Race and Alabaster Essay

Othello and Desdemonas marriage was doomed from the start. Even considering the racial nature of the marriage, his lack of a constant home, and the improper method of his courting, there is another reason why their marriage would neer have worked. Othellos label of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every bearing, to the tear that she is a god. Her race, debaucher, and status make her godly in his mind. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as Alabaster(5. 2.5) he will never consider her capable of responding to his sleep with.Because Othello is at his wits end when he refers to her as Alabaster, he is speaking come to the fore of his heart. After Othello reads the letter from Venice, he begins to speak in less viscid manner. For instance the line, Pish Noses, ears, and lips. Isnt Possible? Confess hanky O remonstrate (4. 1. 42) contains none of Othellos designer eloquence. He begins to speak with sacred sc ripture association, kind of than in complete sentences.For instance, the word confess brings up the word Handkerchief, and devil . Because Desdemona, the handkerchief, and the sense of maliciousness were on his mind so much, he begins to express with abstract words and ideas instead of sentences. Although this makes his lines harder to read, they show us what he is constantly thinking of. Instead of clear and concise lines, they are a torrent of his true feelings. Therefore when he describes Desdemona as Alabaster, we after part be sure it is his inner picture of her. Alabasters kayo gives you an idea about his feelings of bodily inferiority to her.Alabaster is a of course beautiful stone, used by ancient Egyptians and Chinese to make statues and vases. This word choice gives the reader a sense of his feelings of inadequacy to Desdemona. He is never said to be ugly, on the contrary, he is described as cold more fair than black(1. 3. 291). He must have felt up some sensitivit y about his physical appearance. In contrast, he describes her position as fair as Dians visage(3. 3. 389), Dian most credibly being the god of healing in Celtic mythology. This implies both beauty and health.He then goes on to say begrimed and black as mine own establishment(3. 3. 390). Othello superimposes her clean and young white face with his grimy old black face. The fact that he believed her to be perfidious with Cassio further proves his insecurity. Cassio is a clean white man with golden hair. Cassio is whatsoever of the beauty that Othello can not be, and is therefore able to provide something that he cannot. This makes Cassio a threat to Othellos masculinity. Othello most standardizedly gains this opinion of Cassio from his unconcerned attitude. When Cassio says I never knew a woman pick out man so(4.1. 111) Othello immediately jumps to the conclusion that he is referring to himself and Desdemona. Othello is on the offensive with Cassio without any proof, plainl y because of his physical appearance. Alabasters smooth white surface illustrates the racial inferiority he feels to Desdemona. Race plays an enormous part in Othellos relationship with Desdemona. Although he is an upstanding citizen and a good solder he is still unfit to marry because of his race. A reoccurring theme in the way that people refer to Othello is that of a great black beast.He is very much described as an Old black ram(1. 1. 87) or a Barbary Horse(1. 1. 110). There is a sense that he is animalistic, even though in real life he is sophisticated and civilized. This spiteful savoir-faire is a back-handed reminder that he is a moor. The constant inference that he is a beast may have caused him to believe it himself. Othello believes that Desdemona could not love an ugly animal like himself. This puts her sincerity into doubt when she says that she loves him. Alabaster is a rock, and can not return any feelings of love that Othello gives to it.This is part of a feeling t hat Desdemona is something elemental and beyond him. For instance in the same speech he describes her as having Promethean heat(5. 2. 12), Prometheus being the god that stole empty for man. Therefore Promethean heat would refer to the element of fire in its purest form, something presage and primeval. He also says that her death should bring A huge bulk monolithic of sun and moon(5. 2. 97). This paints her as something cosmic in scale, so large and important that the entire universe should be changed in her passing. Othello puts her on a different scale than himself.When he dies he says only that in your garner you should speak of me as I am(5. 2. 338). While he is normal, she is a cosmic and divine being, unfit to love a mortal like himself. This creates insecurity in Othello. He begins to ask how can a rock, or fire, or a star in the night sky love him? Because of his high view of her, he creates a complex of his own insignificance. From his point of view, Desdemona is ineff icient to love him because she is too elemental to have emotion. Othello has, put simply, incased Desdemona in alabaster. He has formed an opinion of her that she is unable to break rid of.Because he has so strongly locked her into this state of mind he is unable to think of him in any other way. She is so high up on the pedestal that he puts her on that he is unable to enchant who she truly is. This is Othellos failing. By making her too powerful, too divine, any minor fault is a glaring defect to her immaculate surface. and then at the first flaw, she becomes low and nothing, and he needs to return her to her former glory. He must Quench thee and again they former light relate(5. 2. 9). He fails to see her love through her alabaster covering.