Love
Othello's love for work
Purpose of marriage (transition of ownership)
Platonic love
The play is a product of its time, which means that it is inherently influenced by social taboos regarding marriage and women. Feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft state that "the divine right of husbands is like the divine right of kings" (A Vindication of the Rights of Women), suggesting that men within marriage are treated like gods that are served by women. The subservient way in which women were expected to behave towards both men in general and their husbands can be observed in Desdemona's behaviour towards Othello. She is passive, meek and submissive - traits that were expected from wives.
Othello and Desdemona’s relationship begins as a compassionate marriage, as they choose each other, but she still asserts her "duty" (Act I Scene III) to him. This suggests that they view their marriage differently. For Desdemona, Othello becomes part of her identity "I saw Othello’s visage in my mind, / And to his honors and his valiant parts / Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate" (Act I Scene III). As a result, she submerges herself within him, choosing to be faithful and submissive.
The institution of marriage was considered a public affair between two families, positioning the necessity of family reputation above love. During the Renaissance era, this traditional and narrow view of marriage remained. The Venetian society in which Othello is set reinforces these views, as the interracial marriage between Othello and Desdemona would be regarded as immoral, unnatural, and scandalous. This is a reflection of the social values of Elizabethan society where the play was performed, which Shakespeare projects onto the play’s setting.
The power dynamic within marriages was also usually unbalanced, as the husband ruled over the wife. This included treating the wife as property, passed down from her father to the husband. For example, Desdemona claims "I am hitherto your daughter. But here's my husband" (Act I Scene III), suggesting the prevalence of deeply patriarchal power structures that women internalise, seeing themselves as products of ownership. Desdemona is commodified and treated as an object they can be passed from man to man. It suggests marriage acts as a transaction from father to husband.
The structuralist theorist Claude Levi-Strauss calls this an exchange, whereby patriarchal society treats women as objects to be transferred from one dominant male to another in order to build alliances. This is achieved through weddings where the woman is passed from the father to the groom. For example, before consummating their marriage, Othello says "My dear love, the purchase made, the fruits are to ensue" (Act II Scene III). The word ‘purchase’ is significant, as it depicts an internalised patriarchal view Othello has by viewing Desdemona as an object that he purchased from her father.
Lisa Jardine suggests that the stage world of Jacobean drama is wholly masculine and argues that there is only a male viewpoint on offer. This implies that the masculine dominance of the time is reflected in their control over marriage and women in general.
In Act 2 Scene 3, Othello says to Montano “Sir, for your hurts Myself will be your surgeon”. Othello will make sure that Montano's wounds are taken care of. Montano is injured and bleeding and needs help. Bradshaw thinks that Othello himself dresses Montano's wounds. Othello is married to his work. The handkerchief becomes a significant object in the play. It is often thought of as white with red strawberries - symbol of faithfulness and wedding night sheets, as well as virginity. Desdemona asks Emilia to lay her wedding sheets on the bed and be kept to be buried in. This handkerchief and symbol of virginity links to Othello bandaging Montano's wounds - bandage with red spots of blood is similar to design of handkerchief. Shows he is married to his job as it resembles a wedding night and a consummation of marriage. He is choosing to consummate his marriage to his job by tending to Montano.
Smith argues that the handkerchief is black, not white: he says that the phrase “dyed with mummy” indicates this. He says that viewing it as white draws attention to Desdemona, and not towards Othello, making her more the core of the play than he is – underscoring most western racial bias.
Smith challenges the status quo assumption that the handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona in Othello is white, contending that textual clues in the play indicate that it is black.
Smith focuses on Othello’s description of the handkerchief as “dyed in mummy,” arguing that “mummy” is a black substance associated with Africa—especially Egypt—and early modern medicine. The handkerchief’s black textile becomes identified with Othello’s body, recalling the early modern stage practice of actors wearing black cloth to mimic black skin when portraying Africans. Also, Smith points out, it is “dyed,” and it would be unusual to dye a material to obtain a white colour.
Viewing the play in the context of a white handkerchief may be a subconscious decision, but it is not an entirely innocent one, says Smith. The white handkerchief orients reader interest toward Desdemona, Othello’s Venetian (and white) wife. The black handkerchief reaffirms the play’s interest in the character Othello while forcing readers to question the implications of this alternate reading.
Othello too demonstrates a notable commitment to social obligation as he seeks to address a divided duty of his own by preparing simultaneously to do his political duty to the Venetian state, to assume a new military command, and to meet his marital obligation to provide comfort for his wife. Othello's weakness is that he is too much of a soldier to be a good lover, husband or a family man. His career as a soldier affects his married life.
Othello himself remarks that the "the tyrant custom has made the steel couch of war my bed of down," which metaphorically means that the merciless situation of the country has made the war his soft bed.
Just after marriage, Othello leaves his wife behind in Venice, thinking that the satisfaction of his "heat" (sexual desire) will "taint my business" (pollute his profession of being a soldier). He also adds that the passion of a young man has been 'defunct' in him, and therefore he will not rouse his passions and disturb his occupation. This is not true when we critically observe his personality: he is blindly passionate. It is rather his traditional and bad attitude that sex and sexual life disturb one's personal life which destroys Othello eventually. Therefore, it is somewhat due to his profession and much more due to his attitude towards sex and married life that Othello fails to have a successful married life.
When the Turks are drowned (due to the natural calamity of a sea-storm rather than his military might) Othello has no 'brave' or 'glorious' military job to do. Then, no longer having a means of proving his manhood or honor in a public setting such as the court or the battlefield, Othello begins to feel uneasy with his new life in a private setting. It is in this condition that he begins to engage his devilish mind in sexual fantasy about his wife's so-called infidelity.
The play’s central female friendship between Desdemona and Emilia inspires resistance and the courage to speak the truth, resulting in Iago’s exposure and Desdemona’s exoneration. Friendship offers protection, solace, and—finally—redemption as Desdemona and Emilia struggle to navigate and survive in a violent, male-dominated world. Emilia and Desdemona are fundamentally ‘unlike:’ maidservant and gentlewoman, older and younger, sexually experienced and naïve. But the qualities they share are more important than what sets them apart: both are wives and women, isolated and alone in a foreign land at war. Desdemona and Emilia turn to each other for companionship and comfort, and discover an equal in intelligence, virtue, loyalty, and generosity. As the play progresses, the bond between Desdemona and Emilia is strengthened by shared experiences of abuse and increasing fear of male violence.
The two women are expected to obey and submit to their husbands in exchange for financial security and protection, but as Othello’s jealousy builds it falls to Emilia to educate Desdemona on the realities of married life. She tells Desdemona "They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; / They eat us hungerly, and when they are full / They belch us”.
As the world Desdemona thought she understood and the man she thought she loved unravels, and the play descends into violent madness, Emilia’s friendship represents a lifeline for Desdemona. Desdemona’s despair culminates in Act 4, Scene 3—also known as the Willow Song scene—one of the few scenes in Shakespeare’s canon where women occupy the stage alone and unobserved. The Willow Song scene provides a much-needed respite from chaos and violence as the wrenching, pure pain of Desdemona’s song underscores her innocence and fidelity. Affection for and duty to her friend inspires Emilia to speak freely and courageously, regardless of propriety or the threat of retaliation. She calls upon her role as friend to shake Desdemona from all-encompassing despair and to mount an attack on pervasive, insidious male hypocrisy "I do think it is their husbands’ faults / If wives do fall".
Carol Thomas says ""friendship between women is established" with Desdemona and Emilia. Bloom says "Emilia's loyalty to her friend... is what remains whole in the debacle of Othello". Carol Thomas says "Emilia is the foil for Desdemona and corrects Desdemona's occasional naivete". This suggests Emilia is essential to help Desdemona navigate an adult world.
Iago frequently implies that he is reluctant to share what he knows, but only acts out of love for Othello “I humbly do beseech you of your pardon/ For too much loving you”. He even warns Othello against jealousy “It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on”.
Perhaps the most significant moment in the presentation of fraternal love in this scene is shown through stagecraft in the moment when Othello kneels to Iago (succumbing to his deception) and then both characters kneel onstage together in an ironic parody of the kneeling of a couple in a marriage ceremony. This symbolises Othello’s switching allegiance – he now trusts Iago above all others, including his wife.
Each pledges allegiance to the other in this scene: Othello “I am bound to thee for ever” and later Iago echoes his sentiment “I am your own for ever”. The repeated phrase “for ever” evoking a sense of permanence again echoes the promises made at marriage – promises Othello should be honouring to Desdemona. Could we then argue, therefore, that fraternal love is triumphing over romantic love in this scene?
However, Iago hates Othello and uses Othello's trust against him to convince him that his wife is having an affair with Cassio. The word of Iago whom Othello thought was honest was enough for him to believe what he would say is true, which led him to murdering his wife. Othello's main flaw was that he trusted people too much which led him to believe things that never happened.