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

legitimacy of the authority, […] are the keys to the whole system.
(Stone 109)
If the entire system of patriarchal authority depends on the “willing acceptance”
of those subjected by it, (as well as those who must, perforce do the subjecting)
Desdemona’s action in eloping is without a doubt a socially transgressive action,
but can also be classified as a sexual transgression for several reasons. First
among these reasons is that she disobeys her father to whom she owes “life and
education” for, all intents and purposes, sex. While it is easy to discount the
sexual aspect of marriage when dealing with historical periods in which
contractual marriage was the norm, the sexual element must not be overlooked,
not least of which because of the procreative nature of marriage. To a man such
as Brabantio, a nobleman who has no other child besides Desdemona, it is not
only her “fortunes” that are now tied to the Moor, but Brabantio’s genetic lineage
and monetary wealth as well; the overarching importance of dynastic marriage,
the purpose of passing on wealth and family traits is one the tools that Iago uses
so effectively to raise Brabantio’s ire against his daughter and new son in law:
“the devil will make a grandsire of you. […] you’ll have your nephews neigh to
you; you’ll have coursers for cousins, and gennets for germans” (I.i.99, 124-126).
Therefore, what should seem a private choice becomes a matter for
dynastic concern. Returning to Butler, specifically her explication of Levi-
Strauss’ The Elementary Structures of Kinship, will help to illuminate the depth of
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