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# Analysis of Love in Shakespeare's Othello **Lago's Attitudes Towards Love:** * **Love as Lust:** Lago views love as simply physical desire, dismissing any emotional or spiritual component. * **Animalistic Imagery:** Lago portrays love as grotesque and base, evidenced by the phrase "And even now...

# Analysis of Love in Shakespeare's Othello **Lago's Attitudes Towards Love:** * **Love as Lust:** Lago views love as simply physical desire, dismissing any emotional or spiritual component. * **Animalistic Imagery:** Lago portrays love as grotesque and base, evidenced by the phrase "And even now, now, very now an old black ram is tupping your ewe". This imagery diminishes the value of love. **Feminist Reading of Love:** * **Women as Objects:** The 16th/17th-century perspective of women as subordinate possessions within marriage, valuing chastity and obedience over emotional connections, is highlighted. Women are reduced to objects of male desire. * **Patriarchal Views of Marriage:** The analysis notes that the patriarchal views prevalent during the Elizabethan Era influenced the depiction of love in the texts. **Lago's Manipulation and Deception:** * **Manipulative Skills:** Lago's manipulative skills are portrayed as techniques used to elicit a visceral reaction. He equates Othello to an animalistic creature, reducing the value of his love. * **Love as a Tool:** He views love as a mere tool for achieving his goals and exploiting others. The quote "O, Beware, my Lord, Of Jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on" exemplifies this perspective. * **Planted Doubts:** Lago manipulates Othello by planting false doubts within Othello's mind, especially regarding Desdemona's fidelity. **Imagery and contrasting symbolism:** * **Green-Eyed Monster:** The metaphor of "green-eyed monster", is used to depict the corrupting influence of jealousy on love. * **Corrupting Force**: Othello is presented as a character who is corrupted by his insecurities. * **Contrasting Symbolism**: Black is symbolized as dangerous and impure, contrasting with white representing innocence. Othello is depicted as a character who contaminates Desdemona's purity, an example of the corrupting force. **Critique of Love in Renaissance Literature:** * **Cynicism and Lack of Genuine Love:** Lago is portrayed as incapable of genuine love and reducing women to sexual labour when he presents his disdain for emotional connection. * **Love as a Weakness:** He dismisses love as a naive illusion and a weakness. * **Transactional Relationships:** Lago views relationships as purely transactional. * **Lack of Sincerity:** The analysis highlights how Lago is incapable of experiencing deep love and is deceitful in interpersonal relationships. **Foreshadowing and Characterization:** * **Foreshadowing:** Lago's role as an antagonist in the play, underscored by his manipulation, creates foreshadowing of later deception and tragic events. * **Female Duplicity and Misogyny:** The analysis notes how Lago reinforces the tragic trajectory of the play by highlighting misogynistic societal norms of women being defined solely by their relationships with men. * **Contemptuous Attitudes Towards Love:** Lago manifests contemptuous attitudes toward love and embodies deeply ingrained Elizabethan misogyny.