Psychology In Othello

     Morbid jealousy is a psychological condition where a person holds a strong delusional belief that their spouse is cheating on them without having claim to back up their accusations. In Othello, morbid jealousy is apparent with both Othello and Desdemona and Iago and Emilia. It could also be said that this jealousy happens on a smaller scale with Bianca and Cassio. Othello strongly believes that Desdemona is being unfaithful with Cassio by the end of Act four. His jealousy grows and he goes almost mad, caught in the fervor of his passion. He is so caught up in his jealousy that he has seizures  when around Iago. In Act four Scene two Othello lays a hand on Desdemona, showing his craziness and immense jealousy that is taking over him.

     Iago has a less intense morbid jealousy. Although this jealousy drives his actions up to Act four, he does not go as crazy as Othello over his assumptions that his spouse is unfaithful with Othello. The jealousy Iago has leads to his manipulating of Othello and Cassio. This is especially the case for Othello's manipulation and the reason behind it. Bianca has jealousy when she finds Othello's handkerchief. This jealousy is seen as she confronts Cassio about the handkerchief, thinking it was another woman's. Jealousy better describes Bianca because she technically has "evidence" of cheating, even though it is not accurate evidence.

Othello Gender Roles

Othello has many controversial topics embedded into the play. Along with racism, gender roles is a large part of the story of Othello. Desdemona, Othello's wife has a tendency to show her independence. In Act 3, Scene 3 when she tries to use her femininity and significance to Othello to pardon Cassio is but one example of Desdemona making her independence known. however for Desdemona, she is also thought of as property to her father which is seen in the beginning of Act 1. Emilia plays the common role of a wife in Shakespeare's time as she submits to Iago and does what he wants. She does not advocate for herself and is very passive making her easy to control. Bianca defies the role of someone of her position (prostitute) around this time. She speaks for herself and demands the love and attention of Cassio, holding her own in a world of powerful and demanding men.

Othello is very much fitting of his role in society regarding his gender. Although he seems to completely adore Desdemona, he bashes her both in front of Emilia and Lodovico and in private, especially about her and Cassio. Along with Othello, Iago plays a stereotypical man of the time as he is manipulative and controlling towards Emilia. In general he makes a fool of many women throughout the play. Brabantio fits his role as a father of the time as he is very protective and takes action against his daughter marrying someone he does not want her to marry. To him, Desdemona is property. Roderigo is obsessed with Desdemona and fulfills the "knight in shining armor" role of a man in Shakespeare's time. Cassio is much different as he respects the women in the play even though he has a hard time loving Bianca. 

The Love Triangle of Wyomissing High School

Kenzie and Emma have been best friends since first grade. They were born in the same hospital room four months apart. I guess you could say they are inseparable. The duo go everywhere together; shopping, exercising, tanning, and studying. For a while their relationship seemed flawless...until Justin came along.

Justin was Kenzie's boyfriend of three weeks whom she immediately fell in love with. After about two weeks of their dating, Justin popped the question. Now Justin is no ordinary man. Justin is a famous singer who can get any girl in the World, but there was something so special about Kenzie. To Justin, Kenzie was that one special mix of peanut butter and jelly. She was stunning in her own right and absolutely brilliant. As the daughter Bruce, she had a sister named Taylor. Now Taylor was very special to Kenzie as they spent a lot of time together. Taylor and Kenzie grew up together and they too did everything together. When it came to rankings, Taylor ranked higher than Emma and Emma did not like that. What would Emma do to make sure Taylor no longer had an upper hand on her? Well the answer was easy..Justin.

Two days after returning from their honeymoon, Justin and Kenzie went back to work. Kenzie and Emma work together at the hospital; Kenzie a nurse and Emma a doctor. Amidst their lunch hour, Emma decided to tell Kenzie her suspicions of Justin sleeping around with Taylor. Kenzie at first did not know what to do. This news was such a shock! Of course Kenzie would believe Emma, I mean how could a friend so close lie to her.

Immediately Kenzie marched down to the recording studio and reamed out Justin for his actions. Dumbfounded, Justin did not know how to react. He knew he did not cheat but he did not know how to respond. Next Kenzie had to talk to the other woman Taylor. Taylor was distraught by the rumor that had been made up by Emma but Kenzie refused to believe Taylor. Kenzie told Taylor, "You are no longer my friend. You have lost all importance in my life and no longer are you my sister!". Taylor cried for days as Emma reaped the benefits of her lie.

It was not long until Kenzie realized her mistake in believing Emma. Her and Justin got back together, reminding each other of their undeniable love. As for Taylor, her and Kenzie swore to never believe anything about each other unless they have evidence. Emma..well she found a love of her own and they both live far away from Kenzie and Taylor, never to bother them again.

The End...

The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd

The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd send the overall message that their love will not withstand time unless the gifts last that long. In the first stanza, the Nymph says "These pretty pleasures might me move to live with thee and be thy love". With this she is saying that all that he is promising like, "a cap of flowers" and "buckles of the purest gold" will make her love him. The second stanza is the Nymph saying that over time love will not last. She says "Time drives the flocks from the field to fold" and "And Philomel becometh dumb" meaning to say their love will fall due to time. Again in the third stanza the Nymph is again saying that just like "flowers do fade, and wanton fields to wayward winter reckoning yields" their love will fade and die over time. After the third, the idea of pleasures keeping their love alive seems to switch as the Nymph is now saying the pleasures will "soon break" and "soon wither". In the fifth stanza the Nymph ends with "all these in me no means can move to come to thee and be thy love". She here is emphasizing her feelings on the pleasures the Shepherds is attempting to give to her to win her love. The last stanza is where the Nymph finally basically says that if there were no time,"joys no date", then she might move to love him.

Sir Walter Raleigh uses any devices in his poem. One device is alliteration, in which he uses to create a deep imagery. In the first stanza he writes "pretty pleasures" in which he is painting the pictures of the Shepherd's gifts. Alliteration is also seen in stanza two when he writes "flocks from field to fold", painting the picture of time affecting nature just like it will affect their love. "Coral clasps" in stanza five is again painting the picture of one of the many pleasures from the Shepherd. Raleigh also uses repetition to emphasize the important part to his main message and theme. In stanza four he writes, "thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies, soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten". He repeats these words and phrases in order to emphasize that the many gifts will so quickly no matter because they are tangible and not emotional.

This sonnet is unlike a Shakespearean sonnet as the structure is quite different. Instead of three quatrains followed by two couplets, there are simply six quatrains. The rhyme scheme is also different as it is AA, BB, CC,DD and so on. Much different than ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. They are similar however as this poem along with The Passionate Shepherd to His Love talks of a deep love of a young man. In these two poems, both the speaker and writer in both seem to be in love with the subject of their words. Also, both poems talk of the destructive power of time and moral weakness (giving gifts as a bribe for love).

Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18 is a beautiful sonnet. The writer is trying to convey the message of his deep love which he shares for a stunning woman. He says that his love is so strong that nothing could affect it, not even death. "Not shall Death brag thou wanders't in his shade" is the part of the sonnet where the message of love not fading for anything is seen. Overall the overarching theme of this sonnet is  everlasting love.

Shakespeare uses strong imagery; "gold complexion", "darling buds of may", and "rough winds". His diction is very complex in that he uses words that are contenporary of his time but different to ours. For example he uses "untrimmed" to say shorn of it's beauty. Shakespeare also uses some personification when he talks about "Death brag thou wander'st in his shade". These aspects of this sonnet add to the picture he paints of his love he has for a certain woman.

Sonnet 18 is a lot like the sonnets of it's time in that it talks about a young man madly in love with a woman of great beauty. Also both the speaker and writer seem to be romantically in love with the woman of interest. This is different however in that there is no talk of something distructive dealing with the love that is shared. There is also no moral distinctions mentioned nor is there mention of virtue perpetuated through children.