Othello - Compared To Twelfth Night :: essays research papers

& axerophtholquotShe loved me for the dangers I had passd, and I loved her that she did pity them&quot (Othello, I.iii 166-167). William Shakespeares tragedy &quotOthello,&quot is pervaded by a dominant theme, one of love. Othello, the Moor of Venice falls madly in love with a woman named Desdemona. They marry and are very elated together. Othello and Desdemona face many trials during the course of their nine-month marriage. The most notable one occurs when Barbanzio, Desdemonas father accuses Othello of getting his daughter with witchcraft. During a court hearing, Desdemona confesses her love for Othello and Barbanzio is forced to permit her go. &quotI am hitherto your daughter but heres my husband, and so much duty as my mother showd to you, preferring you before her father, so much I challenge that I may professdue to the Moor my lord&quot (Othello, I.iii 184-188)As the course of events shift, Othello and Desdemona end up in Cyprus together. Iago, ensign to Othel lo, in his lust for power, tricks Othello into believing that Desdemona has had an affair. Othello is overcome by jealousy, the &quotgreen eyed monster.&quot &quotO, beware, my lord, of jealousy it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on&quot (Othello, III.iii 169-171) In his rage, Othello charges Iago with the killing of Cassio, his lieutenant who supposedly slept with his wife. Othello then(prenominal) plans to kill Desdemona. Even during the course of the killing, Othello maintains his love for Desdemona (although this might seem a contradiction.) He refuses to calumniate her body in any way. &quotYet Ill not shed her blood nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, and smooth as monumental alabaster.&quot (Othello, V.ii 3-5)He then proceeds to choke or smother her to death. The theme of love in Othello changed from puppy love, the lighter side of love, to jealousy, the shabbinessest side of love. In stark contrast to the dark and tra gic &quotOthello,&quot is one of Shakespeares lightest and funniest comedies, &quotTwelfth Night.&quot The theme of love is presented in a highly comical manner. Shakespeare, however, in one case again proves himself a master by interweaving serious elements into humorous situations. "Twelfth Night" consists of many love triangles, however many of the characters who are tangled up in the web of love are blind to see that their emotions and feelings toward other characters are untrue. They are being deceived by themselves and/or the others around them.