"Speak of me as I am": Othello's and Desdemona's Farewell Words.

A literary criticism of the tragedy "Othello," by William Shakespeare is presented. It explores the farewell words of the characters Othello and Desdemona, the death speeches of Shakespeare's protagonists, the self-alienation expressed by Othello's speech, Othello's awareness of his racial identity, and author T. S. Eliot's interpretation of Othello's defensiveness and his need that others speak of him.