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The character Desdemona in William Shakespeare’s play Othello holds on to her dignified behavior until the very end, when her life is taken by her jealous husband, is indicative not only of her chaste mind, but also of her virtuous fortitude. Women of that time were largely seen mostly one of two extremes – either virtuous or licentious. Desdemona’s strength as a virtuous woman are clearly illustrated in two pivotal scenes in Shakespeare’s play: in her poise when confronted with her husband’s collapse of his gentlemanly facade; and in the dignified way she faces her own demise head-on, feeble on affirmations, yet overflowing with grace.
In Act 4, Scene 2, Desdemona proves herself as a lady in her discussion with the evil Iago, who, unbeknownst to her, is the cause of her chagrin. Although she bewails that Othello has called her a whore, she herself does not stoop to insults. Proudly, she declares, “Unkindness may do much” and, in a moment of disturbing foreshadowing, states “And his unkindness may defeat my life” (IV.ii. 164-65). Though virtuous to a fault, she remains dignified and affirms, “I cannot even say ‘whore.’ / It does abhor me now I speak the word; / To do the act that might the addition earn / Not the world’s mass of vanity could make me” (166-69).
During the tragic conclusion of the play, in Act 5 scene 2, Othello suffocates his adored Desdemona in the erroneous belief of her infidelity. She nevertheless departs with dignity. She does not wail but instead she merely states: “O, falsely, falsely murdered!” (130). One is left to wonder if she is referring to herself or to Cassio; regardless, these words are simply matter-of-fact and are not the emotion-driven cries one would normally expect from a person facing her own execution. Through her dying breath, Desdemona states clearly, “A guiltless death I die” (136). Her mistress Emilia, obviously overcome with emotion, pleads to Desdemona to name the killer, crying, “Help! Help, ho! Help! O lady, speak again!” (134) and “O, who hath done this deed?” (137).
With a quiet composure on her deathbed, Desdemona cryptically tells Emilia, “Nobody—I myself. Farewell” (138). Was she a self-loving character who had the ability to love others unconditionally? Or was she a fool who accepted her worldly fate in the belief that, by doing so, she was being righteous? Othello appears to be more of a weak character to succumb to misguided vanity and jealousy than Desdemona in meeting her own end with dignity.
Throughout the play, although she seems to be soft-spoken until the end, she is never deceitful or rude towards people unnecessarily. She tries her best to help Cassio regain his position and to maintain her marriage with Othello and has no ill will in her heart. DESDEMONA. How now, my lord? I have been talking with a suitor here, A man that languishes in your displeasure.
Othello is a play that asks us to examine the position of women in society. This play explores issues such as clandestine marriage, accusations of adultery, and it includes three different social classes of women. First, we have Desdemona, this is a woman from a noble family in Venice and has the least amount of freedom. Her behavior was watched very carefully. The perception of Desdemona is created by the language that other characters use to describe her. In Act 2, Scene 1, Cassio refers to Desdemona as ‘a maid/That paragons description and wild fame’; that she
In equation with the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare offers us a male dominated society in his renowned tragedy, Othello. Consequently, this definitely persuades a negative attitude and demeanor towards the women of the times. The female characters in the play: Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca; play relevant roles in contributing to one’s understanding of this exhausted Elizabethan view. In contrast to the larger portion of the play, Emilia, spouse to the scandalous Iago, takes an opinionated stand for Desdemona in relation to her wholesome gone sour relationship with the Moor of Venice, Othello. I recognize Emilia’s “Betrayal lecture” as a justified outlook in accordance with today’s period and events surrounding Desdemona’s and Othello’s fatal misunderstanding.
When Iago advises Othello to be wary of Desdemona, Othello declares to Iago that he is sure that Desdemona is chaste. Yet, he cannot help but think Desdemona is not who she seems to be. When he says, “And yet, how nature erring from itself,” he is proposing that Desdemona had departed her wifely duties for some other man (III.iii.267). Later, when Iago says, “Her will, recoiling to her better judgement, / May fall to match you with her country forms / and happily repent,” he is alluding that it is Desdemona’s nature to go after someone of her own race (III.iii.276-278). While entertaining this thought, Othello
Though her world was fall apart with Iago creating false images of an affair between her and Cassio to Othello, Desdemona strangely remains kind, innocent, and willing to grant grace. When Cassio approaches her for help, she quickly agrees to help her old friend. While she discusses relationships with Emilia, she rejects all thoughts of infidelity. She had every reason to fight Othello when Othello carries out her murder, yet she resist only a little, She responses, “The Lord have mercy on me…[and] mercy on you too” to Othello’s “Thou diest” (Othello 5.2.50; 71-74). When she is briefly revived and quested by Emilia as to who her murderer is, Desdemona only replies, “I myself” (Othello 5.2.152).
While Desdemona appears to be all that is good to the audience, it must be remembered that she betrayed her father's trust when she married Othello and she later lied to her husband about the handkerchief which was to become so important. To Othello, Desdemona appears to be "that cunning whore of Venice".
It is apparent that Othello idolizes Desdemona, through the language he uses in describing her as well as how he treats her during their interactions. While most female characters in the play are oppressed and demeaned by their male partners, Othello’s respect for Desdemona is a testament of his feeling inadequate and strive to entice her. Although he has an alterior motive of evading a conviction of witchcraft to win Desdemona’s heart, he confesses to many noblemen including Barbantio, Desdemona’s father, that Desdemona does not love him, just his war stories. Incidentally, his war accomplishments were the only way a man of his background would be able to be so close to a prestigious woman such as Desdemona in a time plagued with so much racism. In the second scene of Act V, Othello has been pushed well beyond his breaking...
Her confession then confirms that Desdemona was faithful and did not deserve to die and as a result she shows one that love can be foolish and naïve. Her love and loyalty to Iago causes her to deceive her friend and this ends with both women being killed because the love they possessed for too foolish men. Othello is responsible for murdering Desdemona; Iago is
Within Shakespeare’s Othello there is an analysis into the context of the female. Brabantio’s rhyming couplet “Look to her, Moor, If thou hast eyes to see/ She has deceived her father, and may thee,” demonstrates his domineering and patronising attitude, as the Elizabethan era was a patriarchal society and the role of the female was to be ‘obedient’ to their father or husband. Brabantio also endeavours into placing a seed of doubt in Othello’s mind as a result of his jealousy. Consequentially Brabantio objectifies Desdemona when he states, “Where has thou stow’d my daughter?” exemplifying how he deems her as a possession, which can be stolen like any other. Othello prolongs this objectification through asserting that he “won his daughter” portraying Desdemona as a prize to be won, and a possession to be owned and argued over by husband and father. Desdemona is depicted early on in the play as the “angel” wi...
She never truly changes, even after all of the hardships that she faces throughout. Her final words illustrate how powerful and loyal she was. She says to Emilia, “Nobody; I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord. O farewell” (V, ii, 125-6). Before saying this, Othello strangled and tried to kill Desdemona. He thought that she was dead, but just as Emilia came in, Desdemona said her last few words. Emilia asked her what happened and who had done this to her. And in response, Desdemona said that quote above. Although Othello was the one who killed her, she did not want to expose her husband. She remained loyal to him even after all of the terrible things that he did to her. Desdemona never said anything negative about Othello throughout the play, and did not use animal imagery once. Although not every character was evil, the ones who used animal imagery were truly separated from those who never used
In Greek, Desdemona means ‘the unfortunate’, perhaps reflecting an ideology that she is not meant to be liked, merely pitied for her misfortune as a tragic victim (commonly defined as someone who dies due to the faults of others). Throughout Othello, Desdemona is presented as pure and innocent – in regards to this, Auden’s comment is unusual as Desdemona is seldom criticised; indeed many critics are complementary, giving her titles such as ‘gentle Desdemona’.
In his novel Othello, William Shakespeare reveals Desdemona and Emilia’s courage through situations involving conflict to portray the ability for women to stand up for themselves as he exhibits his idea of feminism through their actions. The courageous attitudes of these women and their passionate voice grew stronger throughout the play as they eventually died, staying true to their beliefs. This transformation parallels the rights of women over history, as the female population progressed very slowly towards a more equal position in society. With Shakespeare being an advocate for women’s unheard voices during the Elizabethan period, he is able to use Desdemona and Emilia’s characteristics to contrast what the world was like during that era, and how he viewed and wished the world would function.
Next, a reader must understand the women of the play from a gender based perspective. There is a gender contradiction in the way the males treat the women and how the women can be interpreted by the audience throughout the whole play. Women are often a reflection of their male counterparts. The audience feels worse for women treated poorly, even if she is herself weak. The women that are strong or madly in love get less slack from the audience, as they are expected to be strong. The three women in the play are different in every aspect of life and represent completely different aspects of femininity. Desdemona is the correct version of a women in the time. She is the expected women of the time. She is chaste and eloquent. She tends to morally
In Shakespeare’s play “Othello” the main characters Othello and Desdemona suffer a tragic fate due to their actions and unforeseen circumstances. A majority of Desdemona’s suffering is down to Iago’s manipulation. However, it could also be argued that Iago is not completely to blame for the misfortune of Desdemona. We as the readers can see evidence of this at certain points in the play where Iago has planted the seeds of despair and Desdemona and Othello have fallen for his plans. In this essay, I will look at key moments in the play where Desdemona is presented as a tragic victim by the writer and justify why she is a tragic victim using quotes from the play.
Desdemona is portrayed as the highest class a female could accomplish. She is elegant, honest and loyal to her husband as any other good Elizabethan married woman would be. She is presented as the ideal woman. Desdemona symbolizes innocence and helplessness against men. Shakespeare presents Desdemona as a mature and knowledgeable woman for her age as she defends her love for Othello to her father, Brabantio. However this is seen differently in the eye's of the society. Brabantio declares her as "Against all rules of nature"(scene.. line...). This statement reveals what the society believes what is natural and what is unnatural. To the society, "natural" is when a women complies to their husbands and fathers wishes, but it's unnatural for a women to do anything else. Women are referred to as property, clearly stated when Desdemona's father angrily calls Othello a "theif" (scene...line..). Here, Brabantio addresses Desde...