othello essay on love

Love Through the Ages

The aim of this topic area is to encourage students to explore aspects of a central literary theme as seen over time, using unseen material and set texts.

Love through the Ages

• Students should be prepared for Love through the Ages by reading widely in the topic area, reading texts from a range of authors and times.
• The range of texts (of which Othello is one) allows students to study representations of love by a variety of authors across time.

• One prose text, of which one must be written pre-1900.
• One Shakespeare play ( Othello ).
• You will also respond to two unseen poems in the exam.

Aspects of love to explore

Although not an exhaustive list of Aspects of Love through the Ages, areas that can usefully be explored include:

Romantic love of many kinds

• Othello and Desdemona.
• Iago and Emilia (but failed and damaged).
• Cassio and Bianca.

Love and sex

• Iago and Emilia—and her dissatisfaction.
• Cassio and Bianca—the notion of paying for sex/love.
• Love and Sex in the context of the 1600s in general and the historical period and place the play is set.
• Desdemona’s interest in sex.

Love and loss

• Othello’s suspicion and jealousy, feeling like he has lost Desdemona to Cassio.
• Emilia realising that she has lost Iago.
• Othello killing Desdemona.
• Desdemona (alive enough) to realise Othello’s death.
• The failure of Cassio and Bianca’s relationship.
• Cassio’s injury and Bianca’s reaction.

Love Through the Ages 2

Social conventions and taboos

• The love affair between a white woman and a black man.
• Marrying without the permission of one’s father (Brabantio).
• The age gap between Othello and Desdemona.
• The notion of witchcraft.

History and time

• Conventions during the Renaissance.
• The ability of those at the top of society to do what they want.
• The challenge of the ‘new man’ in the form of Iago.
• The way that relationships are conducted between men and women.
• The legitimacy of courtiers / prostitution.
• The conventions of marriage.

Individual lives

• Othello and Desdemona when younger, but also their maturity at the end of the play - reverting perhaps to childishness once more.
• The impact of thinking one is being deceived.
• The fear that one partner thinks the other partner believes they are having an affair.
• Love and sex, paid for by money.
• The loveless marriage of Emilia and Iago.
• The manipulation of others by an individual.

Jealousy and guilt

• Othello’s misplaced jealousy of Cassio.
• Iago’s jealousy of Othello (he believes Othello once slept with Emilia).
• Iago’s jealousy of Cassio.
• Brabantio’s guilt about his daughter.
• Desdemona’s own guilt over going against her father.
• Othello’s guilt over killing Desdemona.
• Emilia’s guilt at not telling the truth soon enough.

Love Through the Ages 3

Truth and deception

• Iago’s deception of Othello.
• Iago’s deception of Emilia.
• Othello’s realisation of truth about Desdemona.
• The symbol of the handkerchief.

Proximity and distance

• Desdemona and Othello’s initially close marriage and eventual distance.
• Iago’s enforced distance from Emilia.
• Bianca’s distance from Cassio.
• The distance from Cyprus (away) to Venice (home).

• Desdemona and Othello’s marriage and how it declines into chaos.
• Iago and Emilia’s failed marriage.
• Cassio and Roderigo’s incapacity to marry.

Approval and disapproval

• Social approval of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage by the Senators.
• Brabantio’s disapproval of Othello.
• Iago’s disapproval of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship.
• Iago’s anger over Emilia’s past relationship with Othello.
• The general disapproval of mixed race love and marriage in the society at the time.

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 Specifications

1.2 Background

1.2.1 Shakespeare

1.2.3 Tragedy

1.2.4 Historical Context

1.3 Othello

1.3.1 Setting

1.3.2 Social Issues

2 Act One: Summaries & Themes

2.1 Act and Scene Summaries

2.1.1 Structure

2.1.2 The Exam

2.2 Scene One

2.2.1 Key Events

2.2.2 Key Themes

2.2.3 Key Ideas

2.3 Scene Two

2.3.1 Key Events

2.3.2 Key Themes

2.3.3 Key Ideas

2.4 Scene Three

2.4.1 Key Events

2.4.2 Key Events 2

2.4.3 Key Themes

2.4.4 Key Ideas

3 Act Two: Summaries & Themes

3.1 Scene One & Two

3.1.1 Scene One: Events

3.1.2 Key Events 2

3.1.3 Key Ideas: Love & Tragedy

3.1.4 Scene Two: Events

3.2 Scene Three

3.2.1 Key Events

3.2.2 Key Ideas

4 Act Three: Summaries & Themes

4.1 Key Events

4.1.1 Scene One & Two

4.1.2 Scene Three

4.1.3 Scene Three: Key Ideas

4.1.4 Scene Four

5.1 Scene One

5.1.1 Key Events

5.1.2 Key Ideas

5.2 Scene Two

5.2.1 Key Events

5.2.2 Key Ideas

5.3 Scene Three

5.3.1 Key Events

5.3.2 Key Ideas

6.1 Scene One

6.1.1 Key Events

6.1.2 Key Ideas

6.2 Scene Two

6.2.1 Key Events

6.2.2 Key Ideas

7 Character Profiles

7.1 Major Characters

7.1.1 Othello

7.1.3 Desdemona

7.1.4 Emilia

7.1.5 Cassio

7.2 Minor Characters

7.2.1 Roderigo & Brabantio

7.2.2 Other Characters

8 Key Themes

8.1 Love & Tragedy

8.1.2 Love 2

8.1.3 Tragedy

8.1.4 Tragedy 2

8.2 Other Key Themes

8.2.1 Public versus Private

8.2.2 Appearance & Reality

9 Writing Techniques

9.1 Writing Techniques

9.1.1 Structure

9.1.2 Genre

9.1.3 Form & Language

9.1.4 Language & Imagery

10 Critical Debates

10.1 Criticism & Performance

10.1.1 Shakespeare's Legacy

10.1.2 Traditional

10.1.3 Modern & Contemporary

10.2 Approaches

10.2.1 Feminist Approach

10.2.2 Psychoanalytic Approach

10.2.3 Marxist Approach

11 Approaching AQA English Literature

11.1 Specification A

11.1.1 Specification A

11.1.2 Love Through the Ages

11.2 Specification B

11.2.1 Specification B

11.2.2 Aspects of Tragedy

12 Issues of Assessment

12.1 The Exams

12.1.2 Mark Scheme

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Theme Of Love In Othello Essay

Back to: Othello by William Shakespeare

Table of Contents

Introduction

The play Othello portrays various stages of love and how it is bound to the nature of the individuals who experience it. In the play, one gets to see the love of Desdemona and Othello and also the kind of love between Emilia and Iago.

Considering the love in friendship, one can analyse the friendship between Emilia and Desdemona. Iago also acts as a friend and his abuse of such a bond of love with Roderigo, Cassio and Othello show us his understanding of it and the capacity of a human being to misuse that.

Ideal Love of Othello and Desdemona

The love between Desdemona and Othello begins as ideally as it can. Even though she is from a high lineage, she elopes with Othello, known to be a moor in that society. It shows the triumph of faith in the course of love.

In front of the Duke and others, she openly proclaims her love for Othello. Othello, known for his bravery and integrity, retells their bond in front of everyone. It is the most ideal strength of love where both are afraid of nothing and equally ready to face the world.

Othello’s Vulnerability

But with the advent of Iago’s plan, one sees Othello’s vulnerability who is yet to match the devotion and trust which Desdemona has for him. Othello loves truly but his own insecurities allow Iago to plant the possibility of Desdemona’s infidelity.

Shakespeare shows how the immensity of one’s deep connection can be turned upside down to an equal amount. Earlier, their love is not afflicted by the excess of lust which may imbalance it.

But Iago traces the weakness in Othello and utters with precision and cunningly makes him conscious of the false convention of women going for someone like refined Cassio instead of a rough Othello.

Jealousy is shown here as a strong by-product of a strong love. Othello’s devotion to Desdemona is supreme too but it is vulnerable and imprudent.

He says, “ I do love thee! And when I love thee not, chaos is come again. ” It ends up in angelic Desdemona’s death by Othello. 

In contrast to this, the play also shows the like of love of Roderigo. He infatuates from his own side only. As a true observation of life, the play shows how most of the time such one side excesses bring tragedy upon one’s own and other’s life.

Emilia’s Blind Love

Emilia loves Iago so much that as his wife, even a deeply understanding woman like her, never questions her husband’s intentions behind questionable demands.

Without even asking why he needs it, she gives away the handkerchief of Desdemona given to her by Othello as their first token of love and it becomes the solid weapon in the hands of Iago.

Cassio’s Loyalty

Cassio shows a pure aspect of love and friendship by remaining loyal to Othello to the end. Iago, at the centre of all these, knows how to exploit this loving tendency in human beings. Love and its varying aspects of beauty and misfortune remain among the prime thematic concerns of this play.

William Shakespeare

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Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's Othello . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Othello: Introduction

Othello: plot summary, othello: detailed summary & analysis, othello: themes, othello: quotes, othello: characters, othello: symbols, othello: literary devices, othello: quizzes, othello: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Othello

Other books related to othello.

• Full Title: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
• When Written: c. 1603
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1622
• Literary Period: The Renaissance
• Genre: Tragedy
• Setting: Venice and Cyprus
• Climax: The murder of Desdemona, by Othello
• Antagonist: Iago

Extra Credit for Othello

Moor or less? In Elizabethan England, the term "Moor" could be used to refer to a wide range of non-European persons, including black Africans, North Africans, Arabs, and even Indians. References to Othello's origins throughout the play are contradictory and ambiguous Iago calls Othello a "Barbary horse" (1.1.110); Barbary was an area in Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean. Roderigo , however, calls him "thick-lips" (1.1.65-6), suggesting that he may come from further south on the African continent. Brabantio calls him "sooty" (1.2.70); Othello, along with numerous other characters, refers to himself as "black." It is impossible to know now exactly what Shakespeare or his audience would have thought a "Moor" is.

Theme Of Love In Othello

Othello is a play by William Shakespeare that tells the story of Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army, and his wife Desdemona. Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most renowned tragedies, exploring themes such as love, jealousy, betrayal, and racism.

One of the most prominent themes in Othello is love. Othello and Desdemona are deeply in love with each other, and their relationship is one of the most touching aspects of the play. Othello is so committed to his wife that he is willing to kill her if he believes she has been unfaithful to him.

Jealousy is another major theme in Othello. Othello becomes insanely jealous of Desdemona, and his jealousy ultimately leads to his downfall. Othello is convinced that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, and he does not believe her when she denies it. Othello’s jealousy ultimately destroys him both emotionally and physically.

Betrayal is also a key theme in Othello. Othello is betrayed by Iago, who convinces Othello that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona. Othello trusts Iago completely, and he never suspects that Iago might be lying to him. This betrayal ultimately leads to Othello’s death.

Racism is another important theme in Othello. Othello is a Moor, and he is treated as an outsider by many of the characters in the play. Othello experiences racism from both Iago and Brabantio, and this racism contributes to Othello’s downfall.

Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most renowned tragedies, exploring themes such as love, jealousy, betrayal, and racism. The play is a must-read for anyone interested in these themes.

Othello is so in love that he is willing to give up his position. Othello’s love for Desdemona makes him susceptible to Iago’s manipulation. Othello does not question Iago’s motives, and believes everything he says about Desdemona. Othello’s tragic flaw is his gullibility and his reliance on Iago. Othello’s love for Desdemona is so great that it blinds him to the truth.

Othello’s lack of knowledge about women also contributes to his downfall. Othello believes that all women are like his mother, who was unfaithful to his father. Othello’s view of women is that they are untrustworthy and will eventually betray him. Othello’s fatal flaw is his trust in Iago and his belief that all women are like his mother.

Othello’s love for Desdemona is ultimately his undoing. Othello kills Desdemona because he believes she has been unfaithful to him, when in fact she was innocent. Othello’s tragic flaw is his jealousy, which leads him to believe the lies that Iago tells him about Desdemona. Othello’s tragic downfall is a result of his own flaws, as well as the manipulation of Iago.

Othello also kills Emilia, believing that she was in on the plot to get him to kill Cassio. Othello’s love for Desdemona is a tragic one. He is so overcome with jealousy and doubt that he kills the people closest to him. Othello is a victim of Iago’s lies and manipulation. Shakespeare shows how destructive love can be when it is not based on trust and honesty. Othello is a cautionary tale about the dangers of trusting someone blindly.

Brabantio’s love for his daughter, Desdemona, is utilized by Iago and Roderigo to serve their own interests. Brabantio’s love for his daughter, Desdemona, is a tool in the hands of Iago and Roderigo that may be used to get Othello into trouble and win Roderigo goodwill.

Othello, on the other hand, is in love with Desdemona and married her out of pure love. Othello’s love for Desdemona is tested when Iago starts to plant seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind about her fidelity. Othello eventually falls for Iago’s lies and kills his wife, believing that she has been unfaithful to him. Othello’s tragic downfall is a result of his own prejudices and lack of trust which are fuelled by Iago. Othello could have avoided his tragedy if he had just trusted his wife and did not let Iago interfere in their relationship.

Iago uses and exploits Roderigo’s love for Desdemona to his advantage. Iago tells Roderigo that if he does as Iago asks, Desdemona will fall in love with him. To get Roderigo to do Iago’s dirty work and leech money off him, Iago manipulates his feelings.

Othello, on the other hand, does not need any outside force to make him love Desdemona; he truly loves her for who she is. Othello is hurt and angered when he finds out that Iago has been telling lies about Desdemona and him. Othello’s love for Desdemona is what ultimately leads to his downfall. Othello’s love for Desdemona is much different from the way that Iago uses/manipulates Roderigo’s love for Desdemona. Othello’s love is real and true, while Iago’s use of Roderigo’s love is nothing more than a means to an end.

Othello is so consumed with love for Desdemona that he will do anything to make her happy. Othello also trusts Desdemona implicitly and believes she would never betray him. Othello’s faith in Desdemona is ultimately his downfall. Despite Othello’s love for her, Desdemona still ends up dying. Othello was blinded by his love for Desdemona and it led to her death.

One of the play’s major themes is love. Othello is very much in love with Desdemona, and their relationship is one of the few things that brings him happiness. However, Othello’s love for Desdemona is eventually destroyed by jealousy. Othello comes to believe that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him, and in a fit of rage, he kills her. Othello’s jealous love ultimately destroys him as well as his relationship with Desdemona.

The theme of love is also evident in the relationship between Othello and Iago. Iago is Othello’s ensign, and he is fiercely loyal to him. However, Iago’s loyalty is eventually revealed to be a sham. Iago actually hates Othello, and he engineers Othello’s downfall out of jealousy and revenge. In the end, Iago’s hatred destroys his relationship with Othello just as Othello’s love for Desdemona was destroyed by jealousy.

The theme of love is thus a major element in Othello. The play shows how love can lead to both happiness and tragedy. Othello and Desdemona’s love for each other ultimately leads to tragedy, while Iago’s hatred for Othello leads to the destruction of their relationship.

More Essays

• Love In Othello
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92 Exceptional Topics for Othello Essay

Shakespeare’s Othello is an extraordinary play that incorporates a huge variety of themes and symbols. You can find examples of allusions and imagery that are intriguing to analyze.That’s why our team prepared this list! Check our topics and choose one to write an outstanding Othello essay.

We suggest you the following ideas:

• Elaborate on religious symbolism. What hell & heaven imagery is present in “Othello”? Explain how Desdemona can be compared to the Virgin Mary; how both Othello and Iago are associated with the Devil. Describe Othello’s “fall from grace.”
• Explore the deception and bending the reality . Who doesn’t lie in the play and why? Who does? Comment on various types of deception that are apparent in “Othello”: from lying out of love to manipulating through trickery.
• Talk about Othello’s weaknesses . What character traits or views do you consider crucial for the plot? How does Iago use Othello’s weaknesses against him? Mention how Othello’s feelings and mood change throughout the play due to his flaws.
• Comment on Iago’s manipulations . Who does Iago control? How and why does he create his web of lies? Add how Iago views himself as a director of his play. Who is hurt due to his lies and actions?
• Examine Emilia’s lines in Act 4, Scene 3. What does she say about marriage and infidelity? Why is her speech about womanhood considered a feminist one? Elaborate on whether such thoughts were common for Shakespeare’s period and why the author decided to include them in the play.
• Compare Desdemona and Bianca. How are the women often contrasted in the play? How does the critical contrast, Desdemona’s virtue vs. Bianca’s sexual freedom, affect men’s attitude towards the respective women? Explore how both characters are more complex than the characteristics above.
• Analyze the topic of redemption in “Othello.” Who found redemption by the end of the play? For whom is it unattainable? Explain the journey of a tragic hero in terms of his downfall and the necessity of redemption.
• Elaborate on Iago’s motivation. Why does he start his play within “Othello”? What motivates him to control, hurt, and even murder other characters? Explain why there are many possible reasons as Iago may hide the whole truth even from the audience.
• Discuss heroism in “Othello.” Whose actions may be considered heroic? Who sincerely tries to act like a hero? Speculate on whether Iago may desire to be viewed as a heroic figure. Does Othello show heroism?
• Talk about Cassio’s character. What do we know about his flaws and strength? Mention his problem with alcohol and attitude towards Bianca. How does the end of the play change his character? Add how this change may be the reason for his happy ending and success.
• Explore the villain of the play. Who can be considered the main antagonist? Comment on a few characters in the play who act as villains, including the main one, Othello.
• Analyze the conflict of passion and love in “Othello.” What does Othello feel towards Desdemona? Which of the emotions prevails? Explain why his actions and words are easy to interpret as passion, while his suicide may prove that he was in love with Desdemona.
• Comment on the central conflict. When does it arise in the plot? Why did Shakespeare introduce the conflict later in the play? Explain how every event from this moment leads to a catastrophe. How is it both natural and staged by the villain?
• Examine the irony in “Othello.” What type of irony is present in the play? For what purposes does Shakespeare use it? Mention how humor adds more value to the characterization and the play’s tone.
• Consider the tone of the play What atmosphere is introduced in Act 1, and how does it change in Act 2? Mention how the stormy weather corresponds to this shift. Comment on the drastic changes in the tone that are apparent by the end of the play.
• Compare “Othello’s” Desdemona to “Hamlet’s” Ophelia. How do these female characters affect the plot of the respective plays? What influence do they and their fates have on the main Othello and Hamlet? Consider both of their tragic stories and their relationships with the main characters.
• Analyze the character of Desdemona. What are her essential qualities? How do men in the play treat her? Explore her disobedience to her father, banter with Iago, and death. Dive into her relationships with Othello and Emilia. How do Desdemona’s character traits and actions make her a perfect woman of the time?
• Discuss gender roles during the Elizabethan period How are male and female roles presented in “Othello”? How does Shakespeare comment on his time? Express what Elizabethan society expected from women and what sins were considered unacceptable.
• Comment on “Othello” as an Aristotelian Tragedy. What is a tragedy, according to this Greek philosopher? Explain how the play satisfies all the qualifications for tragedy as defined by Aristotle.
• Talk about Othello’s gullibility. What makes Othello so naive? Do his straightforwardness and gullibility make him more or less realistic and relatable? You can compare him to such characters as Hamlet, who lack naivety yet suffer through similar tragic events as Othello.
• Elaborate on Desdemona’s and Othello’s relationship. How does it change throughout the play? Explain how Othello’s capability of creating a healthy and loving relationship that we see at the beginning of “Othello” goes against prejudice.
• Explore the theme of racism in “Othello.” What characters have prejudice about Othello due to his race? Express how Othello’s speech and actions during the significant part of the play run contrary to the unreasonable expectations of his enemies.
• Consider Othello’s suicide. What leads Othello to it? Why may an audience respect it and view it as a redemption for a fallen hero? Does suicide strengthen Othello’s heroism? Elaborate on this action in terms of Othello as a tragic hero.
• Compare and contrast “Othello” and “The Blind Owl.” What is the role of women and love in these literary works? Compare the main characters of “Othello” and “The Blind Owl,” comment on the murder and suicide.
• Examine Emilia’s short interaction with Bianca in Act 4. Why is Emilia so harsh towards Bianca and disapproves of everything she says? Does she protect her husband’s deeds, or is she simply biased about Bianca? Comment on misogynistic behavior even among women during the period when the play was written.
• Analyze various symbols from the play. Speculate on the meaning of such objects as wedding sheets from Act 4 Scene 3. What is the significance of a candle from Act 5 Scene 2? Provide a short analysis of each one with examples from the text.
• Elaborate on Brabantio’s character. What’s his attitude towards Othello before he learns about his marriage to Desdemona? Why is he so opposed to this marriage anyway? Comment on Brabantio’s hurt honor and later death.
• Talk about Desdemona’s devotion to her husband . Where does it come from? Do her loyalty and devotion prevent her from understanding Othello’s anger towards her? Speculate why they can’t reach each other at the end of the play and solve their problems by discussing them.
• Consider Iago’s control over Roderigo. How does Iago manipulate Roderigo? Why does Roderigo trust him and obeys up to giving Iago his jewelry? Mention how Roderigo tried to escape the control once, but Iago didn’t let it happen.
• Compare Othello’s and Desdemona’s relationship with that of Iago and Emilia. Which relationship was first to be struck by jealousy? Elaborate on Iago’s control and lack of interest towards Emilia instead of Othello’s devotion to Desdemona. Has Iago ever experienced the same level of jealousy (in his love life) as Othello?
• Discuss the significance of race in the play . Was racism a standard way of thinking when “Othello” was written? Explain how the play reflects the Elizabethan era, its racial prejudice, and its cultural context.
• Comment on Desdemona’s and Emilia’s friendship. Are they close? What do they discuss, particularly in Act 4, Scene 3? Express how Emilia proved her devotion to her mistress in Act 5 Scene 2. Why did Emilia lie to Desdemona about the handkerchief a few scenes before?
• Analyze Iago’s hatred . Who doesn’t Iago hate? Where do his hatred and anger come from? Speculate on his nature and hidden reasons for his negative emotions. Mention the language that he uses and what’s unique about it.
• Talk about Roderigo’s character. What’s his goal? Why does he trust Iago and follow his demand? Elaborate on the moment when he tries to escape Iago’s control and fails. What’s his role in the play?
• Explore animal imagery in “Othello.” Why is Othello constantly compared to animals throughout the play? Provide quotes where Iago calls him “Barbary horse” and so on and explain what it means concerning racism and prejudice.
• Compare two plays: “Othello” and “Oedipus.” What are these tragedies based on? How do “Othello” and “Oedipus” end? Explain the reasons for the downfall of the hero that happens in both plays. What characters tried to prevent such a tragic end?
• Examine Othello’s pride and honor. How are these aspects tied to his race and reputation? Mention how his uselessness during the war could’ve affected his pride and make Othello more susceptible to Iago’s manipulation. How does a thought of Desdemona’s infidelity hurt Othello’s pride?
• Compare Othello’s and Bianca’s jealous behavior. Who takes the possibility of their lover’s infidelity better? Summarize their reasons for jealousy and their actions after gaining such a suspicion. Why is it intriguing that Bianca trusts her love interest more than Othello does?
• Consider Othello as the outsider . When do we find out that he doesn’t belong to the community? Mention how it’s uncommon for tragic heroes to be an outcast from the start of the play. How does Iago use it against Othello? How does his status as an outsider contribute to his downfall?
• Discuss Iago’s misogyny. What does he say about women? How does he treat women in the play, particularly his wife? Analyze his banter with Desdemona in Act 2, Scene 1, and his point of view.
• Talk about Desdemona’s independence from her father. Why does Desdemona decide to disobey Brabantio’s will and elope with Othello? Was it common for the time? Explain how Desdemona both showed her independence and immediately became obedient to another man.
• Compare the treatment of women in “Othello” and “Oedipus.” How did Shakespeare and Sophocles describe women in their plays? What role do these characters play in the stories? Analyze how men treat and talk about women in the plays. How does it reflect the period when “Othello” and “Oedipus” were written?
• Elaborate on Emilia’s assistance to Iago. Why does she help him in obtaining Desdemona’s handkerchief? Did she know anything about Iago’s plan? Express how Emilia tried to gain her husband’s approval covering his deeds. Why does she betray him in Act 5 Scene 2?
• Compare two movie adaptations of the play. Find two films based on “Othello” and analyze the alternations from the play in each of them. Which movie is more accurate to the source material? Which one do you prefer?
• Comment on Iago’s control over Othello. Why does Othello believe him more than Desdemona or any other character in the play? Did Iago do anything to gain this trust? Explain how Iago uses language to make Othello blind to his manipulations.
• Explore the theme of jealousy Who suffers from jealousy in the play? Elaborate on various types of jealousy presented in “Othello” (professional and personal) and how characters deal with this emotion.
• Analyze Othello’s changes throughout the play. What traits and behavior does he obtain and why? Does he become more himself by the end of the play than he was before, or it’s the opposite? Add a few examples of more animalistic behavior that Othello showed. Why did its features escalate and then disappear during Act 5 Scene 2?
• Discuss Iago’s plan. When does Iago come up with an idea? Who helps him? Add a couple of sentences about Iago’s motivation and his enjoyment that comes from manipulating people around him.
• Compare and contrast Othello and Oedipus Rex . What character traits do they have in common? What features of their respective journeys do they share? Elaborate on each person and their stories, analyzing the challenges that they face.
• Examine “Othello” in Shakespearean Theater. How did theatres look like when “Othello” was written? Could actors propose ideas and changes during the repetitions of a play? Express how “Othello” was initially performed and what these early performances looked like. When was it published?
• Explore the relationship between Othello and Cassio. Was their friendship strong before Iago’s web of lies? Why was it easy for Othello to believe that Cassio had an affair with Desdemona? Explain how their relationship changed throughout the play.
• Talk about murders in “Othello.” Why did Othello and Iago kill their respective wives? Why did Iago decide to kill Roderigo? Speculate on what causes murders in the play and how it’s connected to the themes of the play. Why did Cassio, whose death was planned by Iago early in “Othello,” survived?
• Analyze Tim Nelson’s 2001 movie “O.” How did the director adapt the play? How did the change of the setting affect “Othello”? Explain why this play is cinematically adaptable. How did Tim Nelson change the characters?
• Comment on the language of the play. What does the way Othello speaks say about him? How is the power of words highlighted in the play? Explain how Iago uses ambiguous and deceptive language to manipulate other characters.
• Examine Othello’s misogyny. What words and actions indicate that sexism has an impact on Othello’s worldview? How does he treat women around him? Mention how quickly he believes that Desdemona cheats on him, even though he doesn’t see any “ocular proof.”
• Elaborate on the way Iago changed by the end of the play. What causes changes in his behavior? Does he become eviler and more himself? Explain how he started from verbal manipulation and ended with murdering two people. Why did he get caught?
• Talk about possible interpretations of “Othello.” How may a person analyze Shakespeare’s works? How have interpretations of “Othello” changed over the years? Comment on the power of historical context.
• Explore the meaning behind the handkerchief. What’s its role in the play? What does this object symbolize? Express how it has a different meaning for every character: Desdemona considers it a symbol of love, while Othello starts to see it as a symbol of betrayal. Add how the handkerchief’s meaning changes.
• Express how “Othello” is experienced by a reader . Given that this is a play primarily performed on stage rather than written analyze it as a text. Are stage directions clear? What’s the focus of each scene? What catches your attention?
• Compare an Elizabethan audience’s reaction to “Othello” with today’s reception. How was the play perceived during Shakespeare’s time? Why do critics find more and more flaws in “Othello” over the years? Mention the role of historical context and how Shakespeare used classical references to entertain his audience.
• Analyze Othello’s character traits. What are his essential qualities? What traits are obtained (or revealed) due to Iago’s manipulations?
• Speculate on the moral of the story . What did Shakespeare want to say? Was it a lesson about jealousy and trust? Or did he try to show how a person can ruin a perfect life via his actions? Analyze all the possible explanations about the moral of the play. What’s Shakespeare’s comment on deception?
• Examine Iago’s jealousy. What’s Iago jealous about? Who is he jealous of? List and analyze all his professional and personal reasons to be jealous of Othello and Cassio. Does he explain them to the audience?
• Shakespeare’s influence on the Renaissance period . How does “Othello” represent this period? What common motifs for the Renaissance did Shakespeare develop in the play? Comment on the author’s contributions to the time via “Othello.”
• Discuss Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Othello.” What changes did Verdi make in his opera? Why did he exclude Act 1 of the play? Add data about first performances and Verdi’s demands concerning the leading singers.
• Elaborate on the Willow song. Where does it appear? Why does Desdemona recall it? Speculate period what this song may symbolize and mention circumstances that forced Emilia to recite it in Act 5 Scene 2.
• Compare the play with its movie adaptation. How did the director of the film modify “Othello”? Is this play cinematically adaptable? Elaborate on changes in the movie and the director’s goal (whether it was adapting the story to fit another period or making it more accurate and close to the text).
• Explore the setting of “Othello.” Where do the events take place? How did the historical context affect the choice of scenery? Mention the details that highlight differences between Cyprus and Venice. What influence does the change of location have on the characters?
• Talk about Othello’s leadership skills . Do we see them in the play? How did these skills help Othello in gaining his reputation? Elaborate on Othello as a leader according to Machiavelli’s ideas.
• Comment on the theme of family. Who keeps in contact with their family in “Othello”? Who has a strong emotional connection to their roots? Elaborate on the relationship between Desdemona and her father.
• Consider Shakespeare’s impact on theatre . Was the social influence theme unusual for the theatre of his time period? What was new about the play for this era? Explain what themes and contemporary tone theatre borrowed from “Othello.”
• Examine Othello’s soliloquy in Act 5 Scene 2. What does it explain to the audience about his character? Does it count as a part of his redemption? Comment on the lines that convey Othello’s intelligence and racism. Can it be considered a suicide note?
• Compare Othello and Leontes from “The Winter’s Tale.” What traits do the characters have in common? What similar issues and conflicts do they face? Elaborate on the different ways that characters chose to solve their problems.
• Talk about Emilia. What role does she play in “Othello”? Does she change throughout the play? Explain why she helps her husband during the significant part of the play but then betrays him, revealing his plan to the characters around. Analyze the moments when she decides to keep silent or talk during the events of the play.
• Compare Othello’s jealousy to Iago’s one. What are the key differences? What is the foundation for their jealousy? Analyze the roots of the jealous behavior of Othello and Iago. How do they deal with this feeling?
• Elaborate on the point of view. What’s intriguing in watching or reading the play from Iago’s point of view? Why does Iago talk to an audience? Explain how the villain makes the listeners or readers his accomplices.
• Comment on Othello’s emotions . Analyze his feelings throughout the play. Explain how he’s eager to follow his emotions and base his decisions on them. How does it affect his journey?
• Explore the banter in Act 2, Scene 1. What do Iago and Desdemona argue about? Is it a serious discussion? Comment on each point of view and how Desdemona doesn’t take Iago’s words seriously.
• Examine the theme of betrayal. Why is loyalty presented as both a curse and virtue? Who uses it to their advantage, and who suffers from it? Express how Iago uses the fear of betrayal against Othello. How does the handkerchief start to symbolize betrayal to Othello?
• Analyze violence in “Othello.” Who acts violently in the play? How do characters fight and commit murder? Elaborate on Othello’s and Iago’s cruelty that they demonstrate in Act 5.
• Consider one of Iago’s monologues. Elaborate on the purpose of him explaining his plans and motivation. Does he tell only the truth or hide something even from the audience? Are there moments when he gains sympathy from the listeners?
• Discuss Iago’s moral grounds . Does he have any? Or is he inherently evil? Analyze his evil actions and schemes, providing examples from the play. Does he have a line that he can’t cross?
• Elaborate on the appearance vs. reality theme. How does Iago hide the reality of things from almost every character? Who is too straightforward and naive to suspect Iago? Mention how characters are blind to Iago’s lies up to the last scene of the play, when Emilia understands everything and reveals Iago’s plan.
• Talk about Desdemona’s death. How did she die? Did she suspect that Othello may want to murder her? Analyze Desdemona’s last attempt to protect her husband, claiming that he’s innocent, and she committed suicide. Does it make her a perfect wife for that time?
• Speculate on Othello’s transformation from a hero to a villain . What unique features does his journey demonstrate? What does Othello’s path have in common with Macbeth’s one? Elaborate on the role of fear and hope in Othello’s story. Did he redeem himself in the end?
• Comment on the passage of time. How many days does the play take? Why are there inconsistencies? Examine various theories about the duration of action and scenes where time could’ve elapsed.
• Explore Cassio’s misogyny. How does he treat his girlfriend to her face and behind her back? Analyze his dialogue with Iago in Act 4, where they talk about Bianca. Why does he act more attentive around Desdemona?
• Elaborate on the minor characters . Who are the critical minor characters? What role do they play in the plot progression? Briefly explain why they are vital for the story, as minor characters help us see the action from the inside, determine the path of the tragic hero, and develop the world of “Othello.”
• Examine the character of Iago . What are his crucial character traits? What role does he play in “Othello”? How does he affect other characters? Explain his motivation and his actions in the play. Why does he have a few soliloquies?
• Discuss the theme of love. How does love affect the characters of the play? Who suffers from love? Explain how “Othello” explores both platonic and romantic love; how love is often mistaken for other feelings.
• Consider the significance of evidence in “Othello.” How does the play demonstrate the significance of “ocular proof”? Explain how “Othello” can be helpful for policemen, lawyers, and other people who deal with evidence regularly.
• Analyze the clown scenes (Act 3, Scenes 1 and 4). Why did Shakespeare introduce the clown? What role does it play in the play? Elaborate on why “Othello” needs comic relief and a moment to take a breath.

Thanks for checking our topics out! We hope now you’re ready to write your Othello essay. For more information, consider other articles about the play below or try our topic generator .

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Study Guide Menu

• Play’s Plot Explored
• Act 1 Scene 1
• Act 1 Scene 2
• Act 1 Scene 3
• Act 2 Scenes 1-2
• Act 2 Scene 3
• Act‌ ‌3‌ ‌Scenes‌ ‌1-2
• Act‌ ‌3‌ ‌Scene‌ ‌3
• Act 3 Scene 4
• Act‌ ‌4‌ ‌Scene‌ ‌1
• Act 4 Scene 2
• Act‌ ‌4‌ ‌Scene‌ ‌3
• Act‌ ‌5‌ ‌Scene‌ ‌1
• Act 5 Scene 2
• Characters Analysis
• Important Quotes
• Essay Samples
• Topics‌ for‌ ‌Essay‌
• William Shakespeare
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IvyPanda. (2023, August 13). 92 Exceptional Topics for Othello Essay. https://ivypanda.com/lit/othello-study-guide/topics-for-essay/

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Bibliography

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by William Shakespeare

Othello essay questions.

How is Othello's race a factor in the play?

Othello ascends to the rank of the Venetian military, a city - much like Elizabethan England when the play was written - rife with racism. A general in the army, Othello holds a distinguished place in the Duke's court due to his victories in battle, but not an equal one. He suffers barbs and preconceived notions, yet Othello is esteemed and wins the love of the daughter of a nobleman. However, Brabantio is enraged by Othello's marriage to Desdemona and claims Othello used magic to compel her to run to his "sooty bosom". Race is a factor in the tragedy both in those who seek to destroy Othello, and the victims of the schemes - Othello and Desdemona. Perhaps the most pernicious form of race as an instrument of division is Othello's own view of himself as an outsider, which makes him more susceptible to Iago's plan.

How does Shakespeare's use of language reveal character?

Often Shakespeare uses verse lines written in iambic pentameter to illustrate nobility. It is illustrative of Iago's duplicitous nature that he tends to speak in verse when he is with Othello and in prose for his soliloquies. One way in which Iago is a master in manipulation is his tendency to use Othello's own words to disguise his active role of instigator and make it seem that any dark thought came not from him but Othello's own mind. Othello's speech is very sophisticated at the beginning of the play, and in his soliloquy at the close of Act V, but when he is consumed with jealous rage, his eloquence falters. Shakespeare uses dialogue to convey the innerworkings of his characters.

Othello is often called a tragic hero. Discuss his heroic qualities as well as his flaws which lead to his demise.

At the beginning of the play Othello is presented as an honorable man of noble stature and high position. In the end it is his misguided attempt to maintain that honor which brings about his, and Desdemona's, demise. However, Othello is not simply the victim of a plot. Iago is able to engineer Othello's downfall in part because of Othello's own insecurities. His pride blinds him to his weaknesses, and he puts his faith in Iago over the word of his love, Desdemona. Othello is obsessed with his reputation, and ends up killing his wife to save face. Only to a flawed man would murder seem like a solution to a problem of reputation. Othello is spurred on by lies and misrepresentations, but he brings about his own undoing.

What motives, stated and implied, does Iago have for taking revenge on Othello?

Iago's stated reason for taking revenge on Othello is that he has been passed over for Cassio's post. But is this enough for him to "hate the Moor"? It is clear that he is jealous of Othello's ascension in the court and successful wooing of Desdemona. Othello's race and status as an outsider also seems to fuel this rage, as well as the rumor that Othello has slept with Iago's wife, Emilia. None of these motivations, however, seem to add up to inspire the violence that unfolds. Iago remains one of the most purely evil of Shakespeare's villains.

Discuss how loyalty is presented as a positive and a negative quality throughout the play.

Othello's lack of loyalty is what incites Iago's plan for revenge. Iago's ability to fool Othello that he is loyal while secretly plotting his demise is what makes his revenge effective. It is Othello's belief in Desdemona's lack of loyalty that seals their fates. In these ways loyalty, when misconstrued, can be dangerous. However Desdemona's loyalty to Othello even in her death and Othello's loyalty to her once his mistake is revealed are seen as ennobling aspects of their characters.

Compare and contrast the jealousy of Othello to that of Iago.

One major theme in Othello is revenge - Iago's revenge on Othello and Othello's revenge on Desdemona. They both believe death will bring justice. Iago's revenge is cooler, plotted out over time where Othello's is an act of heartbroken passion. Iago wears his lack of morals as a badge of honor where it is Othello's moral code that leads to his tragic end.

Although Othello is the title character in what way is Iago the main character?

Often in Shakespeare's plays such as Hamlet or King Lear , the title character is the main character and protagonist. In Othello this is not the case. Iago has almost 20% more lines than Othello, and has more asides with the audience. While it is Othello's decisions and actions that provide the dramatic structure for the play, it is Iago who sets in motion those decisions and spurs him to action. Othello is the tragic figure of the play, along with Desdemona, and it his characteristics that lend itself to most of the themes - jealousy, race, trust. However, Iago is the character who drives the plot.

How does Desdemona's dying assertion that she killed herself effect how you see her character?

From a modern feminist viewpoint Desdemona may be judged harshly for answering Emilia, when she asked who has mortally attacked her, "nobody; I myself. Farewell." Furthermore, she seemed resigned to her fate at the hands of her husband. While contemporary audiences may interpret these actions as unfathomable, they highlight the goodness of her character. Desdemona is described by others in the play with words that symbolize goodness - light, white, fair, delicate, alabaster. By the end of the play, Desdemona begins to symbolize goodness itself, so her reaction to her murder becomes another element in Othello's tragic end. Desdemona still loves Othello, though he is mistaken, and she goes to her death professing her husband's reputation. A modern audience may wish for a response that is less melodramatic, but that is not the world that Shakespeare has created in this play.

In what ways do Othello's suicide strengthen or undermine his heroism?

Though suicide is not usually the chosen end for a heroic figure, it is Othello's only escape from the crimes he has committed. Though the victim of Iago's trickery, Othello is still the author of his own demise. For Desdemona's death to be answered by anything less than his own would have felt false.

Describe how Othello's pride leads to his fall.

At the beginning of the play Othello is proud of himself and his achievements, but when Iago looks to punish Othello for his perceived slight, it is his pride that he preys upon. The belief that Desdemona has tainted his honor ignites Othello's rage, but it is his pride that blinds him to the fact that the evidence of her acts are lies invented not by a loyal friend but an enemy bent on his destruction.

Othello Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Othello is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

desdemonas speech here confirms the masterly nature of iagos plot with what words does she assure cassio that she will do her best to get him reinstated

What is your question here?

why does othello ignore the cries for help?

Othello is hurdling towards self-destruction: sadly, by the deaths of people closest to him. Like tragic heroes such as Macbeth, Othello's senses are dull to tragedy and screams of terror. Roderigo and Cassio fight, and both are injured; Othello...

what function does the opening part of this scene, with the clown, have?

The minor comic relief that is present is reminiscent of Feste's wit in Twelfth Night . As in Twelfth Night , a man entreats a servant to fetch someone hither; but since the servant is a clown, there is a bit of frustration and word-play before...

Study Guide for Othello

Othello study guide contains a biography of William Shakespeare, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Othello
• Othello Summary
• Othello Video
• Character List

Essays for Othello

Othello essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Othello by William Shakespeare.

• Iago and Edmund: The Silence and Complexity of Evil
• Unity in Shakespeare's Tragedies
• Inevitability and the Nature of Shakespeare's Tragedies
• Witchy Women: Female Magic and Otherness in Western Literature
• Racism in Othello

Lesson Plan for Othello

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Othello
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Othello Bibliography

E-Text of Othello

Othello e-text contains the full text of Othello by William Shakespeare.

• List of Characters

Wikipedia Entries for Othello

• Introduction
• Date and sources
• Themes and critical approaches

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Othello — Does Othello Love Desdemona?

Does Othello Love Desdemona?

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Published: Sep 12, 2023

Words: 466 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

The profound love of othello, jealousy's poisonous influence, the tragic conclusion.

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Notes || Exam Prep || Character Profiles || Themes || Additional Reading & Videos

This text is included in  Paper 1 . You can find notes and guides for it below.

• Literary Form

Additional Reading & Videos:

• Essay: Homosocial Desire and its Conversion to Homosexual Desire
• Essay: The Symbolic Significance of Desdemona’s Handkerchief
• Essay: Men, Women and War: An Examination of Gender Conflicts within Othello
• Thesis: Courtship, Love, and Marriage in Othello: Shakespeare’s Mockery of Courtly Love
• Essay: Too Gentle: Jealousy and Class in Othello
• Video: Racism in Othello
• Video: The Question of Race in Othello
• Film: Othello (modern-day adaptation, dir. Geoffrey Sax 2001)
• Film: Othello (filmed theatrical production, 1965)

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AQA A Level Othello Essay on Love and Loyalty (Nov 21)

Subject: English

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Other

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18 May 2023

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A Band 5 model essay answering the AQA A Level November 2021 question on love and loyalty in Othello. This essay has been colour coded to reflect the Assessment Objectives assessed at A Level.

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Sophia Bush Confirms Ashlyn Harris Romance, Comes Out As Queer In Moving Essay

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

Sophia Bush says she finally feels like she “can breathe.”

The “One Tree Hill” alum wrote a powerful essay published in Glamour Thursday in which she reveals that she now identifies as queer and confirms that she’s in a romantic relationship with former U.S. soccer player Ashlyn Harris .

“I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum,” Bush wrote. “Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer . I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.”

Bush said she’s “experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community” both as an ally and member.

“I sort of hate the notion of having to come out in 2024. But I’m deeply aware that we are having this conversation in a year when we’re seeing the most aggressive attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community in modern history,” she wrote. “There were more than 500 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills proposed in state legislatures in 2023 , so for that reason I want to give the act of coming out the respect and honor it deserves.”

She explained that coming out and finding love has been revolutionary for her mental health.

“I finally feel like I can breathe. I don’t think I can explain how profound that is,” Bush wrote. “I feel like I was wearing a weighted vest for who knows how long. I hadn’t realized how heavy it was until I finally just put it down.”

Bush also took the opportunity to clear up rumors that she and Harris began their relationship on nefarious terms.

Bush was married to Grant Hughes for a little more than a year before she filed for divorce in August 2023 . Harris filed for divorce from her wife and former U.S. Women’s National Team teammate Ali Krieger in September 2023 . The athlete and former couple share two children.

Soon after their respective splits, gossip about Bush and Harris began circulating online, which Bush described as “blatant lies,” “violent threats,” and “ accusations of being a home-wrecker .”

Bush wrote, “What felt like seconds after I started to see what was in front of me, the online rumor mill began to spit in the ugliest ways.”

She added: “The ones who said I’d left my ex because I suddenly realized I wanted to be with women — my partners have known what I’m into for as long as I have (so that’s not it, y’all, sorry!).”

Bush also shared how she and Harris fell in love.

She explains that in the summer of 2023, she was “separated and preparing to file for divorce” and soon began bonding with other friends who were having troubles in their romantic relationships. Bush said that she began a kind of support group — in which they’d read “books written by great therapists,” send each other “inspirational memes and silly TikToks” when times got tough, and shared a “‘Begin Again’ Amazon shopping list” created for “the ones moving out and starting over.”

Bush wrote that a member of her support group happened to be Harris, a friend of Bush’s since 2019, and was “in the process of figuring out her own split from her wife.”

Bush noted that other members of their support group noticed her and Harris’ compatibility before she did.

“It really took other people in our safe support bubble pointing out to me how we’d finish each other’s sentences or be deeply affected by the same things,” Bush wrote.

“I didn’t expect to find love in this support system,” Bush added. “I don’t know how else to say it other than: I didn’t see it until I saw it. And I think it’s very easy not to see something that’s been in front of your face for a long time when you’d never looked at it as an option and you had never been looked at as an option. What I saw was a friend with her big, happy life. And now I know she thought the same thing about me.”

Bush wrote after some encouragement from their mutual friends, she eventually “asked Ashlyn to have a non-friend-group hang to talk about it.”

“And that meal was four and a half hours long and truly one of the most surreal experiences of my life thus far,” Bush wrote. “In hindsight, maybe it all had to happen slowly and then suddenly all at once.”

Being that this shift was a private one, Bush noted that she wasn’t too keen to share the details of her sexuality and blooming romance online with the often merciless masses.

“Just because I didn’t want to process my realizations in real time on social media and spell them out for the world doesn’t mean the journey wasn’t long and thoughtful and exhaustive,” Bush wrote.

As for Harris, Bush said she is “absolutely in awe of her relentless integrity.”

“The way she prioritizes and centers her kids, not only in her life but in the core of her being, is breathtaking to behold,” Bush wrote. “Falling in love with her has sutured some of my own childhood wounds, and made me so much closer to my own mother.”

As for Bush’s parents, they seem to be totally on board with her romance with Harris.

“I really love who I am, at this age and in this moment,” Bush wrote. “I’m so lucky that my parents, having spent time with Ash over the holidays, said, ‘ Well, this finally looks right. ’ I know it could have gone differently.”

To read Bush’s essay in full, head over to Glamour .

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‘Disability Intimacy’ starts a long-overdue conversation

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Book Review

Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire

Edited by Alice Wong Vintage: 384 pages, $19 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

To whom does desire belong? How about love and care? These are the questions at the heart of “Disability Intimacy,” a new book of essays and ephemera collected by the San Francisco activist Alice Wong, and the answers are painfully obvious: Those human experiences are for everyone. What’s less obvious to many, and acutely painful to some of us, is that those questions needed to be asked and answered. This book needed to exist.

It is a longstanding and unfortunate truth that disabled people are often seen as undesirable and even as unable to experience desire, love or care in the ways that all individuals do. As disabled people we understand how false that notion is and how harmful it can be. Giving and receiving love — physically or verbally, in a context of romance, sex, close friendship or family bonds — is as much our right to experience as anyone else’s, and our stories of intimate connections and losses are worth telling as much as anyone else’s. So I commend Wong and the collection’s 40 contributors for taking on this topic.

“Disability Intimacy” is not an extended lament. Many of its standouts are downright celebratory, as well as lessons in engaging storytelling. “The Last Walk” by Melissa Hung explores the grief of losing a beloved friend while simultaneously cherishing their last moments together and the sling bag that became a physical memory of her friend Judy. In “Hi, Are You Single?” by Ryan J. Haddad, one of the standout poems in the collection, Haddad explores the messy, awkward and welcome way a hookup can support their collective desire for pleasure.

Having contributed to and read Wong’s anthology from 2020, “Disability Visibility,” I thought I knew what I was getting into, but the two collections are quite different. It was disappointing to come away from “Intimacy” without a theme as clear as that of “Visibility,” perhaps in part reflecting the older collection’s more straightforward subject matter. Love is complicated. And 40 contributors is a lot.

As one of the first of its kind to attempt what it is attempting, “Disability Intimacy” has the unfair expectation to be everything for everyone, to answer the question of desirability for an entire community that is not monolithic. Wong refuses to shut out the “other” in favor of the conventionally digestible. This collection shines in its entries that take big swings, discussing topics such as BDSM, queer love and intergenerational relationships — and even laziness, a concept that one essay reclaims and celebrates as a purposeful act of rest, epitomized by the love between a father and son who connect over turning out the light and climbing in bed to take naps. In these pieces, the authors seem to be living as unapologetically on the page as they do in life.

Tucked among the essays, readers will be delighted to also discover poems and even a conversation between two disabled people of color about redefining intimacy for themselves, ableism and what they refuse to call intimacy. It’s a refreshing and effective shakeup of the anthology form. It’s also a lot to take in.

I had to reread certain sections as some of the points got lost along the way, and sometimes I found myself mentally rearranging the book because entries felt misplaced. Although many of the pieces could have been shorter, none should have been left out. Might the cause have been better served with these many entries divided between two volumes? This could have encouraged the reader to sit with the thoughts and feelings that come up rather than rushing onward.

There is often a lot of pressure placed on books of this kind that amplify marginalized voices or tackle taboo topics, but remember: Sometimes a book does the world a service not because it is encyclopedic or full of answers but simply because it raises questions and starts conversations.

In the end, what we readers ask of ourselves is what counts. Whom do we allow ourselves to desire, and why? Toward whose stories do we gravitate, and whom do we leave in the margins? How will we expand our own worldview?

Keah Brown , a journalist, activist, actor and screenwriter, is the author of “ The Pretty One ” and “ The Secret Summer Promise .”

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Guest Essay

Passover’s Radical Message Is More Vital Than Ever

By Shai Held

Rabbi Held is the president and dean of the Hadar Institute, which he co-founded, and the author of “Judaism Is About Love,” from which this essay is adapted.

What do we do with our pain? What, if anything, can we learn from it?

The Bible offers a startling and potentially transformative response: Let your memory teach you empathy and your suffering teach you love.

This week, Jews around the world will mark the beginning of Passover. We’ll gather for Seders, in which we’ll re-enact the foundational story of the Jewish people, the Exodus from Egypt. For Judaism, a religion preoccupied with remembering the past, no memory is more fundamental than the experience of having been slaves to a tyrant and having been redeemed from his murderous clutches by God.

Such a memory, for some, may seem impossible to summon now, in a time of so much trauma and devastation. But it is critical to remember the Exodus precisely at moments of horror and pain because it is the ultimate reminder that the present moment need not be the final stage of history. The status quo, no matter how intransigent, can and must be overturned. Further, we are meant not just to remember our suffering but also to grow in empathy as a result.

The Bible’s emphasis on empathy is particularly poignant in this agonized moment, when Israelis and Palestinians, two utterly traumatized peoples, are so overcome with grief and indignation that they can barely see each other at all. And yet if there is to one day be a different sort of future in the blood-soaked Holy Land, both peoples will need to do precisely that: to hear each other’s stories and histories, to listen to and bear witness to each other’s suffering. The revolution in empathy I am describing is urgently necessary to remember precisely now, when it seems so utterly out of reach.

The recollection of slavery and redemption has important theological and spiritual ramifications. We are meant to live with a sense of gratitude and indebtedness to the God who set us free. We are asked to recall — year after year — that we moved from serving a cruel human master who sought only to humiliate and tear us down to worshiping a loving divine master who blesses us and seeks our well-being. We are called to empathize with those who are exposed and endangered in the present, having ourselves been defenseless in the past.

“You shall not oppress a stranger,” the Book of Exodus teaches, “for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” You know what mistreatment feels like, Exodus says, and therefore you should never inflict it upon anyone else.

Leviticus takes this further. “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens,” it tells us. “You shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Leviticus envisions something radical: a society that actively loves and seeks the welfare of its most vulnerable members.

There are longstanding debates in the Jewish tradition about precisely what loving our neighbor entails, but one thing is clear: The love we owe to our neighbor we owe to the stranger among us, too.

There is nothing obvious about this teaching, particularly in a moment when fear and anger threaten to suppress any hint of compassion.

Suffering can teach us love, but all too often we let it teach us apathy and indifference — or, worse, unbridled rage and hostility. Our afflictions harden us, turn our focus stubbornly inward, make our most aggressive impulses seem both necessary and justified. We come to feel entitled: I was oppressed, and no one championed my cause; I don’t owe anything to anyone. But the Bible encourages us to take the opposite tack: I was oppressed, and no one came to my aid; therefore I will never abandon someone vulnerable or in pain.

Many people who have suffered terribly, whether personally or politically, hear both voices in our heads and have both impulses in our hearts. One voice tells us that the pain we have endured (or are enduring) frees us from responsibility to and for others — justifies our fixating on ourselves — while another voice insists that our suffering must teach us to care more and more deeply for others. Through the mandate to love the stranger, the Bible commands us to nurture the latter impulse rather than the former, to let our suffering teach us love.

At a moment like this, the mandate to love the stranger can seem to be speaking to broad and intractable geopolitical conflicts, and in fact, it is, but it also addresses us personally, at the most intimate levels. I know both these voices only too well. Having lost my father as a child and been left alone with a mother who lacked the emotional tools to parent any child, let alone a grieving one, I struggle at times with feeling entitled to ignore other people’s pain and care for just my own. And yet — having experienced aloneness, abandonment and abuse — I also feel an intensified sense of empathy for and responsibility toward those who are alone, abandoned or abused. It is this impulse that the Bible seeks to nurture in me and in each of us.

This week, when we retell the Exodus story, we must remember its implications: Since we know vulnerability, the plight of the vulnerable — whether among our own kin or among those who do not look or pray or speak like us — makes an especially forceful claim on us.

The commandment to do this work is both individual and communal; it is, on the one hand and at various points in the Bible, very much specific to Jews. But on the other hand, it is fundamental to the heritage of human civilization, and thus it addresses every person and every people who hear it. Perhaps, having suffered, you are tempted to learn indifference or even hate. Refuse that temptation. Let your memory teach you empathy and your suffering teach you love.

To tell the story of our past is always also to internalize an ethical injunction for our present and our future: to love the stranger, for we know what it feels like to be a stranger — we know the vulnerability, the anxiety and the loneliness — having ourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.

Shai Held is the president and dean of the Hadar Institute, which he co-founded, and the author of “Judaism Is About Love,” from which this essay was adapted.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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