Shakespeare’s Othello, an early 17th century play, is a widely renowned work that is still studied in a psychological aspect worldwide today. The eponym of the play had ambivalent feelings for Desdemona, his wife, that were prevalent in the sense that he’d gone to extreme lengths, such as; abusing her, mistreating her, and ultimately murdering her. This was all due to his inner conflict of his love, yet intense hatred for Desdemona. All of his unsureness about Desdemona, though, was due to his true flaw- insecurity in himself. He had internal feuds about whether he, a black man in 16th century Venice, was a satisfactory husband for a noble white woman. Othello dealt with thoughts of self-recrimination and he’d developed internalized oppression due to the people he’d encountered in his life in Venice.
Internalized oppression was a side effect of living in Italy during the 1500’s if one was not white. Othello was one of the most important, if not the only, black men in Italy during that time. He was a highly respected general of the armies of Venice, and despite being black, he prospered during his time there. Though, inevitably, the people of Venice (i.e. Cassio, Desdemona, Iago) were the very ones responsible for his insane actions and tragic death. Ultimately, a mixture of his
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He was sexually jealous of the pair, as the term “Othello Syndrome” that was coined after him suggests, and eventually became violent towards his wife as a result. He abused her out of love, as he claimed to, though, others recognized his actions implying that he was on the brink of losing his mind because of love. Gratiano, Brabantio’s brother and Desdemona’s uncle, acknowledges the unjust treatment Othello puts onto Desdemona. Cassio, despite his innocence, constantly condemns himself further, as well as Desdemona, because they both attempt to get Cassio his position as lieutenant