Othello and the Virtue of Love Essay - 2758 Words

Othello and the Virtue of Love The love of the protagonist and his wife in William Shakespeare’s trgedy Othello can not stand up against the repeated assaults of the sinister Iago. Let us in this essay search for and comment on the examples of love found in the play. Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† highlights the love between the hero and his beloved: The love between Othello and Desdemona is a great venture of faith. He is free; she achieves her freedom, and at a great cost. Shakespeare, in creating the figure of her wronged father, who dies of grief at her revolt, sharpened and heightened, as everywhere, the story in the source. Her disobedience and deception of him perhaps†¦show more content†¦Act 1 Scene 1 shows Roderigo, generous in his gifts to the ancient, questioning Iago’s love for the former, whose concern has been the wooing of Desdemona. Roderigo construes Iago’s love for him as based on the ancient’s hatred for the Moor. Thus the wealthy suitor says accusingly, â€Å"Thou toldst me thou didst hold him in thy hate.† And Iago responds, â€Å"Despise me, if I do not.† Partly out of hatred for the general and partly out of proving his faithfulness to Roderigo’s cause, Iago asserts in detail the reasons for his hatred of Othello, who has given the lieutenancy to Michael Ca ssio, a Florentine. Secondly, Iago suggests that Roderigo and he awake and disturb Brabantio, the father of Desdemona: Call up her father, Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight, Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen, And, though he in a fertile climate dwell, Plague him with flies: though that his joy be joy, Yet throw such changes of vexation ont, As it may lose some colour. (1.1) Thus a hue and cry is raised in front of the senator’s residence – partly for the sake of Iago proving his love for Roderigo so that the financial rewards will continue coming to the soldier. Once the senator has been awakened, Iago makes a series of loud, crude, bawdy allegations against both the general and Desdemona. Strangely, the senator is not incensed by these, but rather by the fact that his daughter hasShow MoreRelated Redemption in Death in Othello Essay1562 Words   |  7 PagesRedemption in Death in Othello      Ã‚   The brilliance of a tragedy lies in its ability to maintain its moral and the values it explores even in the tragic ending or in the downfall of its heroes. William Shakespeare does just this Othello, so quintessentially that the deaths in the end do not only refrain from undermining or canceling out the virtues of the play, but they actually restore them to the deceased, who have died because they have lost them.   In this play, love, loyalty, and honestyRead Moreâ€Å"Othello’s Virtue and Valour Ultimately Make Him Admirable.† to What Extent Do You Agree with This View?1031 Words   |  5 Pagesone often associated with virtue, courage and valour. 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