Karremann, Isabel. “One and One is Two, Three Is Potency: The Dynamics of the Erotic Triangle in Othello.” Journal of the Spanish Society for English Renaissance Studies, vol. 13, 2003, pp.111-121.
In her essay, Karremann takes notions of the erotic triangle from Sedgwick in order to show it can be used for manipulation (as opposed to social-emotional exploration), and how norm transgression ruins its stability. However, the main focus of her literary interpretation is to show how the erotic triangle Iago forms, fails because he (and Othello) fail to see each other’s desires. The academic conversation that this falls into is broadly gender at first, and then more specifically erotic or love triangles in literature as well as society. Karremann is E.K. Sedgwick work as her foundation; Sedgwick focused on recovering male homosocial bonds in literature and history. Women were used as property to legitimize male homosocial relationships and prevent homosexuality. Sedgwick believed that most homosocial bonds were a mask for homosexual desires; however, homosexuality threatened the patriarchy by subverting power structures. Using Sedgwick’s ideas, Karremann looks at how the erotic triangle becomes unstable, by transgressing social norms, and how it is used by Iago as tool for manipulation. Instead of using his triangle to develop a web of patriarchal bonds, Iago “exclusively” desires Othello, and their opposing desires destroy the stability of this triangle.
-Ben Mathews
