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In the play Othello, William Shakespeare combines the imagery of love and war to give the observer a detail look into the personality of the main character Othello. Shakespeare explains with little detail how Othello's military life overruled his civilian life... in a sense Othello was unable to live a 'normal' life and interact with ordinary citizens because of his love for war. Evidently, Othello's failure to make the transition from military strong-man to a rational thinking human being and lover led to his tragic yet self-endured demise. Othello clings to the glory he receives from his military career and places little effects on his new life as a civilian.
To better understand the tragedy of Othello one must understand the role that his experiences with war affected him. The experience that made Othello what he was and to a certain extant what he became. Before and above all else, Othello is a soldier. From the earliest moments in the play, his career affects his married life. Asking "fit disposition" for his wife after being ordered to Cyprus (I. iii. 234), Othello notes that "the tyrant custom / Hath made the flinty and steel couch of war / My thrice-driven bed of down" (I.
iii. 227229). While Desdemona is used to better "accommodation, " she nevertheless accompanies her husband to Cyprus (I. iii. 236). Moreover, she seems unperturbed by the tempest or Turks that threatened their crossing, and genuinely curious rather than irate when she is roused from bed by the drunken brawl in Act II, scene iii. She is, indeed, Othello's "fair warrior, " and he is happiest when he has her by his side in the midst of military conflict or business (II. i. 179).
The military also provides Othello with a means to gain belonging in Venetian society. While the Venetians in the play are generally fearful of the prospect of Othello's social entrance into white society through his marriage to Desdemona, all Venetians respect and honor him as a soldier. It is assumed that Mercenary Moors were, in fact, commonplace at the time. Othello proclaims his success in love on his success as a soldier, wooing Desdemona with tales of his military travels and battles. Once the Turks are drowned by natural causes, Othello is left without anything to do: the last act of military administration we see him perform is the viewing of fortifications in the very short second scene of Act III. No longer having a means of proving his manhood or honor in a public setting such as the court or the battlefield, Othello begins to feel uneasy with his stance in a private setting, the bedroom.
Iago capitalizes on this uneasiness, calling in question Othello's mental state in Act IV, scene I, "a passion most un-suiting such a man. " In other words, Iago is calling Othello un-soldierly. Iago also takes care to mention that Casino, whom Othello believes to be his competitor, saw him when he was weakened (IV. i. 75). Desperate to hold onto the security of his former identity as a soldier while his current identity as a lover crumbles, Othello begins to confuse the one with the other. His expression of his jealousy quickly changed from the conventional "Farewell the tranquil mind" to the absurd: Farewell the plumed troops and the big wars That make ambition virtue! O, farewell, Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, th " ear piercing fife, The royal banner, and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!" (III.
iii. 353359) One might well say that Othello is saying farewell to the wrong things, he is entirely preoccupied with his identity as a soldier. While the audience might find Othello's final speech noble as the anecdote of the "malignant and turbaned Turk" (V. ii. 362), even though in that speech, as in his speech in Act III, scene iii, Othello depends on his identity as a soldier to glorify himself in the public's memory, and to try to make his audience forget his and Desdemona's disastrous marital experiment. The audience now can see Othello bringing back his military glory to replace his civilian woes.
Therefore, Othello inability to separate his short yet successful military career with his civilian life drives him over the edge and causes his demise. Othello used his military experience to dictate everything in his life, from his relationship with his wife to his relationship with his fellow noblemen. It can be said that he did not want to live his military glory behind in pursuit of civilian success: for example, with his marriage slowing slipping into failure, he re-instate his military glory to save him and maybe his marriage. Military glory came second to nothing in his life, he felt his glory in war brought him love, prestige and friends, and therefore this same glory would keep all these things intact.
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Research essay sample on Imagery Of Love And War In Othello
