How Does Shakespeare Use Love In Othello

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello, Shakespeare uses love as an overall theme for his play. Love is an intense feeling of deep affection, and normally, authors use it to show the relationship between two people. Shakespeare takes what love means to an entirely new level, and uses it in an unusual way within this play, for love is not only used in the general sense of love for other people, but in the love of power over others and how to use the love that other people hold for one person to one’s advantage. Shakespeare’s use of love in this play conveys the different ways in which his characters use love for personal gain, or how love was their downfall.
Iago is one such character that Shakespeare uses to depict the theme of love
Othello’s love for Desdemona blinds him from what Iago is trying to tell him that Desdemona does behind Othello’s back. When Iago first mentions that Desdemona is cheating on Othello, Othello starts to question his love for her,“Excellent wrench! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee! And when I love thee not, Chaos is come again” (3.3.98-100). As Iago manipulates Othello to believe that Desdemona is cheating on him, he starts to think of all the reasons he loves Desdemona. Othello makes the comment that without his love for Desdemona, he would go mad. Othello’s decisions in this play are made around his affection for Desdemona, and now that love has been questioned by Iago’s theory. As Othello thinks on Iago’s claims, he reminds himself of Desdemona’s many qualities, “I do but say she is. So delicate with her needle! An admirable musician! O, she will sing the savageness out of a bear” (4.1.187-189). This list of qualities are all reasons that Othello is in love with Desdemona, and because of Iago’s declaration, Othello is not sure how to respond. He is having a difficult time trying to compare the Desdemona he knows and loves to one that would cheat on him with a friend. Once Othello concedes to Iago’s points he decides that he must kill Desdemona for what she has done to him. This illustrates how far Othello is willing to go to prove to Desdemona that she is the only person
She is innocent in her love for Othello. Her love has no other motive other than being a good wife for Othello. When Desdemona and Othello decide to tell her father about their relationship, she makes the claim that, “I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband, And so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father” (1.3.187-189). Desdemona is willing to give up her family for Othello because she loves him completely. Desdemona is almost naive in her love for Othello. She believes she needs to be loyal only to him over anyone else. She lets Othello order her around because she believes this is how she should show her love as a doting wife. When Othello comes back from another war, Desdemona and he begin to talk about the love they have for each other. Their love is the kind of love that Desdemona believes to be eternal, for she says, “The heavens forbid But that our loves and comforts should increase Even as our days do grow” (2.1.192-193). Desdemona is overjoyed to have Othello back with her when he returns. She tells him that their love will continue to grow because she is adamant that they will always love one another for as long as they live. Desdemona does not know of the plot that Iago has to desecrate the love between Othello and Desdemona. She still believes that nothing can come between what she and Othello have because she is stuck in the mindset that the love she