Thank You, A Promise to Keep Program, for This Blog Post Idea

After finishing Othello, I can't help but think that there was a bit of phoniness in a rather large plot point. Admittedly, I think this was my favorite of Shakespeare's plays which I have thus far read; yet it rather irritated me how fake and shallow Othello's love for Desdemona was portrayed. In the beginning, it seems that Othello is head-over-heels in love with Desdemona and is so happy that he "cannot speak enough of this content./ It stops me here, it is too much of joy" (II.i.191-192). Yet within three days at the most, he has become so jealous that he wants to "tear [Desdemona] all to pieces" (III.iii.432). It could just be me, but a love that can change from "I've never been so happy before" to "I'm gonna kill that woman!" in a matter of a couple days seems rather shallow.

Perhaps Shakespeare only did this because he was under a time constraint (although a five-act play seems like plenty of time to draw out this progression), but it adds another aspect to Othello's flaws. This rapid volte-face indicates the likelihood that Othello's love for Desdemona was not actually love, but infatuation (If you really want to know the differences between love an infatuation, I've got an entire packet from my APTK lesson to offer. No takers? Hmph. Fine then). This infatuation was exacerbated by his paranoia and doubts, leading to insecure jealousy without even open-mindedly hearing Desdemona's defense. Desdemona genuinely loves Othello; he, on the other hand, does not. This disparity between emotions shows that in reality, Othello and Desdemona's marriage was doomed from the start.

Stereotypical Green-Eyed Monster (p. 1119, Question 5)

Thus far, the main themes of Othello have been those of the effects of both jealousy and prejudgment. Iago is almost entirely consumed with jealousy of Cassio's promotion to the rankof lieutenant that Iago knows he is "worth no worse a place" (I.i.11). In addition, we learn that Iago is jealous of Othello, of whom he claims "that 'twixt my sheets/He's done my office" (I.iii.368-369)--that is, has slept with Iago's wife. This theme of jealous drives the majority of the play's action, as it is because of jealousy that Iago lays his plan for revenge.

At the same time, prejudgment is highly prevalent in the play. This theme in the form of racism is highly present in Iago's reference to Othello as a "horse" (I.i.111) and in Brabantio's assumption that Othello must have tricked Desdemona into marrying him (I.i.169-172). This idea of the effect of prejudgment is also displayed when Iago falsely tells Montano that Cassio is an alcoholic who would "watch the horologe a double set,/If drink rock not his cradle" (II.iii.111-112). This prejudgment of Cassio as a drunkard by Montano begins to set public opinion against Cassio; this notion is further supported by Cassio's drunken antics moments later. This theme, like the theme of jealousy, effectively encapsulates oft-present human vices and subtly hints at the serious consequences of such vices. These themes are what mold the story.