Table of ContentsThe concept of double consciousness through the relationship between Othello and DesdemonaMorrison's take on Othello and Desdemona's relationshipClosing ThoughtsWorks Cited:During his career, William Shakespeare became known for creating intense and thought-provoking works of art. Shakespeare's play Othello, although initially resembling a love story between Othello and Desdemona, is a tragic story of self-doubt and deception, as well as sexual and racial prejudice. Desdemona and Othello have a very strong and deep love for each other, but Othello has difficulty believing that his love is pure. Throughout the play, Othello continues to listen to the nefarious whispers of probably the most monstrous anti-hero in all of Shakespeare's productions, Iago. For 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, that she has been unfaithful, and that she should not be trusted. "She deceived her father by marrying you", Othello initially fights against this, and even 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 he eventually falls into the hands of Iago. speaks and begins to believe that what he says is the truth. In the last act of the play, Othello has gone mad from the constant anxiety and pain he feels from believing that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful and betrayed him. He finds her asleep in their bed and convinces himself that she must die. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “This is the cause, this is the cause, my soul. Let me not name it for you, chaste stars, it is the cause. Yet I will not shed his blood, nor mark his skin, whiter than snow and smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, or she will betray more men. Desdemona hears Othello and wakes up, frightened by her current state and begs him not to kill her, firmly stating that she has not been unfaithful or done anything that would warrant Othello wanting to harm her. Unfortunately, Othello is so lost in his emotions that even though Desdemona swears and pleads that she is innocent of what she is accused of, he warns her that she will not be able to change her mind. Even in her final moments of death, Desdemona swears her love for Othello: “Commend me to my kind lord. Oh, farewell!".WEB Du Bois was an American sociologist and historian who was best known for his work on three main books; Black Reconstruction, the Crisis, and the Souls of Black Folk. In The Souls of Black Folk, DuBois introduced a concept known as double consciousness. “It is a special sensation, this double consciousness, this feeling of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul against the tape of a watching world. with amused contempt and pity We always sense his duality: an American, a Black; two souls, two thoughts, two irreconcilable efforts at war in a single dark body, whose tenacious force alone prevents him; to be torn. The concept seems to be how there is separation between the awareness of how we perceive ourselves, our own true thoughts, and how we are also externally perceived by others. DuBois, the purpose of the term was to show the deeply rooted otherness that black people tend to feel in a societypredominantly white. The constant feeling of being othered, highlighting the double life that every African American is forced to live in this country, as an American and a Black. Dubois draws attention to the fact that, although not accepted or talked about, there are two very distinct social worlds in our society. Throughout Othello there are many examples of double consciousness in action, but the question is, would we as readers still be able to achieve such a deep understanding of the racial implications of the play without first understanding DuBois's work? Concept of double consciousness through the relationship between Othello and Desdemona. Throughout the play, Othello struggles deeply with his own identity and the self-doubt he has brought on by thinking he is a black man, married to a high-born white woman. Othello feels that he is confronted not only by himself, but also by the opinions of everyone around him, including Brabanzio, Desdemona's father, the people of Venice, and even Desdemona herself. Is the love she has for him honest and pure? Or does she only love him because it is the ultimate act of rebellion against her father to marry a black soldier. In the third scene of Act 1, Brabanzio is convinced that Othello must have used some kind of magic to get Desdemona to marry him, that there is no way she would choose that for herself and that it was essentially stolen from him. Brabanzio making these accusations, whether he meant it or not, highlights his own deeply rooted racist ideas. In the Elizabethan era, white people had a sort of fear of black people, believing that they were born with strange gifts, making them almost supernatural. Although this may seem positive, unfortunately this is not the case at all. These assumptions at the time, and unfortunately well into the last century, have been used by white people around the world to demonize black people and give them justification for their hatred of an entire group of people. For this reason, the fact that Brabanzio makes such accusations, and makes them so publicly, highlights the kind of unspoken theme of racism that runs through the majority of this play. It is woven into the interactions between Desdemona and Othello, and also seen in Toni Morrisons 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 good nurse in Toni. Desdemona by Morrison. The nurse, whom Desdemona calls Barbarie, is barely mentioned throughout the play Othello. The important moment when Desdemona mentions her in the play occurs towards the end of Act IV, after an altercation she has just had with Othello. Desdemona tells Emilia that she feels upset and can't get a certain song she learned from Barbary out of her head. “My mother had a servant called Barbary, she was in love and he, her lover, was crazy and abandoned her. She had a song of "Willow," it was an old thing, but it expressed her fortune, and she died singing it. This song tonight won't leave my mind. I have much better things to do than tilt my head to one side and sing it like poor Barbarian. Morrison's Take on Othello and Desdemona's Relationship In Toni Morrisons' Desdemona, we get a deeper look at Desdemona's relationship with Barbary. On the other side, we are also shown Barbary's, or rather Sa'ran's as she reveals her real name, thoughts on their relationship, if she could even call it that. In chapter 2, Desdemona speaks of Barbarie as someone she loves and admires, almost in the same way one would speak of a figurekindergarten. “She was more alive than anyone I knew and more loving. She looked after me as if she were my biological mother; 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 ties and relationship with Barbarie. However, later in the book we are introduced to Sa'ran's point of view and she paints a very different picture of their relationship. In chapter 9, Sa'ran tries to make Desdemona understand the true dynamics of their relationship. Yes, she was there for Desdemona when she needed someone. Yes, she took care of Desdemona when she was sick and needed care. However, it wasn't because she loved him, but because it was her job. After Desdemona continues to insist that Sa'ran was her best friend, Sa'ran tells her "I was your slave." Throughout this interaction between Sa'ran, Desdemona almost seems to ignore the significance of the fact that Saran was a black slave appointed by a high-ranking white woman. Desdemona speaks to Sa'ran as if they are equals, that she knows and understands the difficulties that Sa'ran feels every day, because they are both women, because she has chosen to love and marry a black man. “Because of your skin? It's you who lacks knowledge. Think. I married a Moor. I ran away from home to be with him. I dared my father and my whole family to marry her. I joined him on the battlefield. I think one of the most interesting things about the interactions between Desdemona and Sa'ran in Morrisons Desdemona is that we are shown that the strongest emotional connection Desdemona had with anyone was her relationship with Sa'ran 'ran. Especially since we barely get a glimpse of their relationship during the play Othello. There is an unshakable bond between these two women, if only because of the tragic bond they share: they were both murdered by their outraged lovers. In this supernatural afterlife conversation, these two women find a way to strengthen their bond even further as Sa'ran realizes that while she was his servant, Desdemona never mistreated her. Morrison also gives readers another hidden look at Desdemona's relationship. and Othello, as well as the great differences in the depiction of Desdemona in the two works. Shakespeare's Othello shows Desdemona as the essentially perfect woman, as her loyalty to her husband proves unbreakable. Even after facing the horrible distrust and pain she felt from Othello's actions, and after Othello accuses her of being unfaithful and betraying him, she still remains silent in the pain she feels, and she continues to deny she did anything wrong and begging him to believe in her love. Conversely, 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 fiercely imaginative woman, someone who has many hopes and dreams. Almost as if there were invisible chains wrapped around her throughout Shakespeare's play, and Morrison allowed her to break free from this grip, becoming extremely emotional and passionate. During his conversation with Othello in the afterlife in chapter 10, he wonders why Desdemona allowed him to murder her: “why did you give vent to my rage? And with what I imagine was unwavering strength, Desdemona told him that the man she loved was already gone, “what was there left to fight for?” » (Morrison 50) She felt she had already lost him the moment he lost trust in her, and he knew he was useless, 10(11), 2013.