Love is blind ...

Posted by Smokey Stover on March 22, 2006

In Reply to: Love is blind ... posted by R. Berg on March 17, 2006

: : I would like to be able to fully understand what the quote love is blind but jealousy has 20-20 vision mean. I would also like to know how it relates to the play othello by shakesphere.

: A full understanding of that line might take a lifetime to achieve. Are you willing to settle for partial fullness? To relate it to "Othello," consider how love and jealousy influence each character's actions, especially the title character's. Notice how easily Othello changes his mind about his wife. Is he right or wrong each time? What does he "see" and "not see"?

To elaborate a bit on Bergie's thought (possibly more than she would like), someone truly in love will overlook a lot in the object of his love--he will not see her faults. But a jealous man or woman will see every little fault--especially if it can be twisted to suggest some lack of fidelity on the loved one's part. Not to suggest that Desdemona had any faults to observe, but surely Othello in his first love for her would have overlooked any flaw. But once roused to jealousy and suspicion by Iago he sees everything differently. With 20-20 vision, but wearing the wrong glasses. Great play! If you haven't read it, do so. And if you love opera, see Verdi's Otello--a great rendering of a great play, and in some people's minds (like mine) Verdi's greatest opera. SS