Philippine E-Journals

Othello and Desdemona: Children of the Lesser God

Jorshinelle T. Sonza

Discipline: Sexuality, Gender

 

Abstract:

Othello, considered Shakespeare's most perfect play, is about human imperfections. The motif of contraries that runs through the gamut of the play creates an activity of 'multiple signifying'. Othello tells of a love story that ends in a drama of death. It also represents the fascination of western powers with exotic small nations, an attraction that ends in a desire to dominate. A play that highlights passion, rage, jealousy and suicide also brings to the fore colonial greed, invasion, resistance and bloody change. In short, Othello as a love story is transformed once encoded in the colonialist discourse.