FREE ESSAY ON OTHELLO:LOVE AND LUST

OTHELLO:LOVE AND LUST

Love and Lust
Lots of times people get love and lust confused. In Shakespeare's Othello, the characters
in this book are very confused about the difference and it results in perplexity,
confusion, commotion and death. This is shown in Shakespeare's use of symbolism,
characterization and irony.
The person who best illustrates this theme is Roderigo. He tells Iago, "That thou, Iago,
who hast had my purse," to get Desdemona for himself. (I,I,2) He pays Iago to get
Desdemona, not knowing that he really is not in love with her. This portrays lust on
Roderigo's part. Othello, on the other hand, is in love with Desdemona and doesn't have
sex with her until they are married, and because of his respect for her. He had "rather
be a toad and live upon the vapor of a dungeon than keep a corner in the thing I love for
other's uses."(III,iii, 287) Othello evidently portrays love in this play. Later, in the
play, Othello starts to hate Desdemona and won't give credence to a word she says.
When Iago's scheme to split up Desdemona and Othello begins to work, Othello's love for
her gradually diminishes. Desdemona's "napkin is too little", for Othello.(III,iii,303)
This quote symbolizes Desdemona's love for Othello. As the play goes on, Othello starts
calling Desdemona a strumpet, or whore and "each drop she falls would prove a
crocodile."(III,I,248) In other words, Desdemona is like a crocodile which sheds
hypocritical tears. 
The irony used by Shakespeare also explains the love and lust theme of this play.
Roderigo and Iago are the main characters that depict irony for love and lust. They both
are convinced that they are in love with Desdemona. However, all they really want is the
sexual fragment of the relationship. Iago pays Roderigo to get Desdemona for him, so
obviously he thinks he can't get her himself or doesn't want a real relationship with
her. The melancholy thing about this play is that Desdemona has no concept about what is
going on. She has no evidence that her love life is being torn apart right before her
eyes.
In conclusion, with the use of characterization, symbolism and irony, Shakespeare proves
that oftentimes people get confused about their feelings. Today, I think people are more
confused about what real love is because if they weren't, there would not be as many
abuses, divorces or affairs. The amount of divorces has tripled since the1980's. People
also get married because of pregnancy which often results in spousal abuse and child
abuse because the father will get involved in something he doesn't want to do, which
makes him angry and he takes it out on the wife. So as I concluded, people repeatedly get
love and lust confused and Shakespeare does an astonishing job of defining it.