ABSTRACT
Critics should not regard Desdemona as an allegory of Mary, or Christ, precisely because crucial to the role of these figures in medieval and Renaissance Europe was their absolute uniqueness. Critics have often seen a dramatic medieval structure within Othello, a psychomachia in which Desdemona and Iago embody, respectively, a good and bad angel vying for the soul of Everyman, Othello. To appreciate Shakespeare's theological sophistication, however, it is necessary to briefly review the major Marian concepts relevant to Desdemona. Shakespeare demonstrates his familiarity with this Augustinian tradition so frequently that it is worth reviewing his other dramatic illustrations of this concept in order to understand its relevance to Othello. On an Augustinian, Marian interpretation of Othello, a reading strongly supported by the text of the play itself and apparently invited by Shakespeare, one can retain hope that the loving, unchanging, merciful will of Desdemona, together with flights of angels, may yet sing Othelloto his rest.
