Fat + random brain dump on Othello's behavior

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    In Will Shakey’s Othello, once Iago lies to Othello about Desdemona and Cassio having an affair, he completely changes his views and lets his suspicion drive him to treat Desdemona poorly without allowing her to speak her truth. In no way do I support Othello’s behavior, but in a much less extreme sense, I have felt a few things similar to how Othello feels about Desdemona.

    Where Othello felt jealousy, I felt anxiety. Othello never allows Desdemona to speak her truth; any time she does, he denies her. When I was at a time when I was incredibly insecure about everything about myself and was also in a relationship (those two do not go well together for your mental health lol), I would always question why the other person stayed. Although I knew they were incredibly loyal, I feared they would one day cheat on me, lose interest, or abruptly leave. As a result, I always lived in anxiety and doubt, which constantly clouded my head even though, in the back of my mind, I knew it was silly to think that way. However, unlike Othello, I was aware of the flaws in my mind and was willing (and able) to grow out of it while being transparent with my significant other.

    So, no, I do not and will never support how poorly Othello treated Desdemona, but most slightly, I understand how his insecurities pushed him to believe Iago over Desdemona. But right after I wrote that sentence, I realized that I don’t think Othello was even insecure or had anxiety. And I don’t think the fact that someone is insecure makes them immature. I think Othello is simply irrational and does not respect or trust Desdemona enough to allow her to speak or simply believe in her. His jealousy and doubt, which he was unwilling to reasonably work through, led him to become corrupt. Even after killing Desdemona, he says he only killed her because he loved her enough to do so, so he is essentially gaslighting himself.


    Well, after that brain dump, I’d like to add that there is an Othello syndrome????? Why are there so many syndromes based on characters in literature?? Othello syndrome is also known as delusional/morbid jealousy. Here are a few reports of what people with this syndrome feel and act like:



Here's the link to the website where I got that chart. It has more information on Othello syndrome: linky link

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