Abstract
This thesis explores Toni Morrison’s play Desdemona in the context of its response to Shakespeare’s Othello as a way of recovering truths hidden in the margins of Shakespeare’s work. Morrison explores concepts and topics not addressed by Shakespeare—particularly Desdemona’s selfhood, her relationship with her mother, her bond with Othello, and her flawed view of others. Morrison also gives body to the marginalized black female presence through the character of Barbary/Sa’ran, whose contributions to the play emphasize the importance of song, narrative, and “the telling” of stories in the process of individual and cultural healing. Viewed alongside psychoanalytic theory, early modern history and scholarship, and Morrison’s own scholarly work, this thesis explores new insights brought to Shakespeare’s classic work and Morrison’s contribution to the body of literary discourse about love, selfhood, and black presence.