https://www.google.com/search?depictionofothello

This painting, as simple as it seems, portrays the play Othello in a dark manner, giving away the mood of the closing scene for the play. In the painting one could see the still body of Desdemona, smothered to death by the previously enraged Othello; still glowing peacefully on the bed and pillow. The light that is emitted from her and the light that brightens her surroundings symbolize the purity and innocence that she had retained and taken along with her to her death. The rest of the image is covered in darkness, giving the viewer a sense of sorrow and regret. This is mainly focused upon Othello, whom is seen crying in the center of the painting. Othello is covering his face in respond to the shame he felt for not believing his wife’s constant begs for her innocence. However his angry and doubts that clouded his mind had overtaken him, causing him to do the unforgiveable, murdering his own wife. The way he positions himself bend over in shame represents the realization that he cannot undo what he had just done. This is where the sword comes into play in the painting. The sword, the darkest object in the painting, represents the end of Othello. It will be the object that takes Othello’s live shortly after Desdemona’s death, used by Othello in order to kill himself. He simply cannot live with himself after he had murdered his innocent wife. Before his suicide, Othello states that he was “one that loved not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous, but being wrought, perplexed in the extreme..”(Act 5, sc 2, 404-406) . In this quote Othello expresses how that his extreme love for Desdemona caused him to be vulnerable to be manipulated and tormented into thinking that his wife was committing acts of betrayal.