Blog 18: Quote-Response Othello I and II

I like the earnestness with which Othello and Desdemona love one another in Shakespeare's play. At the end of his life story, he says simply that "She loved me for the dangers I had passed,/And I loved her that she did pity them" (I.iii.169-70). What interests me about this line is that he appreciates her pity, not her admiration. He does not need excessive attention or praise. Instead, he needs someone who understands that his life, though brave, has been difficult and whose heart reaches out to solace him for those difficulties.

This simplicity and lack of arrogance contrasts with Iago's spite. At the end of Act II, Iago indicates that his plan against Othello arises from gossip: "it is thought aborad that twixt my sheets/He's done my office" (II.i.366-67). Iago thinks Othello has slept with his wife, and it doesn't matter to him that he "know[s] not if 't be true" (II.i.367). He is so wound up in his appearance and what people think of him that he will take any pretext to plot. Perhaps the difference between Iago's pride and Othello's simple humility and trust is illustrated by fact that Othello waits the whole length of the play and collects plenty of "evidence" left by Iago against Desdemona before he succumbs to jealousy, unlike Iago who uses the briefest suspicion to fuel his deadly plot.