his only job within his marriage)
AO3: women in ‘Othello’ and Renaissance society being seen only as sex objects
“It is a common thing - […] To have a foolish wife”
Iago - Act 3, Scene 3
AO1: Negative descriptor of “foolish”
AO2: It is clear Iago does not care for his wife, only using her for sex and his plot against Othello which comes before everything in his life
AO3: Typical Renaissance men
“A good wench! Give it [the handkerchief] to me.”
Iago - Act 3, Scene 3
AO1: Positive exclamative
AO1: Derogatory language - “wench”
AO2: Despite his excitement at finding the handkerchief, Iago can’t help but to demean his wife when she has done his bidding further displaying his opinions of women
AO3: Women in Renaissance Society
“I marry her? What! A customer!”
Cassio - Act 4, Scene 1
AO1: Derogatory language - “customer”
AO2: It is evident that Cassio is willing to engage in a sexual relationship with Bianca but will not truly love her due to her background as a prostitute (men care more about their reputation and conforming than the women who stand up for themselves and are silenced, shown by Cassio asking Iago to “bear some charity to my wit.”)
“some minx’s trophy”
Bianca - Act 4, Scene 1
AO1: derogatory descriptor “minx”
AO2: the derogatory language Bianca uses likens her to the misogynistic men in ‘Othello’ like Iago, which isolates her from the women in the play (outlier to gender roles do to the fact of her prostitution making her looked down upon)
AO3: women in Renaissance times
