Vulnerability In Shakespeare's Othello

Through all walks of life, one person’s jealousy, hatred, or stupidity affects innocent people’s lives and puts them in a position where they are most vulnerable. Vulnerability can be described as being susceptible to physical or mental attack or harm. In the play Othello, Shakespeare argues that Desdemona is the most susceptible to physical and mental attacks. Although other characters are potentially susceptible to attacks, Desdemona’s tendency to indirectly be caught in the crossfires of Iago, Othello, and Cassio’s actions makes her the character in Othello that is most vulnerable.

Iago uses Desdemona as a pawn to get revenge on Othello for not picking him as second in command. When Iago goes to tell Brabantio about Desdemona’s relationship

While confronting Desdemona, Othello says, “Was this fair paper, this most godly book made to write “whore” upon? What committed?” (4.2.75-76). Othello believes Iago’s lies and accuses Desdemona of doing things she didn’t even do. By using the word “whore”, Shakespeare conveys the frustration and anger that Othello has towards Desdemona. However, all this hatred is unfounded, and if Othello just dug a little deeper into Iago’s claims, he would realize that Desdemona is innocent. Othello’s problems affected Desdemona in more ways than one. She now has to deal with a husband who is angry at her for no reason. As mentioned in the last paragraph, the mental struggle one goes through when beating themselves up over something is great. Desdemona beats herself up because she doesn’t know what she did to Othello, but Othello is still angry. After Othello kills Desdemona and realizes that he has messed up, he says, “Of one whose hand, / Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away / Richer than all his tribe” (5.4.362-364). The author uses the phrase “threw a pearl away” to show how precious Desdemona was and how she was just thrown away to fuel conflicts that were not related to her. This is further proof of Desdemona’s innocence and only proves how her fall was more tragic and undeserved. Desdemona has suffered the ultimate harm, death, and she did not do anything wrong. Othello’s jealousy was the cause of Desdemona’s death. Now, Desdemona does not get to live out her life, all because of one man’s jealousy. These two examples reveal that Othello’s stupidity and his desire for revenge influence his decision to yell at and eventually kill Desdemona, showing how an innocent woman was caught in the crosshairs of a bigger