Friday, March 16, 2007

Desdemona - Monologue

"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. You are lord of all my duty;
I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband;
And so much duty as my mother showed
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord."

"Do not doubt that. Before Emilia here,
I give thee warrant of thy place. Assure thee
If I do vow a friendship, I’ll perform it
To the last article. My lord shall never rest,
I’ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience;
His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift;
I’ll intermingle everything he does
With Cassio’s suit. Therefore be merry, Cassio;
Thy solicitor shall rather die
Than give thy cause away."

Othello asks, "Think on thy sins,"
Desdemona replies, "They are loves I bear to you"

These three small excerpts from the text define Desdemona as utterly in love with and devoted to Othello. She stands up to her father and tells him he no longer has her loyalty showing that she is fairly strong willed. The second passage also helps to reinforce the idea that Desdemona is a loyal woman, to her lover and her close friends. At the very end of her part in the play, amongst Othello’s jealousy and confusion, Desdemona confesses that the only sin she is guilty of is the strong love she had and maintained for Othello throughout the play.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Othello

Question presented: "Is the play racist?"
I believe the play is not racist, but incorperates many racial issues into it. I think Shakespeare chose to have the main character as a black person to create the theme of something that was not common in those times. A black general and therefore person of high social standings makes for an interesting storyline. There is a slight racist element from other characters but usually only when they are angry towards Othello.
So i dont believe the play is racist, but there is racism within.