drusillathekiller:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer inhabits a sea of Shakespeare references throughout its seven year run, but none more so intriguing than its allusions to Othello.

Thought to have been penned in 1603, Othello follows the eponymous general and his ill-fated love affair with Desdemona. Though he’s initially smitten with his bride, he eventually smothers her to death after Iago- Othello’s ensign – tells him she’s been unfaithful. After discovering Desdemona’s innocence, Othello commits suicide, and the play ends on an eerily abrupt note. So how does this depressing emulsion of marriage and murder link to The Buffyverse?

One word; Spike.

Our first reference to the play is in the episode School Hard;

Drusilla: I can’t see her. The Slayer, I can’t see! It’s dark where she is…Kill her. Kill her, Spike. Kill her for me?

Spike: It’s done, baby.

Drusilla: Kill her for princess?

Spike: I’ll chop her into messes.

This is an exact quote from the play (act 4, scene 1), wherein which Othello is reeling in wake of rumors about his wife’s supposed infidelity. Like a pendulum, he swings between despairing about how much he loves Desdemona, and how much he’d love to kill her. This is not too dissimilar to Spike’s dynamic with Buffy, especially upon comparing the quotes;

Othello: Turn thy complexion there, patience, thou young and rose-lipped cherubin – ay, there look grim as hell. (…) O thou weed, who art so lovely fair, and smell’st so sweet that the senses ache at thee.

Spike: I hope she fries! I’m free if that bitch dies! …I better help her out.

Here we see a striking parallel between Othello and Spike’s attitude towards the women in their lives (or un-life). They violently swing between abusive and worshipful thoughts about their romantic interests every other second. Additionally, they both spend a lot of time pondering on whether or not they want to kill them, do some unspeakably horrible things (suffocating Desdemona/ the infamous Seeing Red scene), and then ultimately die as penance, though whether or not they’re redeemed in the audience’s eyes is a polarizing debate. As such, one must wonder whether the reference in School Hard was stealth foreshadowing. 

Furthermore, Spike was established as a well-read bookworm in his youth who probably knew he was quoting the play, not to mention its context of a jealous husband lamenting that he can’t have Desdemona to himself…Does that mean that he already subconsciously knew he was attracted to Buffy? Before he even set eyes on her? Whatever to make of this nugget of information…

The second Othello allusion is in the episode Crush;

Buffy: (to Spike) whatever you think you’re feeling, it’s not love. You can’t love without a soul.

Drusilla: Oh, we can you know. We can love quite well…If not wisely.

This is a paraphrasing of Othello’s parting words before he commits suicide, pleading; 

“Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but all too well.”

And of course it makes sense for Drusilla to be drawing inspiration from this speech, one of obsessive, possessive love with wild highs and brutal lows. Vampires by default seem to have similarly dysfunctional relationships, but Dru in particular holds comparison to the Shakespearean tragedy…She is rather similar to Desdemona, right down to the pure white gowns and character theme of suffering (Desdemona literally translates to ‘misery’). Desdemona’s story is one of a docile and devout Christian, committed to being a pure, good person…Who is begrimed by a sadistic figure who ruins her life for no good reason (Iago/Angelus). Interestingly, the first Othello reference takes place in Drusilla’s first appearance, and the last Othello reference in her last.