However, Shakespeare employed the tradition of courtly love to emphasize mockery and satire as overall themes of the play. For example, Othello and Desdemona are presented first and foremost as lovers that uphold the conventions of courtly love—they try to keep their relationship as secretive as possible and Othello appears subject to the will of his beloved. However, later in the play, instead of listening to the guidance and innocent speeches of his beloved, Othello returns to the love philosophies of antiquity. To the philosophers of classic love philosophy, love, and therefore passion was considered sinful and untrustworthy, especially as a firm foundation for progress. Ultimately, it is Othello's devotion to his militaristic and social images that outweighs his love for Desdemona. Yet, instead of separating from his wife, the Moor feels that the only way to win control over the lord-vassal relationship is to murder her, or as he claims in Act 5, scene 1, to "sacrifice her."