Exam (elaborations)
Explore the significance of marriage to the tragedy of ‘Othello’.
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Explore the significance of marriage to the tragedy of ‘Othello’.The marriage of Othello and Desdemona provides the backdrop that enables the tragedy of Othello
to take place. During the Renaissance, families utilised marriage to cement the reputations of noble
families. However, in the case of Othello and Desdemona, particularly in Venetian society, the
marriage would have been perceived as scandalous, unorthodox, and immoral. Firstly, the marriage
was interracial, between a ‘Moor’ and a white woman and the marriage was not endorsed by
Desdemona’s father. It is this premise that builds suspicion that infects Othello’s mind and enables
him to be duped by Iago. Furthermore, the marriage of Iago and Emilia enables Iago’s plan to be
implemented and successful. Whilst their marriage adheres to social expectations, Iago utilises his
dominance over Emilia to ensure Othello believes his lies.
The power dynamic of Othello’s marriage is significant to the tragic events within the text.
Marriages, during the Renaissance, were unbalanced and reflected the patriarchal society.
Successful marriages consisted of the husband overruling their wife and the wife was seen as the
property of the husband and this ideology is apparent in ‘Othello’ when Desdemona states, ‘I am
hitherto your daughter. But here's my husband.’ This declarative embodies the notion that the
power has passed from Desdemona’s father to Othello and reinforces the belief that Desdemona
views herself as the social subordinate and the possession of her husband, despite his ethnic
diversity. Furthermore, Desdemona views herself as the property of her husband, which could link to
her acceptance of her fate. Despite Othello’s accusations of Desdemona’s infidelity, she mentions to
Emilia, ‘His unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my love’. The adverb ‘never’ highlights
her dutiful nature and exposes her subordination and commitment to her husband. French supports
this arguing that Desdemona ‘accepts her culture’s dictum that she must be obedient to males’.
Even in Desdemona’s dying moments, she projects her subservience. Emilia asks, ‘who hath done
this deed?’, to which Desdemona replies, ‘I myself’. Through her avoidance of admitting Othello’s
brutal suffocation, Desdemona illustrates her dying commitment to Othello, upholding the role of an
archetypal Jacobean wife. It is over the course of the play that Desdemona reverts to the social norm
of the subservient wife, and her death at the end of the play conveys to the audience the extent of
her subservience as a hegemonic female.
Structuralists may view the exchange between Desdemona and Othello to help enforce the idea that
society treated women as objects. Othello reinforces this when he says, ‘My dear love, the purchase
made, the fruits are to ensue’. The noun ‘purchase’ represents the patriarchal view endorsed by
Othello and objectifies Desdemona, who has been sold by her father. However, Shakespeare seems
to challenge the absolute notion of marriage and support the Puritan doctrine of Conscience which
stated that women were allowed to disobey their husband as a result of religious views. Perhaps,
Othello’s marriage fails because their relationship challenges the Renaissance view of a successful
marriage in that Desdemona chooses her own partner and resists the patriarchal ideal of the father
choosing their daughter’s partner, an idea propounded by Jardine, Desdemona was punished for
being ‘too-knowing’ and ‘too-independent’ and it is because of this waywardness that she is
punished by the patriarchy.
Notably, the relationship between Othello and Desdemona begins as a marriage of equals. Her love
for Othello is founded on his qualities as a warrior and his noble deeds. Furthermore, their
relationship is at odds with the imperialistic and patriarchal Venice, driving the tragedy of the play.
Their idealised romance, Othello and Desdemona’s love is not grounded in the reality of how
Venetian society work. Othello, an outsider to society, and Desdemona, who has been kept apart
from society, have their marriage destabilised when they encounter the real world, represented by
Iago. Desdemona chooses to be faithful, which is shown through the metaphor of the storm to
illustrate the extent of her loyalty towards Othello, ‘My downright violence and storm of fortunes,
, may trumpet to the world’. The ‘storm’ foreshadows the turmoil which will be unleashed in the new
setting of Cyprus, whilst also cultivating a sense of foreboding as a result of the unapproved union of
Othello and Desdemona. Perhaps, the unorthodox start of Othello’s marriage that enables Iago to
utilise Othello’s insecurity of his ethnicity to target his obedient wife. The words of Brabantio plague
Othello, ‘Look at her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see, she has deceived her father, and may thee’. This
sows the seeds of doubt in Iago’s mind enabling him to play on Othello’s hamartia and exploit him.
Iago uses the unorthodox marriage of Desdemona and Othello’s insecurity of race and Desdemona’s
sexuality to target Othello’s fatal flaw. Iago can convince Othello of the importance of an obedient
wife, exposing the importance of a traditional patriarchal marriage and thus showing Othello that
Desdemona, a woman who challenges the idealised view of a Venetian woman, in capable of
infidelity. Furthermore, Iago starts to weave his ‘web’ of deceit, forcing Othello to believe that his
marriage is a ‘curse’. He says, ‘O curse of marriage that we call these delicate creatures ours’. The
vocative article, ‘O’ highlights his pain and genuine belief that Desdemona is damaging his pride. As
the play progresses, Othello attempts to control Desdemona and fear of her sexual freedom,
enabling the tragedy to take root. Iago’s influence and misogynistic view of marriage, infects Othello
and he begins to fear the state of his marriage, affecting his honour and he does not want to be
‘cuckolded’ and be seen as passive in his marriage to Desdemona. Subsequently, the tragedy is
propounded when he attempts to use violence to show his dominance and patriarchal control over
Desdemona.
Furthermore, Iago infects Othello’s view of women and encourages his misogyny to develop as a
result of Iago’s constant manipulation. By the end of the novel, Emilia deliberately betrays her
husband and separates herself from Iago. Emilia reveals, ‘I will speak as liberal as the north’. This
highlights her detachment from the stereotypical servile attributes of a woman. Moreover, when
Iago attempts to assert his male dominance through his imperative, ‘Be wise and get you home’,
Emilia resists with her forceful monosyllabic declarative, ‘I will not!’ In her estrangement from Iago,
Emilia is rejecting the patriarchy and it is this triumph of female independence that encourages her
own death. In many regards, Emilia may be seen as a protofeminist, arguing that men and women
should be take equal responsibility for the failures of a marriage. She argues, ‘it is their husband’s
fault if their wives do fall’. Shakespeare uses the ‘husband’ as the subject of the sentence and the
‘wives’ as the object to represent the existing patriarchal attitude of the Renaissance period. Emilia is
used to challenge the marginalisation of women and highlight how Desdemona is being exploited to
punish Othello.
“They are all but
stomachs, and we
are all but food”:
Women and
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