Love

After finishing this book, I thought I’d talk about the theme of love. Love, in Othello, is a bitter victory. It gives Othello strength but not the direction he gets from being a soldier and Desdemona access to his heart but not his mind. Desdemona never fails to stop loving Othello, even when he blames her of cheating on him, calls her a whore, hits her in public, and even strangles her. At her last moment, she still holds herself responsible for her own death rather than accusing Othello. The strength of her love is actually impressive, as it proves to be the only thing resistant to Iago’s scheming. Emilia proved her love through friendship toward Desdemona. She stood up against Iago, her lying husband, for her and was killed for it. Instead of believing in true love, Iago uses it as leverage and resorts to his personal desires-particularly regarding Desdemona. He tells Roderigo he loves him to deceive him, get at his money, or persuade him to do something where he is the only one benefiting. Iago even tells Othello he loves him but actually whispers the cruelest things in his ear. Though he does succeed in ending Desdemona and Othello’s marriage and essentially their lives, he fails to destroy their love. Love’s role in the play is complicated even more by Othello’s statement that he loved "not wisely, but too well." I feel Othello reminds us in this line that the passion of love will always surpass logic.