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Othello and Desdemona's relationship Essay
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Othello and Desdemona's relationship
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Rukhsar Yazmin 12HHNHow is the relationship between Othello and Desdemona portrayed in Act
one, Scene one?
In Act one, scene one Othello and Desdemona’s relationship is
portrayed as merely sexual and promiscuous rather than full of
love and passion. This is evident in the animalistic imagery of
‘An old black ram is tupping your white ewe’. The use of the
verb ‘tupping’ conveys the idea of Othello’s and Desdemona’s
relationship revolving around the idea of sexual intercourse and
lust. It also implies that the only possible reason for Othello and
Desdemona being together is that they are having sexual
intercourse and the lust is the only significant part of their
relationship. They believe that Desdemona couldn’t possibly be
in love with a ‘moor’ and that it’s all purely physical. The colour
imagery of the ‘black ram’ and the ‘white ewe’ connotes that
the idea that Othello is perceived as full of darkness and evil,
whereas Desdemona is pure and innocent; this use of binary
opposites is used to show that Othello and Desdemona aren’t
suited to each other and are complete opposites and it’s wrong
for them to be together. This plays on the racism of Othello
being a ‘moor’ and Desdemona being a white woman with a
high status. The marriage of Desdemona and Othello would
have been perceived as a violation of Venetian norms of
marrying within communities, therefore their relationship is
criticised for being peculiar and an atrocity, even if it were
purely sexual.
The relationship between Desdemona and Othello is portrayed
as Desdemona showing an act of disgraceful rebellion against
the wishes of father. This is evident in the line ‘Your daughter, if
you haven’t given her leave, hath made a gross revolt’. The line
connotes the idea that Rodrigo believes that Othello and
Desdemona’s relationship is disgusting and wrong and that the
their very relationship is a ‘gross revolt’ implying he believes
that them being together is a great act of disobedience to
Brabantio and that Desdemona being with a moor, even one
with power and authority, is a disgrace to her father. The line ‘if
you haven’t given her leave’ ties with the societal expectations
that the father is the keeper of his daughter until she marries
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