Desdemona In Shakespeare's Othello

Desdemona shows where her loyalty lies in this quote. At the start, Desdemona talks about her duty to her father, Brabantio, and how she is supposed to respect him above all others. Desdemona then turns it around by talking about how her mother showed more duty to Brabantio than her own father and Desdemona says that she will do the same. Desdemona proves her loyalty to Othello quite well. She chose her husband, the man she loved, over her own father.ADD A BIT MORE

This further emphasizes how women are not submissive to male, but are forced by them to be obedient. On the other hand, the play Othello demonstrates how females are obedient to male, despite their maltreatment. Desdemona craves for Othello’s affection and approval, remaining fiercely loyal to him without the constant abuse like Rasheed in A Thousand Splendid Suns. In Desdemona’s final breath, she still remains true to her husband, saying “Nobody, I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord” (Shakespeare 5.2.138). She has completely accepted her role as subordinate and obedient wife. Earlier in the play, she states “Whate’er you be, I am obedient” (Shakespeare 3.3.89). She herself realizes that she is submissive around Othello, and that she is obedient towards him no matter what he does. Even when he becomes aggressive as shown in this passage. “O, devil, devil! If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears, each drop she falls would prove a crocodile. Out of my sight!” (Shakespeare, 4.1.273-276). Similar to A Thousand Splendid Suns, male dominance are shown through aggressiveness, which parallels the aggressive behaviour of a common theme in the patriarchal

First of all, the character Othello’s love for his wife Desdemona is soiled by Iago putting false images into Othello’s head that his wife is being unfaithful to him which ultimately leads him to kill his own wife because of his vulnerability and insecurity towards the pure love he had for her. Othello starts to feel things that he has never felt before towards his wife, “I had rather be a toad/And live upon the vapor of a dungeon /Than keep a corner in the thing I love/For others' uses. Yet 'tis the plague of great ones” (3.3.311-14). Iago is planting the seeds for Othello’s relationship with Desdemona to crumble by putting images into Othello’s head about women and generalizing all women saying that they all act upon their temptations with no remorse. In these lines said by Othello, he is showing how someone’s deceit (having to do with his love for his wife) can really go as far as to make him criticize a whole entire gender based on one idea that his Desdemona has been unfaithful—and he does not even have proof that this accusation is true. Secondly, Iago successfully alters Othello’s pure and true love for Desdemona so much that his once fulfilling

In Shakespeare's Othello women are often claimed to be deceptive, conniving, and just down right devious in the eyes of men, but in we also see the other side of the coin. Desdemona is a great example of how women behaved in Othello. Desdemona is often acquiescent, and quiet. She doesn't object to Othello's claims at the end, she submits and allows him to kill her, and blames herself for it. The rage and jealousy in Othello's heart lead him down the path of destruction. He cannot see through this veil of darkness Iago has placed before him, and starts to believe that women are actually just as deceptive as the other men had thought.

In the play, “Othello”, the character of Desdemona portrays a modern view of feminist criticism, her story showed a woman who fought for herself and her marriage but it wasn’t enough to save her

Othello’s mental state needs to be deteriorating quickly compared to yesterday’s assessment. While everything seemed to be promising in our previous session, Othello now looks to be more stressed and overly emotional. Particularly, he is questioning his recent marriage to Desdemona and her faithfulness due to certain recent conversations with his Ensign, Iago. Impassioned and distraught, Othello confided in me, stating, ”Why did I marry? This honest creature doubtless /Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds.”(3.3.248-249). I interpret this to mean that he believes Iago holds the truth to Desdemona’s faithfulness, and his word is law. It is troubling to me that Othello would trust this man so quickly and forget his vows this easily.

" (1.3.528), "Nor I; I would not there reside / To put my father in impatient thoughts." (1.3.593) and, "That I did love the Moor to live with him / My downright violence and storm of fortunes..." (1.3.600). In other words, Desdemona formulates her own decisions that is very uncommon in Venetian Era. On stage, she is the only female character that is not afraid to stand up against her father with her assert of beliefs. Iago categorizes her actions as Breton's view of a witch. If Desdemona fabricates her own actions; Then, in Iago's twisted eyes, Desdemona will unwittingly demolish his plan. Iago's misdemeanor is that she distracts Othello from Iago's

The repetition of the word ‘lust’, combined with the sexual associations of Desdemona’s bed, reflects and draws attention to Othello’s preoccupation with sensual matters. Othello even refers to his precious wife as ‘whore’ (III.iii.356), a ‘subtle whore’ (III.ii.20) and a ‘cunning whore’ (IV.ii.88), in a way to appreciate him. Shakespeare actually has indirectly revealed Othello’s fear of Desdemona’s sexuality. Even though Othello seems to be very confident in him and his control over Desdemona, he is actually tentative and afraid that Desdemona will cheat on him, proving his

Not only does Iago contribute to the isolated Desdemona, her maid Emilia does as well. It can be argued that Emilia knew Desdemona so deeply in contrast to the other characters that the two shared a deeper bond past conversation, this is important to note as Emilia eventually proves the isolation of Desdemona, that even her most trusted friend befalls to the lies that are being told by Iago. Desdemona’s isolation slowly grows throughout the play due to the actions of others and the actions of Desdemona as well. Othello isolated himself from Desdemona, the act of this isolation had been thought out by Iago. This is seen when Iago and Othello discuss the relationship of Desdemona and Cassio, “Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, Know of your love?” (Shakespeare 3.3.103). Othello responds with a sense of curiosity towards the topic of Cassio and Desdemona, this is the first sense of isolation that is hinted towards as now the topic of something Othello is not even aware of about his wife is introduced by Iago. The wedge that is put in place by Iago between Othello and Desdemona can be transferred into the idea that “Othello is that of the responsibility for Desdemona's death” (Vanita 342). The fact that Othello is a factor in isolating Desdemona, is because he now has the idea that Desdemona is unfaithful to

Othello makes a careful distinction between “a murder” and “a sacrifice” (65). What is the difference, as he sees it?

Throughout most of the play, Othello appears to have admirable respect for his wife Desdemona, as he is open and sincere about his love for her in the presence of every character. Indeed, Desdemona seems to be treated as most women desire to be treated and loved by their husbands. Othello courageously stands his ground and professes his love for Desdemona when he is approached by Brabantio and his men about their elopement (Shakespeare, 2014). Evidently, Desdemona is not as perfect as Brabantio claims she is, in fact, Othello explains in the

The male characters in Othello perceive women characters as promiscuous and adulterous. Iago being the character who strongly shows his perception that woman are promiscuous by concluding that his wife has deceive him with Othello and Cassio. Moreover, Iago creates and immoral image of Desdemona persuading Othello of this lie, ultimately, Othello convinces himself that Desdemona is a promiscuous. Although, Iago creates this immoral images of women to feed his revenge, while doing it by this mean he reveals his true perception of women. Iago perceives his wife as a promiscuous woman and without having any facts or proof convinces himself and takes as a fact the rumor that Emilia had an affair with Othello (1.3.324-27). Iago acknowledges his wife as an easy woman who has betrayed him more than once, murmuring: “For I fear Cassio with my

The way these women act and conduct themselves is unquestionably related to the ideological expectations of Elizabethan and patriarchal society. Desdemona, Othello 's wife and Brabantio 's daughter, is represented as the ideal woman. So she would never be disloyal to her husband. On many occasions, Desdemona obeys her husband firmly and calls herself obedient even after Othello hits her. She was loving and loyal to Othello and wishes a long marriage of prosperity and commitment that would lead to her ultimate happiness. She is an independent character because, she confidently defends her love marriage to a man her father hasn’t accepted who is many years older than her. She was interested in adventure when she heard the stories of Othello’s great battles and travels. Then she expresses her own desire to go with him on his journey to Cyprus. Othello thought that she could be unfaithful to him so he felt that murder and violence was the only way answer to his dilemma. The most important argument is that she takes the blame for her own murder. Her final words, when Emilia asks who has done this to her, then she said - Nobody; I myself.

In his play “Othello,” Shakespeare is very compassionate towards the women of his era. He treats Desdemona with special sympathy. She is the victim of two crossed male aspirations — the devilry of villain Iago and the jealousy of her husband. The main cause of Desdemona’s tragedy is the total absence of women’s personal liberty. The lack of self-development without restrictions of society and family constricts the mind. She falls in love with some hero stories and even got married to it. Her life must have been bored and very constrained compare to contemporary time when everyone’s story sounds like a hero. Her father makes her to choose between him or Othello, and she can’t reserve the right to be close to both, similarly the feudal law worked

The crisis of identity is a very significant turning point in the development in this play. It effectively creates sympathy in the audience through the change in character’s speech style and the act of an “other” in the play conforming to what society demands of him.