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Theme Of Love In Othello And Aphra Behn's Oroonoko

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Although Shakespeare’s Othello and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko had two divergent plots, yet both share the same themes of love, honor and trust; which was specifically portrayed by the main characters Othello and Oroonoko. Who also share indistinguishable qualities. Othello is an example of how Shakespeare masterfully manipulates love as a tragic theme, or cause of misery and sadness, to reveal his characters' vulnerabilities. At the same time, in Oroonoko, love is a theme that allows love triangles to develop, fuels power conflicts, and even leads to death. Othello and Oroonoko shared a main characteristic, they both were men of honor; who would do anything to protect it. This is shown throughout the play Othello, where various male figures seek …show more content…

Like Desdemona, Imoinda is portrayed as Coramantien’s beauty; who catches the attention and desired by every man. This is shown in Behn’s description of Imoinda. “To describe her truly, one need say only, she was female to the noble male; the beautiful black Venus to our young Mars; as charming in her person as he, and of delicate virtues. I have seen a hundred white men sighing after her, and making a thousand vows at her feet, all in vain, and unsuccessful.” (Behn 81). Even though Oroonoko and Imoinda declared their love for one another and the fact that Oroonoko disobeyed his unjust grandfather and his society’s traditions, his grandfather, the king, refused to acknowledge their love and instead, was determined to make Imoinda his own. The king’s reaction is somewhat similar to Barbantio’s rejection of Othello and Desdemona’s love. Oroonoko's motivation to thrive on and survive was his love and enthusiasm for Imoinda. The main test of his endurance was when Oroonoko was a slave trader, but he ended up as a slave himself aboard an English ship. Not only he did lose his beloved wife, but he also lost his freedom in life. His main drive to succeed was his determination to find and regain Imoinda. Therefore, following Imoinda’s death Oroonoko was not capable of achieving his plan and taking revenge from those who did him wrong because he lost the motivation to fight. There is no one left for him to fight for and preserve; for him there is nothing worth fighting for

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Also, each relationship in Othello provokes jealousy in one partner. In a typical Venetian society, a woman was considered to be a man’s property, so if a woman was disobedient, it negatively impacted the man, while also questioning his masculinity. The hyperbolic soliloquy as Othello expressed he would “rather be a toad” than “keep a corner of the thing I love” is Othello’s justification of killing his wife, as her untrustworthiness challenged his masculinity and reputation. Referring to Desdemona as a “thing” emphasises the idea of women being property. Iago’s jealousy of Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is emphasised through the degrading comment of Othello, “an old black ram” “tupping” Brabantio’s “white ewe”.

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