Othello's initial love for Desdemona and his utter happiness which he feels when reunited with her after the dangerous storm is best described in the following lines:
Storms are always of great significance in Shakespeare; here, the storm is a symbol of unrest, and of discord to come. The storm marks the end of the peaceful part of the play, and is an act of fate; it is also a signal that Iago's mischief is about to begin.
For Iago, women are "wildcats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries, devils being offended"; he even declares that they "rise to play, and go to bed to work". 30 Iago's perception of women as deceptive, dominating, and lusty colors the way he portrays both Emilia and Desdemona; both are good women, Desdemona exceedingly so, yet he is able to convince other men that they are anything but what they are.
Iago speaks of Desdemona as being "sport for Jove," and "full of game"; his depiction of Desdemona rings false, as does his attempt to insinuate lust into Cassio's mind. He makes Desdemona seem like a fickle, lusty woman, which he will soon try to convince Othello of as well. Iago's speech also plays on Othello's insecurities perfectly; he speaks of Othello's age, race, and manners as reasons why Desdemona will grow tired of him, which are also reasons why Othello fears he might lose her.
The point which Shakespeare endeavors to make, that is, that the hero's loss of faith in the Female coincides with the beginning of unhappiness in his life is best depicted in the following lines:
“Excellent wretch!” Perdition catch my soul,
But I do love thee, and when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again ” 32
Othello soon learns, however, that to be once in doubt is to be never resolved. He demands that Iago “proves his love a whore” and thus stop his doubts that torture him. The handkerchief, the most crucial symbol and object in the play, first appears here. The handkerchief to Desdemona symbolizes Othello's love, since it was his first gift to her. Othello thinks that the handkerchief, quite literally, is Desdemona's love; and when she has lost it, that must clearly mean that she does not love him any longer. The handkerchief also becomes a symbol of Desdemona's alleged betrayal; Othello takes it as the "ocular proof" of her dishonesty, which is a grave mistake.
The end of Act III, scene iii, is the climax of Othello. Convinced of his wife's corruption, Othello makes a sacred oath never to change his mind about her or to soften his feelings toward her until he enacts a violent revenge. At this point, Othello is fixed in his course, and the disastrous ending of the play is unavoidable. Othello's accusatory behavior, tinged with bitterness, at times very biting, foreshadows Othello's violent rage at the end of the play. Desdemona knows that something is gravely wrong, though she can do nothing to help Othello, and lessen his anger.
As Othello becomes more and more upset, without a true cause, he falls farther and farther from himself. His trance also marks his descent into the savage; ironically, he becomes the passion-stirred and wicked person, blind to tell the difference between appearance and reality. Othello refers to himself as a "horned man," ashamed of this descent; yet it has settled upon him, and he will struggle in vain to regain his dignity. Savagery is taking over his civility, as he continues to become the cruel, jealous, passion-spurred "savage" that Brabantio accused him of being:
“Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damn'd tonight; for she shall not live: no, my heart is turn'd to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand. – O, the world hath not a sweeter creature: she might lie by an emperor's side, and command him tasks.” 33
Desdemona knows of her impending death, but she is too good and too devout to do anything about it. The "Willow Song" and her tale of her mother's maid also foreshadow her death. She has resigned herself to her fate, and is not trying to fight it; she seems like a totally different woman than the one who stood up to her father and the Venetian nobles in defense of Othello at the beginning of the play.
Desdemona's attitude toward her chastity represents what Renaissance males wanted and expected of women, and it is certainly what Othello wants from his wife. She sees it as an absolute entity that is worth more to her than her life or ownership of the entire world. Emilia, Iago's wife, on the other hand, suggests that the ideal of female chastity is overblown and exaggerated. She argues that women are basically the same as men, and that the two sexes are unfaithful for the same reasons: affection for people other than their spouse, human weakness, and simple desire for enjoyment, or “sport”. 34
In his farewell to Desdemona, Othello describes her with words that suggest her brightness and innocence, yet he is determined to condemn and kill her. She is "the rose" to Othello; even when the act of murder is drawing near, Othello seems intent upon dwelling in beautiful images and poetic metaphors to hide the ugliness and wrongness of his deed. And although Othello felt only hatred and anger before, now he is forced to feel his love, along with his mistaken determination to see Desdemona die.
Othello's confusion in his real feelings for Desdemona under the pressure of his malicious “friend” makes him transgress against the most sacred emotion in him, that is, love. Thus he speaks to Desdemona, watching her beauty while she sleeps:
‘Be thus when thou art dead; And I will kill thee. And love thee after .' 35
The reasons for the tragedy are all too plain to see. Othello disregards his feelings, and, instead to his love, he decides to remain faithful to his reason, which will bring utter chaos into his life. Othello is the dramatic presentation of the relationship of the rational ego to the totality of natural life. What survives after the rejection of nature, women, love, is relatedness through aggression, lust and murder. The archetypal formula of male masculine identity in the West, shown in Othello, depicts the way in which the art of loving is despised, untaught and forgotten, and replaced by the murderous law of violence. 36
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid., (Act IV, i)
34 Ibid., (Act IV, iii)
35 Ibid., (Act V, ii)
36 Ljiljana Bogoeva-Sedlar, O Promeni : kulturoloski eseji:1992-2002 , (Prosveta, 2003), p. 119
29 Ibid., (Act II, i)
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid., (Act III, iii)
