Essay
Soldier Essay- Othello
Soldier essay- Othello
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Rukhsar YazminHow does Shakespeare present love in this passage?
Examine the view that, in this passage and in the play as a whole, Othello is presented as a hero
more suitable to life as a soldier than as a lover.
Within the play, Othello’s role as a soldier is a significant part of his identity, and is also presented to
be the main source of his status and respect from the Venetian society. It can be argued that Othello
is a more respected and valued hero who is more suited to the life of a soldier than he is a lover.
Whether it be through his honourable reputation from the war or his past courage, Othello is
presented to be as a hero more suited to life as a soldier from the very start. However, it can also be
argued that Othello’s actions as a lover and husband towards Desdemona seems more fitting but
there are also times where he fails to be both a lover and a soldier.
Within the extract, Othello is presented to be a hero more suited to life as a soldier as he expresses
the plights of his past and defends his honour as a soldier and man. This is evident within the line
‘From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes, That I have passed.’ The listing conveys Othello’s
war filled and military experience, he has experienced for several years the gory and dangerous
turbulences of war, but the line of ‘I have passed’ conveys a victorious attitude, one that commends
him as being a good soldier that has seen and survived through many battles. This idea emphasises
that Othello is more suited to life as a soldier, especially as throughout the play we see the
significance of reputation and honour, particularly his reputation as a soldier. This evident during the
scene where Cassio wounds Montana, Othello states “That you unlace your reputation thus” The
emphasis on reputation and the honour of being a soldier is seen as Othello scolds Cassio’s
behaviour, indicating his passionate belief in a soldier being a man of honour and respectability.
Modern day readers would identify that the military provides Othello with a means to gain
acceptance in the Venetian society and that while the Venetians in the play are generally fearful of
the prospect of a black man’s social climbing into white society through his marriage to Desdemona,
all Venetians respect and honour him as a soldier.
However, Othello is also presented within the play to be suited to being a lover rather than just a
soldier. This is evident within the extract, as Othello’s past is something he uses to gain Desdemona’s
love. This is evident within the line ‘She'd come again, and with a greedy ear, Devour up my
discourse’ The line conveys Othello and Desdemona’s love, as she had fallen for him upon hearing of
his life and him telling her this story, conveying that he is more suitable as a lover. The line also
conveys that Desdemona saw Othello as more than a soldier, he was not just ‘valiant Othello’ but
she had seen a more meaningful side to him. This is evident within the line ‘ I saw Othello’s visage in
his mind’. The metaphor portrays the idea that Desdemona fell in love with Othello’s character, and
his eloquence as a human being rather than as a soldier. However, this can also be opposed,
Othello’s war background and strength may have been a compelling factor for Desdemona, the line
‘She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd, And I loved her that she did pity them’ presenting that
Othello’s character being a hero and a valiant soldier and enduring all these struggles made
Desdemona love him even more. However, the Jacobean audience would not have viewed their love
so liberally, in fact as Brabantio argues that Othello abused Desdemona with ‘spells’, the audience at
the time would have viewed their love as being evil through sexual corruption, which is often seen
through Shakespeare’s plays, for example, within Hamlet and the character Claudius.
Shakespeare does present Othello a more suited lover, through the adoration and love that he has
for Desdemona. This is presented within the line ‘ “If after every tempest come such calms, May the
winds blow till they have wakened death!”. The metaphor portrays Othello’s adoration and love and
that Othello was so desperately in love with Desdemona that he was inviting storms and chaos,
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