To Die Upon a Kiss

The end of Othello gave me a lot of material for my paper, because there are an abundance of deaths for me to analyze! What struck me at first was that even though Iago is the main cause of all of the deaths in the play, he doesn't actually die in the play, although it's implied that he will. So none of the deaths in Othello are really about justice. Everyone who dies is in some way a victim of Iago's manipulation. Roderigo (Iago's henchman of sorts) is the first to die while trying to kill Cassio on Iago's orders. In a way he dies for love, since he is helping Iago in the hope that Desdemona will end up with him. Desdemona is next to die after being suffocated by a jealous Othello. She dies bravely, refusing even to accuse Othello of being her murderer. Emilia, Iago's wife, is next when Iago kills her for revealing his secret plot. She dies for remaining loyal to Desdemona. Both she and Desdemona are completely innocent and loyal to the end. In contrast, Othello's death is much more complicated, since he commits suicide due to the guilt of killing his innocent wife and probably also because of the pain of being separated from her (Romeo and Juliet style). His suicide is also likely motivated by a desire to maintain some sort of honor, as evidenced by the way he reminds everyone of his achievements on the battlefield right before he stabs himself. All of these deaths are a culmination of themes that run throughout the play such as jealousy, loyalty, identity, reputation, and love.
After reading the end of Othello, I watched a few different performances of the ending scene and also watched several performances from the ending scenes of other tragedies. There were some very striking similarities. King Lear, Hamlet, and Othello all ended with multiple bodies lying on the stage after several characters died in sequence throughout a single scene. The final lines of Othello and Romeo were also very similar, as they both died kissing their dead (or supposedly dead) wife. Also, both Othello and Hamlet pleaded for someone to tell their stories as they died. All of this gives me a whole lot to dig into and explore further for my paper. I'm not sure yet exactly what my thesis will be, but I think I have a lot to work off of.