Othello This Fellow\'s of Exceeding

OTHELLO

This fellow's of exceeding honesty

And knows all qualities, with a learned spirit,

Of human dealings. If I do prove her haggard,

Though that her jesses were my dear heartstrings,

I'ld whistle her off and let her down the wind,

To pray at fortune. Haply, for I am black

And have not those soft parts of conversation

That chamberers have, or for I am declined

Into the vale of years, -- yet that's not much

She's gone. I am abused; and my relief

Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage,

That we can call these delicate creatures ours,

And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad,

And live upon the vapour of a dungeon,

Than keep a corner in the thing I love

For others' uses. Yet, 'tis the plague of great ones;

Prerogatived are they less than the base;

'Tis destiny unshunnable, like death:

Even then this forked plague is fated to us

PASSAGE EXPLANATION and ANALYSIS

The passage above appears in Act III, Scene III of Othello. Othello speaks to himself right after Iago has left after sowing the seeds of doubt in Othello's mind regarding Desdemona and Cassio.

The significance of this passage lies in Othello's first break-down. He had stood his ground till now and had not doubted his wife but now the cracks are beginning to appear. These cracks are what cost Desdemona her life in the end without any fault of hers. The passage clearly indicates that Othello has started trusting Iago even though he doesn't show it to him. He is beginning to doubt his wife's faithfulness and also Cassio's integrity.

The first line speaks of Othello's trust in Iago's integrity. He doesn't understand Iago's cunningness and sees him as someone completely honest and trustworthy. This is a huge mistake on his part but the reason he trusts Iago is because of the long companionship they have shared. Iago had never once betrayed Othello but he couldn't allow Cassio to replace him and when that happened, Iago lost all his loyalty to Othello. He then came up with a cunning plan to fill Othello's mind with doubts about his wife and Cassio. He does so very cleverly without Othello becoming suspicious. The first lines indicates Othello's complete trust in Iago's honesty. He cannot even think of Iago scheming against him and wonders if he should also trust what Iago is saying about Desdemona and Cassio's alleged affair.

Othello then wonders what he would do if Desdemona was indeed proved unfaithful. He tells himself that if this happens he would bring an end to her life. He says he not much of a talker and doesn't possess the charming skills of conversation like others. He is black and hence a straight talker. He would thus bring Desdemona to task if she was found to be guilty as charged.

He is now almost certain that Iago's revelations held some truth. He is cursing his marriage and thinks that if she is at fault then revenge would be his only resort. He feels that if Desdemona has cheated on him it would amount to abuse of his love and trust, which he would certainly avenge.

Then Othello curses the institution of marriage. He pities himself and men like him for thinking that once they have married, their wives becomes theirs forever. He wonders if doing that had been a mistake- if trusting these "delicate creatures" was indeed an error in judgment. Othello loathes the idea of marriage which makes men believe that they have their wives faithful to them forever and also tricks them into believing that their "appetites" are also saved for their husbands alone. The word appetite here refers to sexual urges and need for love. Othello thinks that by betraying his trust, Desdemona has shown that her need for love was not met by Othello alone and then she needs to satisfy her urges by having an affair.

Othello promises himself that he would rather be a toad living in a dungeon than keep an unfaithful wife which could be used by others. This is indeed a serious charge against innocent Desdemona because she had been very faithful to her husband all along and had it not been for Iago, Othello would have never ever mistrusted her.

But Othello has now started doubting Desdemona to the extent that he is thinking of killing her and ending this betrayal. But underneath all this talk of revenge, we can sense pain and deep anguish. Othello had loved Desdemona with all his heart and despite the differences in their status; they had both been totally in love with each other. This was an unexpected turn of events for Othello and while we can blame him for his lack of good judgment, we cannot deny the pain in his heart that reflects from this passage.

Othello feels sorry for himself but more importantly he feels deep anguish over betrayal. When a man loves a woman, he expects her complete faithfulness. It obviously hurts when the other person is not interested, but what hurts even more is when the loved one pretends to be in love and is actually pulling wool over her lover's eyes. This is what Othello thinks is happening to him.

His anguish stems not from lack of love from Desdemona but rather alleged pretension of love. He is hurting because he thinks Desdemona has cheated on him while all the time pretending to be deeply in love with him.