Daniel Conway
AP Literature
Othello Academic Article
3/23/2012
Othello: Love or Integrity?
Love is the most powerful emotion. Authors over the centuries have toyed with different
ways to convey its power, but the most noteworthy of those is undoubtedly Shakespeare’s
tragedy, Othello. The play centers around Othello, a Moor turned Venetian noble, who falls in
love with a Venetian nobles’ daughter. Othello’s super-objective throughout the play is to love,
support, and stay devoted to Desdemona. However, this objective is clouded by his loyalty to
justice, the other most important aspect of his life, which causes him to kill her, and, ultimately,
himself. The combination of this sort of duel super-objective and his trusting and gullible nature
leads to his great downfall.
Othello’s Love for Desdemona:
Othello’s love for Desdemona is prominently seen when he asks the Duke if she can
accompany him to Cryte where he will fight the Turks. After proving that he did not in fact steel
Desdemona away from her father, Brabantio, but she in fact loved him, he asks the duke if
Vouch with me, heaven, I therefore beg it not,
to please the palate of my appetite,
Nor to comply with hear – young affects
in me defunct- and proper satisfaction;
But to be free and bounteous to her mind.
And heaven defend your good souls that you think
I will your serious and great business scant
When she is with me (I.iii.261-268).
Othello loves Desdemona, and even though the war could be dangerous and hard,
requests that she be allowed to accompany him throughout the hardships. He is a young lover
still overtaken by the adrenaline rush and rapturous feelings of young love, and he cannot stand
to be without her, especially in such a dangerous situation.
Daniel Conway
AP Literature
Othello Academic Article
3/23/2012
But, does that really show that Othello is dedicated to his love, and does he really, deeply,
adore and cherish her? It’s possible that all of this is caused by those emotions associated with
young love, but some main character traits of Othello seem to explain that he is not that sort of
person. When he is accused of kidnapping Desdemona, he replies with
What if I do obey?
How may the duke be therewith satisfied,
whose messengers are here by my side,
upon some business of the state
to being me to him (I.ii.87-91).
This enlightens the reader on Othello’s calm and collected nature, and emphasizes
Othello’s respected and mature nature, which proves that he is a person who would be beyond
the sort of illogical or irrational feelings of lust, and truly and deeply loves Desdemona.
Othello’s commitment to justice:
Othello’s objectives developed and some of his other main goals, such as his allegiance
to justice, cloud his judgment and love for Desdemona. Not only does Othello begin to believe
Iago about the cuckold, he decides to kill Desdemona and Cassio for their assumed actions. As
Jerry Crawford explains in his article, “Othello: Total Allegiance to Justice”, “It is not too
difficult to see how Othello might be taken in by Iago, considering both his essential greatness
and his lack of suspicion, and considering also his alien sense of insecurity.” Othello does not
see, nor suspect, anything of Iago’s plan, while the audience sees it all developing as Iago
formulates his plan. Because we see everything before it happens, we develop a sort of insight
that Othello does not, and condemn him for not seeing it. But in reality, there was no way for
him to see it. In his very nature is a sense of honor, honesty, and trust; he does not consider that
someone would try and infiltrate him from the inside.
Daniel Conway
AP Literature
Othello Academic Article
3/23/2012
However, just before he executes her, Othello shows how his love for Desdemona is
almost unstoppably powerful, yet his allegiance to justice requires him to take action. This
conflict perfectly illustrates his love for Desdemona in addition to his allegiance to justice. Upon
kissing her for the last time, he exclaims “O balmy breath that dost almost persuade / justice to
break her sword! One more, one more / … So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep, / but they
are cruel tears” (V.ii.17-21). He is almost convinced by her beauty and his love for her to not end
her life, but instead decides that “she must die, else, she’ll betray more men” (V.ii.6). This
seems, especially to our society in this day in age to be a horrible and uncalled for action and that
he must be beyond crazy to kill his own wife and perfect match. However, when the facts and
Othello’s personality are inspected, it seems plausible, or more likely probably, that Othello
actually killed Desdemona out of love, not jealousy, as he loved her so much he couldn’t stand
for her to be sinning. It was his attempt to save her.
In the end, Othello tries to make up for his mistake in killing Desdemona. He kills
himself as retribution for straying from his superobjective, and, doing so, somewhat came back
to his superobjective. “I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, / killing myself to die upon
a kiss” (V.ii.358-359).
I feel that Othello does not achieve his super objective at the end of the play. He strays
from the objective blatantly when he makes the decision, defying logic and moving to irrational
thoughts, to trust Iago more than his own wife and true love and then kill her. Although he
creates his own retribution, by killing himself, he does not overcome the arrogance and
stubbornness that led to him killing her, and destroying any hope of him ever being with her
again.