The Impotent Othello Essay -- Othello essays

The Impotent OthelloOthello is one of the nearly extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeares dramas. He enjoyed unheralded success on the battlefield, which gave him the reputation as one of Venices most able generals. The trusss army advancement placed him in a class by himself in the identical way his ethnicity distinguished him from his Venetian counterparts. These are two intrinsic and highly identifiable characteristics of Othello. But a much lesser discussed idiosyncrasy of the fix was his familiar disorder - impotency. As striking as this claim sounds in that location is much express in the drama to support the idea that Othello was unable in both sexual and social relationships. Othellos sexual impotence conquer the consummation of his marriage to Desdemona as the two never experienced sexual intimacy. His sexual disorder then sparked a social impotence impotency in dealing with his wife and friends. In terms of shaping the final exam events of the drama, Othe llos impotency played an even more vital role than his military might or Moorish heritage.Throughout Othello, there is much evidence to suggest that Othello and his wife Desdemona never consummated their marriage. Shortly after murdering his wife, the Moor remarked, cold, cold my girl?/Even in thy Chastity (V.ii.273-4). The final expression chastity - brings what actually transpired in their bedroom into serious question. By referring to Desdemona as chaste is it possible that Othello was divulging that he and his wife never had sexual sexual relation? Other passages from the play indicate that this is indeed the case. Upon his arrival at the citadel in Cyprus, Othello invited his wife to their sleeping quarters for the second time with the quest utteranceCom... ... character as his Moorish ancestry. Works Cited Butler-Evans, Elliot. Haply, for I am Black Othello and the Semiotics of Race and Otherness. natural Essays by Black Writers. Ed. Mythili Kaul. Washington D.C. Howard UP, 1997. 139-150. CEINET. impotency On-line. Online. Internet. Available http //www.cei.net/impotenc/deth.html. Impotent. Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition. Oxford Oxford University Press, 1989. Koch, Carl. Living a Christian Lifestyle. St. capital of Minnesota Saint Marys Press, 1996. Sedwick, Eve. Between Men English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire. New York Colombia UP, 1985. United States. Natl. Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Impotence. Online. Internet. 9 July 1998. Available http//www. niddk.nih.gov/health/urolog/pubs/impotnce/impotnce.htm reach