Othello As A Domestic Tragedy Analysis

Shakespeare was no stranger to writing death and violence into his plays. His tragedies have excited and shocked audiences for the past 400 years with their fatal twists and turns, keeping play-goers and readers alike on the edge of their seats trying to figure out what’s going to go wrong and when and to whom. Whether it was by way of suicide such as in Romeo and Juliet or the multiple gruesome dinner party murders in Titus Andronicus people ate that shit up. However, the death of a wife as some form of justice for her infidelity—regardless of whether it is actually true or not—can be more accurately deemed “domestic tragedies” as, according to Vanita, the perceived privacy of the events between a husband and wife separate them from the political tragedies that take place in the public sphere. Othello is a prime example of a domestic tragedy; both Othello, due to jealousy, and Iago, due to misogyny, inflict verbal, emotional, and physical abuse on their wives throughout the play ultimately culminating in the murder of their respective wives.
The main relationship in the play is between Othello and Desdemona, which starts in a very romantic fashion. They both risk reputation and disapproval to be together and it is very clear that the love they have is strong. In 1.2 Othello tells Iago:

But that I love the gentle …show more content…
Desdemona also expresses her love for Othello in front of her father and the Duke when she says, “to his honours and his valiant parts / Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate” (1.3.224-25). She loves him so much that she feels as if she is a part of him. Clearly their relationship was something powerful for both of them, however, this relationship starts to fall apart as the play progresses and clear signs of abuse