Saturday, January 19, 2013

In Othello, what is the significance of the bedroom in the ending scene? Its metaphoric qualities, ownership of space, and control?

Certainly, Iago and not Othello is the master of the bedroom, which is why the death scene in which Othello ultimately fails as a general and a husband takes place in the bedroom. However, I would not call the bedroom in Othello a symbol of love. Iago tells Roderigo that the source of his conflict with Othello is jealousy, but he tells the audience that "it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office." So Iago believes that Othello has slept with Emilia, making the underlying conflict between the characters sexual in nature, even if there is no evidence that Othello actually had sex with her.

Emilia's later comments that she would have sex with another man "i' the dark" suggests that Iago's wife has turned the bedroom into battleground. Ironically, Emilia believes that she is acting only for Iago's best to "make him a monarch," but from Iago's asides to the audience and his disrespect for women, we can infer that Iago doesn't appreciate this.

So, having the final conflict in the bedroom emphasizes that this has always been Iago's game. He felt slighted and insulted in the bedroom, and he attacked Othello in that same area in an attempt to even the score.

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