Othello And Desdemona :: Literary Analysis, Othello and Desdemona

Obsidian and onyx marbleOthello and DesdemonaOthello and Desdemonas marriage was doomed from the start. Even considering the racial nature of the marriage, his lack of a constant home, and the improper method of his courting, there is another reason why their marriage would never have worked. Othellos mark of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as Alabaster(5.2.5) he will never consider her capable of responding to his love.Because Othello is at his wits end when he refers to her as Alabaster, he is speaking out of his heart. After Othello reads the letter from Venice, he begins to speak in less cohesive manner. For instance the line, Pish Noses, ears, and lips. Isnt Possible? Confess Handkerchief O devil(4.1.42) contains none of Othellos former eloquence. He begins to speak with word association, rather than in complete sentences. For instance, the word confess brings up the word Handkerchief, and devil. Because Desdemona, the handkerchief, and the sentience of maliciousness were on his mind so much, he begins to express with abstract words and ideas instead of sentences. Although this makes his lines harder to read, they show us what he is constantly thinking of. sort of of clear and concise lines, they are a torrent of his true feelings. Therefore when he describes Desdemona as Alabaster, we can be sure it is his inner celluloid of her. Alabasters beauty gives you an idea about his feelings of bodily inferiority to her. Alabaster is a naturally beautiful stone, used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese to make statues and vases. This word choice gives the reader a sense of his feelings of inadequacy to Desdemona. He is never said to be ugly, on the contrary, he is described as far more fair than black(1.3.291). He must have felt some sensitivity about his physical appearance. In contrast, he describes her smell as fair as Dians visage(3.3.389), Dian most likely being the god of healing in Celtic mythology. This implies both beauty and health. He then goes on to say begrimed and black as mine own face(3.3.390). Othello superimposes her clean and young white face with his grimy senior black face. The fact that he believed her to be unfaithful with Cassio further proves his insecurity.