Monday, March 10, 2014

What physical and emotional journey did Othello go through in the play?

Othello's emotional journey is his change from a strong, resilient and determined military leader to a misguided murderer, carried along by the effects of of love, jealousy and ignorance.


He moves from the civility of Venice to the isolation of Cyprus as a physical journey, which also serves as a metaphor for his removal from polite society to vulnerability after his social transgression of eloping with Desdemona. Othello was only on the fringes of acceptability in Venice due to his military prowess,but this is not enough to sustain him in Cyprus, particularly after the Turks are no longer a threat.


Othello also journeys from being a man of strong will and self control to a figure overcome with passion and a loss of all senses. He may regain his composure at the end to attempt to draw back some of his noble spirit, but taking his own life - another journey of course - does not sufficiently avenge the others who have died in the course of the play.

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