the trouble with gender in othello - Auburn University Electronic ...

Desdemona’s exposure of “a limit of his capacity to simulate love,”, that is,
Iago’s inability to play word games with the type of proficiency that
Desdemona, Othello, and Cassio can. Even more simply, Iago leads Othello to
the decision to “strangle her (Desdemona) in her bed, even the bed she hath
contaminated.” (IV.i.206-207) because he is embarrassed by Desdemona,
although Zender sees Iago’s motivations as “less about her death than her and
Othello’s silence” (Zender 332). This is particularly interesting when connected
to my theory that Iago serves to reestablish the status quo because Desdemona
has a pronounced tendency towards transgressive speech, insisting on her own
subjectivity, and the prime way that Othello’s transgression in allowing
Desdemona to be a subject is shown by his calling her by her name, and not
insisting on relegating her only to her role as his wife or Brabantio’s daughter.
Therefore, it is only logical that Iago would need to ‘silence’ them both, as their
subversive speech is the most apparent aspect of Desdemona and Othello’s
transgression.
A great deal of the subversion inherent in the actions of Othello and
Desdemona have been demonstrated by their spoken words: Desdemona’s
unapologetic claiming of “I” in her speech to her father, Othello’s propensity to
both address and refer to Desdemona by name, not status. As the enforcer of the
oppressive script, it is unsurprising that Iago in the final scene of the play claims
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