IndexThe concept of double consciousness through the relationship Othello and DesdemonaMorrison's look at the relationship between Othello and DesdemonaFinal thoughtsWorks Cited:Throughout his career, William Shakespeare became known for creating plays intense and stimulating art. Shakespeare's play, Othello, although initially appearing to be a love story between Othello and Desdemona, is a tragic story of insecurity and deception, as well as gender and racial prejudice. Desdemona and Othello have a very strong and deep love for each other, however Othello struggles to believe that his love is pure. Throughout the play Othello continues to listen to the ominous whispers of arguably the most monstrous anti-hero of all Shakespeare's productions, Iago. Throughout most of the play it is quite difficult to determine what Iago's motivations are for the pain and torment he has caused Othello and ultimately Desdemona. Iago continually tells Othello that Desdemona's love for him is not real and that she has been unfaithful and should not be trusted. “He deceived his father, marrying you,” Othello initially fights against this, and also defends Desdemona's honor and gets angry at Iago for even thinking such thoughts, but unfortunately his own insecurities get the better of him, and finally falls into the hands of Iago. word and begins to believe that what he says is the truth. In the final act of the play, Othello has essentially gone mad from the constant anxiety and pain he feels believing that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful and cheating on him. He finds her asleep in their bed and becomes convinced that she must die. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul. Let me not tell you, chaste stars, it is the cause. Yet I will not shed his blood, nor rub that skin of his whiter than snow, smooth as a monumental alabaster Yet she must die, or she will betray other men. Desdemona overhears Othello and wakes up, frightened by her current state and begs him not to kill her, firmly believing that she has not been unfaithful or done anything that justifies Othello wanting to harm her. Unfortunately, Othello is so lost in his emotions that, even though Desdemona swears and declares her innocence of what she is accused of, he warns her that he will not be able to change his mind in his dying moments, Desdemona swears his love for Othello: “Recommend me to my kind lord. Oh, farewell!”.WEB Du Bois was an American sociologist and historian best known for his work on three major books; Black Reconstruction, The Souls of Black People. Within The Souls of Black Folk, DuBois introduced a concept known as double consciousness. «It is a particular sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul with the yardstick of a world that looks with amused contempt and pity. One always feels his duplicity: an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled efforts; two conflicting ideals in a single dark body, whose stubborn strength alone prevents it from being torn to pieces. The concept seems to be how the separation exists between the consciousness of how we perceive ourselves, our true thoughts, and how we are perceived outwardly by others as well. In DuBois's work, the purpose of the term was to show the deeply rooted otherness that blacks tend to feel in a majority-white society. The constant feeling of being other, which indicates the double life that every African American person is forced to live in this country, being both American and black. Dubois points out that even if it is not accepted or does not leavespeaks, two very distinct social worlds exist in our society. Throughout Othello there are several examples of double consciousness in action, but the question is: would we, as readers, still be able to achieve such a profound understanding of the racial implications of the work without first understanding DuBois's work? Concept of Double Consciousness Through the Relationship Between Othello and Desdemona Throughout the play, Othello deeply struggles with his identity and the insecurity that comes with being a black man, married to a white woman of high birth. Othello feels that he must clash not only with himself, but with the opinions of everyone around him, including Brabantio, Desdemona's father, the people of Venice, and even Desdemona herself. Is her love for him honest and pure? Or she loves him only because marrying a black soldier is the last act of rebellion against her father. In scene three of the first act, Brabantio is convinced that Othello must have used some kind of magic to convince Desdemona to marry him, that there is no possibility of her choosing him on her own and that she has essentially been stolen from him. Brabantio by expressing these accusations, whether he wanted to or not, highlights his deeply rooted racist ideas. During the Elizabethan age, there was a sort of fear that white people had towards black people, believing that they were born with strange gifts, which made them almost supernatural. While this may seem like a good thing, unfortunately it wasn't at all. These assumptions at the time, and unfortunately until perhaps until the last century, were used by white people all over the world to essentially demonize black people and give them confirmation of their hatred towards an entire group of people. For this reason, Brabantio, by making such accusations, and thus making them publicly, brings to light the kind of unspoken theme of racism that runs through most of this play. It is woven into the interactions between Desdemona and Othello, and also seen in Toni Morrison's adaptation Desdemona, between Desdemona and her nurse. In relation to Othello, we see the concept of double consciousness in the interactions between Desdemona and her nurse in Toni. Morrison's Desdemona. The nurse, whom Desdemona calls Barbary, is barely mentioned in the entire play Othello. The important moment in which Desdemona mentions her in the play is towards the end of Act IV, after an altercation she has just had with Othello. Desdemona tells Emilia that she feels shaken and that she can't get a certain song she learned from Barbary out of her head. he loved her, he proved to be mad and abandoned her. He had a "Willow" song, an old thing, but it expressed his luck, and he died singing it. That song tonight30Won't pass my mind. I have a lot to do besides hang my head on one side and sing it like poor Barbary. Morrison's look at the relationship between Othello and Desdemona In Toni Morrisons Desdemona, we are given further insight into Desdemona's relationship with Barbary. On the other hand, we are also shown Barbary's, or rather Sa'ran's thoughts as he reveals that is his real name, about their relationship, if he could ever call it that. In chapter 2, Desdemona speaks of Barbaresco as someone she loves and admires, almost in the way someone would speak of a mother figure. “She was more alive than anyone I knew and more loving. She took care of me as if she were my birth mother; she braided my hair, dressed me, comforted me when I was sick and danced with me when I recovered.” It is very clear that Desdemona greatly values ​​her bond and relationship with Barbary. However, later in the book we are given Sa'ran's point of view, and she paints a vividly different picture of their relationship. In chapter 9, Sa'ran tries to convince Desdemona to understand the true dynamicof their relationship. Yes, he was there for Desdemona when she needed someone to be there. Yes, she took care of Desdemona when she was sick and needed care. However, this wasn't because he loved her, but because it was his job. After Desdemona continues to insist that Sa'ran was her best friend, Sa'ran tells her "I was your slave." During this interaction between Sa'ran, Desdemona seems almost unaware of the significance that Saran was a black slave assigned to a high-class white woman. Desdemona speaks to Sa'ran as if they were equals, that she knows and understands the struggles Sa'ran feels every day, because they are both women, because she chose to love and marry a black man. “Because of your skin? It's you who doesn't know. Think. I married a dark-haired man. I ran away from home to be with him. I challenged my father and my entire family to marry him. I joined him on the battlefield.” I think one of the most interesting things about the interactions between Desdemona and Sa'ran in Morrison's Desdemona is that we are shown that the strongest emotional bond Desdemona had with anyone was in her connection with Sa'ran. Especially given that throughout the play Othello we are barely given any insight into their relationship. There is an unshakable bond between these two women, if only because of the tragic bond they share with the murder of both by their outraged lovers. In this supernatural conversation about the afterlife, these two women find a way to further strengthen their bond as Sa'ran realizes that while she was his servant, Desdemona never abused her. Morrison also gives readers another hidden glimpse into Desdemona's relationship. and Othello, and also the major differences in the portrayal of Desdemona in both plays. Shakespeare's Othello shows Desdemona as essentially the perfect woman, as her loyalty to her husband proved unbreakable. Even after dealing with the horrible distrust and pain she felt over Othello's actions, and after Othello accuses her of being unfaithful and betraying him, she still remains silent in the pain she feels, and continues to deny that having done something wrong and begging him to believe in his love. In contrast, Morrison portrays Desdemona in a very different light and shows us that Desdemona is not as submissive as Shakespeare would have us believe. We are shown a highly imaginative woman, someone who has many hopes and dreams. Almost as if there were invisible chains wrapped around her throughout Shakespeare's work, and Morrison allowed her to break free from that hold, becoming tremendously emotional and passionate. During his afterlife conversation with Othello in chapter 10, he wonders why Desdemona allowed him to kill her, "why did you let my anger run free?" And with what I imagine is an unwavering level of strength, Desdemona tells him that the man she loved was already gone, “what was left to fight for?” (Morrison 50) She felt she had already lost him the moment he lost trust in her, and he knew it was so helpful to try to bring him back because he was already too far away. Within this conversation, Morrison allows these two past lovers to finally rest in the security of their forgiveness and the power of their unbreakable bond, even after all that Othello has done to Desdemona. This experience, and the extreme pain it caused, allowed both of them to see where they went wrong and accept their guilt, but also love each other for those flaws. "When two meet, each brings a little of themselves to the other." This is how we learn, we build ourselves, we evolve. I bring what makes me different from you. Give me what you are. But do so with kindness and tolerance. "Desdemona, while it is, 10(11), 2013.