The Effect of Good Versus Evil on Othello.
When reading a piece of literature, the presence of problems and solutions is usually the main focus of the piece. Many times the controversy that arises in the piece is a moral issue such as right versus wrong or good versus evil. In one of the most famous pieces of literature ever written, William Shakespeare's play Othello, the Moor of Venice, this controversy of good versus evil is constant throughout the entire play; the side of good personified by Desdemona, evil personified by Iago, and the human influence personified by Othello. Othello is constantly manipulated by both sides throughout the piece and the choices he makes turn out to prove just how strong the influence of evil is. The following paragraphs will attempt to show just how Othello's tragic fate came to be and the motives behind his actions.
The side of honesty, kindness, selflessness and other characteristics associated with good is personified in the play by Othello's wife, Desdemona. Near the beginning of the play it is made clear that friends and even Desdemona's father did not want Desdemona to marry Othello because of his darker skin tone. This proves her ability to look beyond the physical and love Othello for what he is inside. Desdemona's pure love for Othello is expressed when she says to him:.
That I did love the Moor to live with him.
My downright violence and storm of fortunes,.
May trumpet to the world: my heart's subdu"d.
Even to the very quality of my lord:.
I saw Othello's visage in his mind,.
And to his honours and his valiant parts.
Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate.
So that, dear lords, if I be left behind,.
A moth of peace, and he go to the war.
The rites for why I love him are bereft me,.
And I a heavy interim shall support.
By his dear absence. Let me go with him. (1.3.247-258).
This quote is stating that she will love him regardless of what he does.