Medea: What spirit, what god listens to you, you liar, you breaker of oaths, you deceiver of guests?

Jason: You are loathsome. You murdered our children.

Medea: Get out of here, go – go bury your’ wife.

Jason: I’m leaving, bereft of my sons.

Medea: Do you think that you’re mourning them now? Just wait till you’re old.

Jason: Oh, dearest children

Medea: To me, not to you.

Jason: And yet you still did this?

Medea: To make you feel pain.

Othello: Why, any thing:

an honourable murderer, if you will;

For nought I did in hate, but all in honour.

Lodovico: This wretch hath part confess’d his villany:

did you and he consent in Cassio’s death?

Othello: Ay.

Cassio: Dear general, I never gave you cause.

Othello: I do believe it, and I ask your pardon.

Will you, I pray, demand that demi-devil

why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body?

For my “analysis of a connection” piece I chose to show how Othello differs from Medea. Both characters were the centerpieces of their stories and unforeseen events lead both of them to commit murder. It can be argued whether their actions were unjust or not, but this piece is not a judgement of their actions, rather it is a comparison of each characters thought process and motive. In the first reading we see Medea and her ex husband Jason last conversation. In it Jason calls out Medea for being a cruel and “loathsome” person for murdering their children after Jason decided to divorce Medea for a new wife. She proceeds to rub it in his face telling him as the years go by he will mourn and miss them more. She also tells him to get out of her face more or less and to go bury his wife. It is my understanding that she is so hurt and caught up in his past actions that she NEEDS him to hear it from her mouth, calling another woman his wife. Finally the conversation ends with her literally saying that she took their own children’s lives just to make Jason feel pain. There is no other possible motive or defense behind Medea’s actions, her crime was committed solely based on revenge.

Othello’s case differs from Medea’s because his motive was not the same. Unlike Medea who was directly betrayed by the person she was in love with, Othello was betrayed by the people surrounding his relationship. Unfortunately, these “friends” did such a good job at leading Othello to believe that Desdemona betrayed him, that it ultimately caused him to take her life. The text above shows a conversation Othello is having with a friend after he has murdered his wife. In it he states that his murder was not out of hate, or in Medea’s case “revenge”, but rather out of honor. Honor in that he loved her so deeply he did not believe either of them deserved to live if she had truly betrayed her. He then admits to consenting to his friends death as Iago had convinced Othello that Cassio was the one Desdemona was cheating on him with. Othello in hindsight realizes it was all a coup, and admits he was mislead by a bad friend, asks that Cassio pardon his betrayal and ill wishes.

So through these readings we see that although two characters both murdered their spouses, each of them were lead to these actions by different circumstances. In the end one murdered for revenge, and the other, for honor.

Did you guys agree or disagree with the difference in motive between Othello and Desdemona?