“‘Say Die and I Will Die’: Betraying the Other, Controlling Female Desire, and Legally Destroying Women in 'Wide Sargasso Sea' and Othello'”

Gruesser, John. “‘Say Die and I Will Die’: Betraying the Other, Controlling Female Desire, and Legally Destroying Women in Wide Sargasso Sea and Othello.” Journal of Caribbean Literatures, vol. 3, no. 3, 2003, pp. 99–109. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40986147. Accessed 21 July 2021.

In this essay, Gruesser asserts that Wide Sargasso Sea is not only Othello’s feminist counterpart, but also a postcolonial revision of Shakespeare’s infamous tragedy. The structure of the piece compares and contrasts both male protagonists, Othello and Rhys’s Rochester, and female protagonists, Desdemona and Antoinette. Although Gruesser suggests additional connections between other characters, the analysis fixates strongly on the primary couples of which each story details. First, Gruesser claims that Othello and Antoinette are framed as the colonial Other, but are further divided by other factors, such as nationality, gender, and status. They are united in character by the perspective of the Other, and subsequent treatment of both Antoinette and Othello, lead them to unravel spiritually, emotionally, and physically. The author explains that jealousy, insanity, shame, and obsessive desire are the result of the continuous pressure that Antoinette and Othello experience as foreign people under the metaphorical thumb of colonizers. 

The remaining half of the analysis then explores the similarities between Antoinette’s character and Desdemona. Both women are limited in their power, mostly due to their sex, but also in personality and the handling of their partner’s false accusations and later abuse. Given the historical and cultural context of the role of the female in English society, both Othello and Rochester are able and encouraged to pursue any thoughts of doubt with their wives, and are considered justified in their punishments of Desdemona and Antoinette. Within this lens, the men are unified in their villainy, while the women experience a similar destruction due to a gaslighting husband. 

--Emily Tushar

Decolonizing Othello in Search of Black Feminist North American Identities

Cucarella-Ramon, Vicent. “Decolonizing Othello in Search of Black Feminist

    North American Identities: Djanet Sears’ Harlem Duet and Toni Morrison’s

    Desdemona.” International Journal of English Studies (IJES), vol. 17, no. 1,

    2017, pp. 83–97

In “Decolonizing Othello in Search of Black Feminist North American Identities: Djanet Sears' Harlem Duet and Toni Morrison's Desdemona,” Cucarella-Ramon compares Harlem Duet by African Canadian playwright Djanet Sears and Desdemona by Toni Morrison to Shakespeare's Othello and uses them to to carve out a new definition of what it means to be black in North America and Canada. Cucarella-Ramon claims that these texts can be used when looking at the study of (black) identity construction within US and in relation - Canada. Through rethinking and rewriting Othello in the modern era, they create a social and racial reality “unrelentingly disrupted by difference and hybridity,” (Cucarella-Ramon 83). Or in other words, Cucarella-Ramon puts Harlem Duet and Desdemona in conversation with Othello to offer a modern look at race in Othello, and more importantly offer a way for African Americans and African Canadians a way to read Othello and be able to place themselves in the story. They also bring the role of women to the forefront to render a feminist and democratic definition of the black female self. Cucarella-Ramon thinks that these readings can offer a look into the black identity in North America. 

• Priscilla Adams 

"Stitching and Unstitching: Fabrications of Othello"

Brendon, Devika. "Stitching and Unstitching: Fabrications of Othello." The Hopkins Review, vol. 14, no. 1, 2021, pp. 74-86. doi.org/10.1353/thr.2021.0017.

In Brendon's article, "Stitching and Unstitching: Fabrications of Othello," she offers an examination "in the contexts of Postcolonial and Feminist criticism..." (74) of race in Othello, by drawing modern-day parallels and differences with a modern reenactment of the movie, Internal Affairs. Brendon argues that both "Othello's" are "strong-willed and strong-minded" (Ibid) men lending to their aggressive responses to the"Desdemona's" perceived conduct. In the movie, Andy Garcia's "Othello" violently slaps Desdemona (Nancy Travis) whereas Othello killed Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello.

But unlike the seventeenth century Desdemona, our modern version lives in a world where women have a more equal footing and can rationally communicate to Othello. Travis's character is more equipped to deal with the conflict than the original Desdemona. The modern Desdemona is "able to break down the manufactured distrust with communication: because she has standing in the relationship; because they are partners; because there is respect, and honesty, at the base of the connection" (75).

Brendon argues that part of the dysfunction between Desdemona and Othello in Shakespeare's original origin arises from their racial differences; Othello subconsciously/unconsciously is motivated to act and react because of his race. The continual subtext of him constantly having to prove himself makes him this hyper-sensitive and reactive character. As Brendon asserts " Being an honored dinner guest of a Senator and being his son-in-law and the father of his grandchildren are two different matters" (82).

-David Kase

“Desdemona, Woman Warrior: ‘O, These Men, These Men!"

Holmer, Joan Ozark. “Desdemona, Woman Warrior: ‘O, These Men, These Men!" (4.3.59).” Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England, vol. 17, 2005, pp. 132–164. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24322724. Accessed 28 June 2021.

Summary of the article:

In the article by Joan Ozark Holmer for Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England, Holmer argues that Desdemona is perhaps the bravest warrior ever presented on stage. She is “literally a warrior in the Christian sense, with faith as her shield” and figuratively a warrior in a secular sense, with her tongue as her sword (133). What follows is a critical analysis proving that Desdemona is a perfect Christian warrior as per Erasmus’s The Handbook of the Christian Soldier, with several arguments as to Desdemona’s heroics. One such argument is how she is a warrior in front of Othello, by testifying on his behalf before her father and the Senate, and by imploring the Duke to let her stand by his side in Cypress. Further testimony from Holmer is that Desdemona learns through adversity when she discovers that Othello is not as pure of mind as she had thought, and she fights for Cassio. She does this not for herself, but for Othello’s own good, knowing that Cassio loves Othello. The most substantial argument from Holmer that Desdemona is a woman warrior is that she ultimately does not rebuke Othello for her own murder, but continues to love him and tries to save both his reputation and his soul. In her final lines, she cries out that she has been falsely murdered. She cries this out to Othello, so that he might know his misdeed and repent for it, but when asked by Emilia to confirm who has killed her, she lies as though she has committed suicide, thus saving her husband’s reputation and tarnishing her own. That she would focus so much effort on redeeming her husband’s soul and continuing to love him to the last, argues Holmer, shows that Desdemona is indeed a woman warrior.

-- Wes Wingert

“Desdemona and the Role of Women in the Antebellum North”

Kahn, Edward. “Desdemona and the Role of Women in the Antebellum North.” Theatre Journal, vol. 60, no. 2, 2008, pp. 235–255. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25070199. Accessed 26 June 2021.

Kahn argues that the varied interpretations of Desdemona’s character during the post-civil war period was a reflection of Northern culture.  This time period reflected a shift in attitudes about race and sex, and Desdemona became a “cultural icon” for many men and women (235). The main discussion topics took on three main forms: Desdemona as the virtuous woman who is the expert on human emotions, as the sensible woman reflected the “cult of domesticity”, or as a reflection of the women’s abolitionist movement (251). Kahn examines performances during this time period to support his analysis, but spends much time examining the writings of two critics: John Quincy Adams and Norman Hudson. Adams maintains that Desdemona is a “wonton figure” who betrays “her father, her family, her sex, and her country” (245). In addition, Adams spends time critiquing interracial marriage. In contrast, Hudson focuses on the women’s movement and separates Desdemona from it while also arguing for female passivity (251).  The article examines arguments for and against the varying portrayals of Desdemona but maintains that she was a fluid figure that was used to justify a political point of view.

-Tracie Yule