Yet She Must Die, plate eleven from Othello

Shakespeare’s Othello tells the story of a Moorish general who is manipulated by his evil advisor, Iago, into murdering his wife, Desdemona. In this scene set in a lavish chamber, Othello gazes upon the slumbering Desdemona with a look of unmistakable sadness. Chassériau elegantly depicted the conflict within Othello’s mind through gesture, as he clutches at his heart. The emphatic way the figure of Othello is rendered in almost total darkness, in contrast to Desdemona’s blinding whiteness, recalls the atmospheric etching effects of Rembrandt.