Othello 8 Essay, Research Paper

Othello Essay

Each individual has a different opinion on what love is, but it is amazing how these opinions differ between Desdemona and Emilia in William Shakespeare s, Othello. Othello is a play written about love, betrayal and relationships, and each character has a strong opinion on how a relationship should be. Although they all have different opinions, the one s of Desdemona and Emilia seem to be the most interesting as well as the complete opposites of each other. Both married, they have completely different standards for their husbands and one would be surprised to hear their definitions on love. It is shocking to see that marriage to one person is purely physical attraction, while another thinks of marriage as the most sacred bond. It is very interesting to see what a wide spectrum of opinions people have on love.

Unlike most women, Emilia thinks of love in a souly physical way. Typically, men usually are the ones to have these opinions of woman, yet Emilia very strongly feels that as long as she is physically satisfied, that is all she needs. She doesn t look for emotional support in a man; Emilia tends to look to other woman for that kind of support. In Emilia s opinion, men are useless for anything other than sex. Let husbands know their wives have sense like them, they see, and smell, and have their palates both for sweet and sour as husbands have. (4,3,92) Out of this quote one can see that she believes that sex is all men want from woman as will. She believes that sex is the only thing a man and a woman owe to one another and everything else can be dealt with by someone of the same sex. Emilia has some very interesting views on love as appose to Desdemona who has a much more meaningful opinion of love and the importance of it.

In Othello, the character of Desdemona is very devoted to her husband. She feels that love is a very deep emotion between two people. Like Emilia Desdemona does feel that the physical aspect of love is important, yet she feels that to be entirely in love there is a much stronger and deeper connection. Completely devoted to her husband, she defends him even while accusing her of being unfaithful. In Desdemona s view she feels that complete and total devotion is the only way to show her love for here husband. I do perceive here a divided duty. To you I am bound for life and education, my life and education both do learn me how to respect you. (1,3,179) Desdemona doesn t only take love seriously, she takes it to such a great extent that she is willing to die for the ones she loves. Not only do the two woman’s thoughts on love differ, but their thoughts on men in general also are quite different.

There is no better way to describe Emilia s view on men other than to say men are pigs! She has absolutely no respect for men, as does she feel that men feel the same way about woman. It seems as if she has awful experiences with men in her past, for she is always very bitter while speaking of them. Tis not a year or two shows us a man. They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; they eat us hungrily, and when they are full, they belch us. Not once in the play does she show some real respect for a man. She doesn t believe they are worth being respected. Once again Desdemona s opinion on the topic of men has a very different response.

Through Desdemona s eyes men are above woman and deserve to be treated with the up most respect. She will let men walk all over her and never talk back to them. To her she is lucky to be married to a man, while Emilia doesn t even care. She was brought up believing that men over power woman and that that s the way it should be.