Picture from http://hammondcoxcasting.com/othello-peckham

This picture shows half of Desdemona’s and half of Othello’s Face. The photo obviously refers to their marriage, one man and one girl. But this picture has an even greater significance. It points to why they are married. The marriage was a surprise to many of the characters for a multitude of reasons. Two of the most important were them being interracial and their age gap. Furthermore, Desdemona and Othello didn’t have a generic courtship, there were no dates, and their love wasn’t made public. However, Othello did win Desdemona’s heart. He won her heart by telling his life stories to Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. Desdemona loved hearing the stories and in response grew to love Othello for how interesting and brave of a man he was. She wanted to be adventurous and explore the world just as Othello had, even asking to go to war with him (Act 1 Scene 3 Line 260). Desdemona was intrigued by Othello and wanted to be like him (click here for a more in-depth post about this), and in response Othello loved how she felt about his stories. Neither of them felt lust or love, but instead Desdemona loved how Othello was everything she wanted to be. So Othello was, in a way, completing her as her “other half.”