Love is often positively correlated with the duration of time that partners know each other. Most often, relationships begin with a friendship or some connection between two people, which then serves as a building block for love and marriage in the future. Knowledge is a piece of this foundation for a relationship; with time comes better knowledge of a partner. It is this knowledge that enables relationships to either be successful or dim

A hasty relationship implies limited knowledge of one’s partner, thus leading us to question whether Othello and Desdemona really know each other enough to be in love. The reasons for Othello’s “love” for Desdemona are not typical of someone who is truly in love, but more closely show the feelings of someone who is lusting over their significant other for various reasons. Othello states, “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them” (1.2.166-167). Although this quote shows Othello’s narcissism, the fact that he is so self-indulged when involving someone that he “loves” shows that he is not in love with Desdemona. Besides, out of all the reasons for loving someone, is pity really all that he could come up with? In statements such as this, it is apparent that love is not what Othello seeks or finds; his search is for something to possess and to attain power over. In this case, Othello’s drive for power is led by his sexual desires therefore implying lust. An instance of Othello’s sex drive kicking in is when he is speaking to the senate. In this scene, Othello states, “Vouch with me, heaven, I therefore beg it not / To please the palate of my appetite, / Nor to comply with heat—the young affects / In me defunct […] / But to be free and bounteous to her mind” (1.3. 256-260). It seems that Othello is declaring way too much information, almost as if it is exaggerated. The fact that he is doing this, and saying what he is saying, leads one to ponder the idea that he is lying and that what he is denying is in fact how he is feeling; Desdemona’s mind is not what he is after. Othello’s narcissistic ways, his exaggerations, and his relentless search for power, all point towards disbelief in Othello’s love for Desdemona. It is through this search for power that Othello learns that there are those you can trust, and those that you are unable to; in his mind, Desdemona is one of the people that he should put little trust into. Not only is trust an issue, but the promptness with which Othello reacts to issues involving Desdemona’s unfaithfulness.

Even at the stage when Othello has completely succumbed to Iago’s suggestions (and his own), he still operates with the self-indulgent nature that he had before he truly decided his truth of Desdemona’s infidelity. Within a matter of hours, Othello has gone from stating his love for Desdemona, to telling of his distrust of her and his certainty of her unfaithfulness. He distrusts Desdemona so much that he has Iago “set on thy wife to observe” (3.3.240), watching her every move in order to prove that she is unfaithful. Before he ever gets any evidence, Othello speaks of “[having] a pain on my forehead, here” (3.3.283), referring to being a cuckold before he even knows whether Desdemona has cheated on him or not. The fact that Othello jumps to conclusions and distrusts Desdemona shows that it is highly unlikely that he is in love with her; one is typically more jealous and quick to jump to conclusions

Some topics in this essay:
Desdemona Iago, Desdemona Besides, Desdemona Othello, Porsche Owning, Othello Othello’s, Othello Act, Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello Desdemona, Sentimentalist’s Othello”, Roderigo Iago, desdemona othello, desdemona love, love othello, relationship desdemona, love desdemona, “love” actually lust, distrusts desdemona, othello able, feelings desdemona, hasty relationship, chooses kill,