Othello - Themes

Othello - Themes

1. Love

   • Othello is a domestic tragedy in which love is destroyed by hate
   • Iago's false love subverts and replaces Desdemona's true love
   • Iago is incapable of love and driven by hate
   • Emilia's loving tribute to Desdemona when she dies reaffirms the value of true love

2. Obsession

   • Iago's obsession with revenge drives the main plot forward
   • Othello's obsession with his masculine honour leads him to destruction
   • Cassio's obsession with his reputation leads him to act dishonourably when he asks Desdemona to plead his cause
   • The female characters are all powerless in the face of male obsession

3. Jealously

   • Iago's professional jealousy of Cassio is the catalyst that triggers the events of the main plot
   • Sexual jealously is explored in all the couples' relationships and is always destructive
   • The sexual jealousy we see is unfounded but plausible: both Othello and Bianca are deceived by the false proof of the handkerchief
   • Othello does not give into jealously too easily, as some critics have suggested. He takes a lot of convincing that Desdemona is false

4. Male-Female relationships

   • The male characters - Fathers, husbands, lovers - all expect their women to submit to their authority
   • Initially Desdemona and Othello share a more equal relationship than the other couples: each was 'half the wooer;
   • The female characters are objectified by the men, prized for their beauty or derided as whores
   • Female fidelity is a key part of masculine honour in the play

5. Revenge

   • Revenge is presented as dishonourable throughout the play
   • Othello is degraded when he seeks revenge and he begins to act like a violent stereotype from Revenge Tragedy
   • It is disturbing that the revenger, Iago, survives at the end of the play