The Role of Chastity in Othello and Measure for Measure
...demona’s chastity will have the worst effects on Othello. Iago is constantly referred to as “honest”, meaning that he is always telling the truth. It is his honesty that will make Othello believe in his wife’s dishonesty. When Iago first suggests that Desdemona may not be faithful, Othello refuses to believe it. But as the scene continues, Iago keeps on pushing the idea. Taking notice on how she deceived her father when she married Othello, pointing out how much time Desdemona and Cassio have been spending together. As these things build up in Othello’s mind, Iago can sense that it bothers him, but Othello denies it, “Not a jot, not a jot” (ln 215). The thought of his beloved wife with one of his men tortures Othello’s mind. When Desdemona returns, she once again takes the role of a caring wife and tries to tend to her husband and his headache. But Othello ignores this; he is too consumed with other ideas to notice. Right after this, the handkerchief she received from Othello, the symbol of her honesty to her husband, is dropped and disregarded. That could have been Desdemona’s last chance at proving her honesty against Iago’s word. Towards the end of Act 3, Scene 3, Othello returns to Iago, visibly troubled with this new problem. “Thou hast set me on the rack” (ln 335) he exclaims, showing his confusion in the matter. Seeing this opportunity, Iago puts more ideas into Othello’s head concerning Desdemona. Now one must take notice that everything that Iago tells Othello does not prove anything about his wife. All that was used was words, and that was all it took to start Othello’s quest for the truth. Desdemona’s chastity was the most important thing to Othello. It determined what kind of woman his wife was, it determined what kind of man he was by choosing her as a wife. Chastity in Othello is what motivates the entire play. It is the basis of what causes the events that follow after this scene. It is so important that it drives Othello to murder his own wife to cure her of infidelity. When Desdemona dies, she loses her sexuality and regains her purity that was once so special to Othello. He would rather his wife be dead than live unfaithful to her husband. Chastity can be seen from a different perspective in another play written by Shakespeare at this time entitled Measure for Measure. Opposed to Othello whose view of chastity is shown from the perspective of a man, Measure for Measure’s view of chastity is shown more from the perspective of Isabella, a woman. Isabella is a very independent, self spoken woman. She never needs help in finding the words she wants to say. Her chastity is something of extreme importance to her, and when that is challenged, she does not hesitate in voicing her opinion. In Act 2, Scene 4 of Measure for Measure, Angelo, the temporary replacement of the Duke, asks Isabella for her virginity in exchange for her brother Claudio’s life, who is in jail for taking a woman’s virginity. Throughout the scene Angelo asks Isabella this, and every time he does she refuses. “I had rather give my body than my soul” (ln 55), she says to him. She would rather physically die than die inside from the wrongs she would do to her soul. He tries again a little later, “Admit no other way to save his life…You must lay down the treasures of your body” (lns 87, 95). Once again Isabella, never short on words, returns with “And ‘twere the cheaper way. Better it were a brother died at once than that a sister, by redeeming him, Should die forever” (lns 104-107). These requests by Angelo and rejections by Isabella are repeated several more times throughout the scene, and every time Isabella clearly makes her point on how important her chastity is to her. She believes that it would be morally better that her brother would physically die for his sins than to make her sister die forever spiritually. She would not be able to live with herself if she did something so extreme to her body. The way Isabella thinks strongly reflects the views of society in Shakespearean times. The audience would most likely side with her in her defense for her chastity. In this scene, Isabella is following society’s rules, while Angelo is breaking them. If he were to be caught, (and punishments were actually made in Vienna), he would be put to death as well. People would be outraged at the thought of the man in charge of monitoring the law would do such a thing. Isabella even calls him on this, stating that she will tell everyone about his bribery, “…with an outstretched throat I’ll tell the world aloud what man thou art” (ln 152, 3). This could be se...