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Alchemy in Othello - Paul Ferguson - 06-23-2023
Thesis by Sarita Rich.
"While many of Shakespeare’s alchemical allusions are noted for their language of
positive regeneration and healing, the playwright’s departures from these conventional uses of
alchemy deserve further attention. This essay presents an examination of inversions in the
redemptive alchemical paradigm of Othello, a play whose connections to alchemy are not
announced by obvious references to gold making, the philosopher's stone, or other key terms
relating to the discourse of the opus that a modern audience is likely to recognize. I argue that in
Othello, alchemical allusions are more subtly deployed in the language that describes Othello
and Desdemona’s marriage, in the metaphorical speech of Othello’s self-doubt, in Desdemona’s
characterization, and in Iago’s references to medicine."
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3719&context=etd