Desdemona's Innocence In Othello

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Othello is livid after hearing the “confession” and kills Desdemona. In the minutes leading up to her death, Desdemona insists that she is innocent, and begs Othello to let her live so she can prove her innocence:
DESDEMONA. Kill me to-morrow: let me live to-night!
OTHELLO. Nay, if you strive--
DESDEMONA. But half an hour!
OTHELLO. Being done, there is no pause.
DESDEMONA. But while I say one prayer!
OTHELLO. It is too late. (5.3.96-101)
The fact that Othello wouldn’t even let Desdemona live a few minutes to prove her innocence demonstrates the extent of Iago’s manipulations on him. Iago was able to successfully convince Othello to murder the woman he loved.
Similarly, in Macbeth, the witches were able to successfully lure Macbeth in to killing the king (with the help of Lady Macbeth) and many others in order to seize and protect his position of king. In addition, both characters’ crimes were also partially motivated by wounded prided – Lady Macbeth taunted Macbeth with his manliness to convince him to kill the king, and Othello kills Desdemona because he feels she wounded his manly pride (even though he was reluctant to kill her at first), and therefore she must be punished.
In Macbeth, Macbeth’s tragic flaw of ambition is the biggest contributor to his downfall. Macbeth’s ambition is what allowed him to believe what the witches told him, despite Banquo’s warnings – Macbeth believed what the witches because he desperately wanted what they were saying to be true. As soon as he hears the prophecies, he starts to contemplate murdering Duncan to seize the throne: “Stars hide your fires/Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.57-58). Macbeth himself states that the only reason he has for murdering Duncan i...

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... by grief and commits suicide. Similarly, in Macbeth, Macbeth was too late to discover that he was tricked by the witches, and is killed by Macduff. Their flaws also cause them to lose touch with reality: Othello believes that his wife – who was always faithful and loving towards him – is cheating on him, and Macbeth becomes suspicious of and killed anyone who he believed posed a threat to his throne. In both cases, the characters’ tragic flaw is what leads to their downfall and causes them to see things that are not necessarily there.
Shakespeare’s Othello and Macbeth portray how easy it is to manipulate someone by playing on their weakness. Othello and Macbeth both started out as brave and honourable people who were admired by their acquaintances, but are slowly lead to their downfall thorough the wrong people knowing their weaknesses and playing on them.

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