Although, Desdemona is spoken of as a girl and is first thought of, even by her own father, to have fallen prey to Othello’s lusts and charms and is uncapable of knowing her wishes in life: ‘She is abused, stol’n from me and corrupted by spells and medicines…’ Shakespeare cleverly shows how Brabantio and other men of the time, believed in the rights of men over women. ‘…from me…’ suggests that Desdemona is Brabantio’s ‘property’ and is dependent on her father.
In the view of Elizabethan Men and Women, Desdemona should have accepted that her father didn’t wish her to marry Othello and should have certainly not eloped with him. Desdemona should have let her father decide who her husband is to be and accepted it on her father’s terms.
Needless to say, all decision is to be made by her father, with Desdemona accepting them whether she agrees or not.
However, when we first meet Desdemona, she seems to be a mature, confident and perceptive woman who is fully aware of her feelings and is deeply in love with her husband. ‘I do perceive here a divided duty’. Here, Shakespeare uses the character of Desdemona to both confirm and contradict stereotypes made in Elizabethan audiences. When we first meet Desdemona, we find her - in contrast to what we have been told so far - to be quiet, composed and assured, not at all as the silly, dependent young women others have described. She recognises the situation and respectfully tries to make both parties pleased; though putting emphasises on Brabantio, as he is, evidently, the one isn’t going to be pleased with his daughter’s actions.
Another device that Shakespeare uses to suggests the doom of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship is the fact that Othello is an outsider and isn’t fully part of Venetian society. The word ‘Moor’ is constantly repeated to the audience, emphasising that Othello isn’t part of Venice. Shakespeare does this to suggest to the Elizabethans that his race - though not his fault - is a ‘bad omen’ to the doom of his marriage to Desdemona. As the first significant, black character in English Literature, Othello’s ‘Moorish’ complexion would have had audience an immediate impact on Elizabethan audiences. Shakespeare knew that many of them would be racist and knew that many of them would associate audience moor with ignorance, evil and sexual immorality.
The character of Othello was an outcast in many different ways. Shakespeare used different techniques to illustrate how Othello being a stranger is unfortunately some what accountable of the catastrophe to come. Three customs were used in which language was used to describe Othello as a foreigner. Animal imagery and racist remarks were used to emphasise how much Othello isn’t - and never will be - part of Venetian society. The character of Iago played an essential role. In Act 1, Scene 1, Iago informed Brabantio of his daughter’s elopement with Othello, Iago used animal imagery to ‘poison his delight’ and to portray the relationship of Othello and Desdemona as audience disgusting pairing. ‘Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe’ this gives us the idea that not only Iago is crude-minded, making the audience wonder what he does to his wife, Emilia, but Othello isn’t right for Desdemona . Shakespeare used this dramatic contrast of Othello and Desdemona are like polar opposites. ‘An old black ram…’ suggests that the phrase shows what Othello really is in Iago’s (and the audiences’) eyes - an old, black savage and wild animal.
In addition, Iago puts his skills to the test by trying to antagonise Brabantio by repeating ‘now’ in the above quote. By doing this, Iago has succeed in making Brabantio believe that Evil Othello is the villain keeping his damsel-in-distress Desdemona hostage.
Shakespeare uses Iago as a vital character in causing the destruction of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. Shakespeare also uses Othello’s trust in Iago to illustrate Iago's skill in manipulating others and desire of devastation. Iago’s poisoning of the relationship from the opening of the play has an enormous effect. In the opening of the play, Shakespeare purposely sets the scene at night, creating gusts of tension and suspense immediately capturing the audience’s attention. This also tells the audience that Iago, and his foolish sidekick, Roderigo, who are out at the dead of the night, are up to no good. ‘Awake! What, ho, Brabantio! Thieves, Thieves! Look at your house, your daughter and your bags! Thieves, Thieves!’ Shakespeare cunningly uses this quote to show the devious and vulgar character of Iago, in this plan of action which almost impresses the audience. Both, the repetition of ‘thieves’ and the uses of exclamation marks with the face pace of words and urgency alerts both Brabantio and the audience for the trouble to follow.
In Othello, the play is based partly on the theme of Betrayal - especially the betrayal of Brabantio. Though this isn’t a main theme, it does play an important role in the later tragedy. There are three main characters that are responsible of their betrayal of the noble man. Firstly, Desdemona, who has done the worst because of her elopement with Othello behind her father’s back and choosing her husband over her father. Likewise Othello deceived his friend by not asking for Desdemona’s hand in marriage though her father as it was a ‘compulsory’ custom of the Elizabethans. Unsurprisingly, Iago plays a role as well - for being the cause of Brabantio’s embarrassment. ‘Do you perceive me in all this noble company? Where most you owe obedience’ Brabantio says this quote to remind his daughter that she isn’t behaving appropriately and obeying the ‘daughters’ duty’ by embarrassing him ‘… In all this nobly company’. Furthermore, it seems that Brabantio can not deal with the situation as it was unheard of at the time. Therefore, Brabantio has no other choice but to offer a demanding and aggressive respond to Desdemona’s actions.
In conclusion, there are many hints to suggest Othello and Desdemona’s Relationship will end badly. This is primarily based on dramatic irony and Othello’s gullibility as well as Iago’s sneakiness and scheming skill. Throughout the entire play, Shakespeare conveys themes such as betrayal, jealously as the two main motives yet the theme ‘difference of appearance and reality’ as an important focus to add. As mention above, Betrayal is an important theme,
However jealously is reflected though the play. Jealousy is recognised when Iago plants seeds of false rumours in Othello’s mind about the so-called ‘affair’ between Desdemona and Cassio. Jealousy, unfortunately, also lead to the murder of an innocent, loyal wife and the suicide of a brave yet foolish man.
Adaptations have been made to portray Othello through the modern prespective. In the 2001 adaptation ‘O’ , the film is set in a American high school and follows a similar plot to he original play, though ‘modernized’. I felt that this is an excellent adaptation because it does proves Shakespeare’s point showing that no matter the time nor setting, jealousy and betrayal will destroy lives.
