heyy, here's an Essay I wrote on the play Othello by William Shakespare
it was for English class. the topic was comparing the marriage of Othello and Desdemona, with that of Iago's and Emilia.
I don't know why I'm submitting this. I didn't get a mark back on it yet, and it's pretty poorly done.
but w/e lol
and yea I know I forgot to mention the title and auhtor in the intro ):
and the ending is pretty cheesy
EDIT: grrr, I tried to add indents and what not, but I failed miserably sorry
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Faith, Love, and Happiness
Marriage by definition simply states: "The legal or religious ceremony that formalizes the decision of a man and
woman to live as husband and wife". But what does marriage really mean? Marriage can mean different things to
different people, and some take it much more lightly than others. For example; Iago and Othello have very different
views on marriage. Othello sees Desdemona as his equal, and married her because he loves her. Iago on the other
hand, doesn't see Emilia as his equal, and married her out of lust, rather than love.
Marriage and equality go hand in hand. When you marry someone, you are suppose to see, and treat them as your
equal. Iago sees no one as his equal, and his wife Emilia is no exception. Coincidently, Emilia doesn't think too much of
Iago either, tho I do believe she loves him somewhat. She is a very worldly woman, she would be considered a modern
day feminist. Othello's marriage on the other hand, has a type of equality to it. Othello sees Desdemona as his equal.
Even though she is a pampered Venetian woman, and he a fierce general of an army, he still considers her a "fair
warrior" (2.1.180), and treats her so. There's still the subject of racial equality among Othello and Desdemona. Racism
is rampant throughout the play. Some scholars believe the interracial marriage between the two is what puts Iago's plan
into motion. "In loving and marrying each other, Othello and Desdemona instinctively act according to principles of racial
equality and sexual freedom which are still not normative, still far from generally accepted and practiced even in our
own day, let alone in Shakespeare's. As a result they find unleashed upon them, through Iago, the full irrational hostility
of a society at whose foundations the mere fact of their relationship strikes. The plays subversive potential resides in its
capacity to dramatize the possibility of truly emancipated relations between men and women, beyond the
institutionalized inequalities of past and present societies alike. (pg51). When Iago goes to tell Brabantio of Othello and
Desdemona's marriage he says "an old black ram is tupping your white ewe" (1.1.85), Among other very racial
comments.
Another important factor in marriage is love. Usually one marries for love, but some marry for other things, such as
lust, or money. Love has no bounds, when you are in love with someone, it doesn't matter what race they are, what
gender they are, not what colour hair they have; no, love is love. Desdemona and Othello are truly in love. Besides just
the obvious racial differences, they seem to come from different worlds. Desdemona is a rich Venetian woman, with a
god upbringing, full of fond memories. Othello's upbringing though, I could only imagine the hardships he had to go
through being of a different race, and rising to the rank of general. Although they are very different people, that doesn't
seem to matter to them. They are in love, and nothing was going to stop them from marrying. Into their marriage,
Othello and Desdemona treated each other with the up-most respect, and love. Iago's marriage was quite the opposite
however. His marriage was mainly based on lust. He is also a very jealous person, which may have contributed towards
his marriage with Emilia. He wanted Emilia, and didn't want anyone else to have her, so he married her. It seems that
he only times he ever shows any affection towards his wife is when he needs something from her. There is no live in
that, tho I think Emilia does love him, for she would do almost anything for him. "my wayward husband hath a hundred
times wooed me to steal it" (3.2.291). In that quote by Emilia, she is talking about Desdemona's handkerchief that Iago
wants her to steal. When Iago comes in, he is acting all rude to her, until he finds out what she has for him, then he gets
friendly with her, and starts hugging, and kissing her, like she really was his wife.
Faith plays an important part in a relationship, especially a marriage. You need to have faith in your partner, or it
might lead you to madness. Othello knows this all too well. His marriage started out good, and he never even imagined
for a second that Desdemona would be unfaithful towards him. That is, until Iago "pured this pestilence into [Othello's]
ear" (2.3.53). After that, Othello became suspicious of everything, and the thoughts of his wife being unfaithful was just
too much to bare, and drove him to madness. Iago, and Emilia's marriage has no faith what so ever. Iago "thought
abroad that [the moor] 'twixt [his] sheets / Has done [his] office". Maybe with good reason he has thought this. Emilia
being the worldly woman she is, had told Desdemona "why, who / would not make her husband a cuckold to make him /
a monarch?" (4.3.77)
Marriage can mean a lot of different things to many people, and just because two people are married, doesn't mean
they are in love with each other. A marriage needs faith, love, and happiness to make it work. Maybe we can learn
something from this tragic play that William Shakespeare wrote so beautifully