Blog 9

Othello was a story about relationships and trust, to be quite simplistic. Some of these friendships were very close and were sprinkled with undertones that some readers have picked up on. In article by Robert Matz called ‘Slander Renaissance and Discourses of Sodomy, and Othello” he looks into the ways that Othello supports the regulation of desire between men and women and also men and men. In this article he argues how the relationships between the men can be seen as homoerotic and the power that these relationships give the men in the political field.
Matz uses another article called “Homosexuality and the Signs of Male Friendship in Elizabethan England” by Alan Bray as parallel support to his argument. He uses Bray’s article to help support the way in which the word sodomy is used at the time. He goes on to say that opponents can use sodomy as a political attack. It can be used as an accusation without much evidence. This was effective in the days of Renaissance England. The friendships between men were much closer and affectionate than they are today. It was not uncommon for two men to sleep in the same bed together. With these visions in mind, it wasn’t a long shot for men to accuse another men of committing sodomy. Matz also compares the relationships between Othello, Desdemona, and other men of the play. He explains how the closeness of Cassio and Othello can easily be seen as homoerotic. The relationship between Othello Cassio and Desdemonia can be seen as a love triangle in which Cassio and Desdemon are sexually involved with Othello. But it could also look as if their relationships were strictly heterosexual. Matz makes a great point when he brings up the fact that Cassio was the go-between when Othello was trying to get close to Desdemonia then later the role was reversed when Desdemona was the go-between when she was trying to help vindicate Cassio. Matz believes that this could be seen as a underlying romance between Cassio and Othello. He thinks that Othello could have really been upset because Cassio, who was his lover, made love to Desdemona theirfore Cassio was the infidel as well as Desdemona.

This article gave me a more in depth analysis of the homoerotic nature of the play. I could definitely notice some of the homoerotic undertones, but this article does a good job of explaining it in depth. The author ties the history of male-male relationships in the Renaissance era and analyses the characters relationships. I found this helpful because I didn’t go all the way with the belief that there was something more between Othello and Cassio besides a heterosexual friendship. I find how this new point of view can add what might not necessarily be portrayed as a comment on the acts of a homosexual man in the following passage:

Iago: Will you think so?
Othello: Think so, Iago?
Iago: What, To kiss in private?
Othello: An unauthoriz'd kiss!
Iago: Or to be naked with her friend in bed
An hour, or more, not meaning any harm? (4.1. 1-5)

I can definitely agree with the author on this topic. But I think a critical eye can create things that weren’t meant to be portrayed. His use of quotes in the play to support his judgment is good and it adds much credence to his argument. While his point of view is interesting and the evidence is solid, I think it his logic that can be a little flawed. I don’t necessarily feel that Cassio and Othello had a homosexual relationship happening. Although I can not really prove it because Shakespeare is dead and the characters are fictitious I still believe that they weren’t homosexuals simply because it isn’t glaringly obvious to me. Some men have very close relationships, and it seems in those times, the men were able to have much closer heterosexual relationships.








Greenblatt, Stephen. The Norton Shakespeare, Second Ed. New York, London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2008.
Matz, Robert. "Slander, Renaissance Discourses of Sodomy, and Othello." (1999)