Duality In Othello Essay

Imagine being alive in a time where there was little to no concern for physical well being, that is how life was for many in the Middle Ages. In this time people were fixed on religious beliefs and concern for the spiritual world, while the Renaissance brought about much more change, including the concern for the physical world. During this era people became more interested in expanding their knowledge of many subjects such as history, art, science, and classic ancient texts. This change in focus brought about the need for duality between both the spiritual world of the Middle Ages and physical world of the Renaissances. This need duality was the balance or contrast between two concepts or two aspects of something, in this case the two worlds.

In his tragedy Othello, William Shakespeare shows the importance of balance in both the material and spiritual worlds through the failure to find such balance, leading to each character's ultimate downfall. After being asked what she wishes by Othello regarding travels, Desdemona replies, “That I did love the Moor to live with him, my downright violence and storm of fortunes may trumpet to the world” (Othello I.iii.285). Shakespeare demonstrates Desdemona’s fatal flaw, love in the extreme, by showing how willing she is to throw away everything for love. Iago then goes on to convince Othello to kill Desdemona, who, once told she is going to die, states, “Then heaven have mercy on me… If you say, I hope you will not kill me” (Othello V.ii.40, 42). Desdemona becomes too caught in her love for Othello to the point she lacks concern for her physical being, inevitably leading to her death. Another character that Shakespeare uses to show the importance of balance through his destruction was Iago. After realizing Othello promoted Cassio over himself, Iago, enraged, says, “But he, sir, had th' election and I, of whom his eyes had