The Impotent Othello Essay -- Othello essays

The Impotent OthelloOthello is one of the most wicked characters in all of Shakespeares dramas. He enjoyed unheralded success on the battlefield, which gave him the temper as one of Venices most able generals. The Moors military proficiency located him in a class by himself in the same counselling his ethnicity distinguished him from his Venetian counterparts. These are two intrinsic and highly distinctive characteristics of Othello. But a such(prenominal) lesser discussed idiosyncrasy of the Moor was his versed disorder - impotency. As striking as this claim sounds there is much evidence in the drama to support the idea that Othello was impotent in both inner and social relationships. Othellos sexual impotence stifled the achievement of his marriage to Desdemona as the two never experienced sexual intimacy. His sexual disorder then sparked a social impotence powerlessness in dealing with his wife and friends. In terms of shaping the final events of the drama, Othellos impo tency played an even more vital role than his military might or Moorish heritage.Throughout Othello, there is much evidence to call forth that Othello and his wife Desdemona never consummated their marriage. Shortly after murdering his wife, the Moor remarked, tatty, cold my girl?/Even in thy Chastity (V.ii.273-4). The final word excellence - brings what actually transpired in their bedroom into serious question. By referring to Desdemona as innocent is it possible that Othello was divulging that he and his wife never had sexual intercourse? new(prenominal) 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 following vocalizationCom... ... character as his Moorish ancestry. Works Cited Butler-Evans, Elliot. Haply, for I am Black Othello and the semiotics of Race and Otherness. New Essays by Black Writers. Ed. Mythili Kaul. Washington D.C. Ho ward UP, 1997. 139-150. CEINET. Impotence On-line. Online. Internet. usable 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. Paul beau ideal Marys Press, 1996. Sedwick, Eve. Between Men English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire. New York Colombia UP, 1985. joined 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.htmcause