Desdemona In Shakespeare's Othello

Identity is a part of everyone and it changes as they grow, but how it changes varies depending on aspects of the person’s life. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, and Desdemona is an influential character who is married to Othello. Her identity changes as the play progresses, but the characteristics in her life change her identity. Desdemona has many factors influencing her identity, but three of them are family, gender and sexuality, and race and culture. Family includes her father’s treatment of her, and how he feels when Desdemona betrays him. Race and culture influence the way her community sees her relationship with Othello, and also how her community sees her. Finally, gender and sexuality forces her to take on gender roles in her relationship with Othello, in being the weaker sex, and also how people view her because she is a woman (they see her as property). Desdemona from Shakespeare’s play Othello, changes her identity through her family, gender and sexuality, and race and culture.

The society in which Othello takes place is a patriarchal one, where men had complete control over women. They were seen as possessions rather than being just as equally human and capable of duties performed by men. All women of the Elizabethan were to obey all men, fathers, brothers, husbands, etc. Which leads me to the most reliable and trustworthy character of Desdemona, whom goes through many trials just to satisfy her love. Shakespeare brings the thought of Desdemona into the play by Barbantio, her father, “It is too true an evil. Gone she is.\...Oh, she deceives me\ Past thought! …” (1.1.163)(1.1.168-169), whom has just found she has taken off with Othello and firstly suspects they have been hitched. Shakespeare gives reader the

The relationship between Desdemona and Othello in the play ‘Othello’ is used to express and observe the way that humans are selfish by nature. Although both Desdemona and Othello do sincerely love each other, both of them find great personal gain in their marriage, which clearly contributes to their feelings for one another. Othello, who is a black leader in an overwhelmingly white, Christian society, has come from a troubled and difficult background, being “sold to slavery” and working in the military all his life. In finding a good Christian wife in Desdemona, he finds someone to always support him in hard times, as evidenced in his summary of their romance, “she loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them”. This quote suggests that their love is more self-serving than he lets on; Desdemona loves Othello for the adventures he has been on and the stories he tells, and Othello loves Desdemona because she listens and devotes herself to what he has to say. When Desdemona gets a chance to explain their relationship herself, she is particularly proud of the fact that she “did love the Moor to live with him; my downright violence and storms of fortunes may trumpet to the world”. We note that she mentions her ‘violence’, the way she deliberately disobeyed her father and fled his company to secretly marry a man who is not one of her father’s approved suitors. This furthers the idea that Desdemona seems to be in love with Othello because of the adventures he has been on, and the excitement and liberty of her being with such a man; she is seeking her own freedom in a misogynistic society by defying her father to marry Othello. Their relationship is

In Othello, Desdemona has a relentless nature which allows her to love and care unconditionally. Throughout the play, Desdemona has a determined attitude towards her beliefs and she does not believe other’s opinions. This is shown when Desdemona and Emilia were having a conversation. Emilia tells Desdemona that Othello shows jealously but Desdemona immediately disagrees with Emilia telling her to “Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse/Full of crusadoes And but my noble Moor/ Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness/As jealous creatures are, it were enough/To put him to ill thinking” (3.4.24-29). Desdemona is relentless in her love for Othello and claims Othello to be too noble to be jealous. Her relentless nature makes her love for Othello so unconditional that she cannot see the clear jealousy Othello harbours. Desdemona then shows that she is not only relentless but determined when she makes a promise with Cassio. After being harshly fired, Desdemona promises Cassio that she will convince

Shakespeare's “Othello” is a tragedy written about a black lieutenant and his terrific outcome. Being manipulated by the villain Iago, drives him to kill his own wife. Othello is responsible for Desdemona's death because he allowed Iago to manipulate him, he didn't trust Desdemona and strangled her while she slept.

In the given passage, Desdemona illustrates her view of her relationship and stance against doing any wrong by Othello;

Desdemona is portrayed as a very inquisitive women, whom loves to explore the things and people outside of her class. She fell in love with Othello because of her curious nature and being attracted to his acts of bravado. Her intentions are sincere; however her curiosity in this act is seen as folly. She asks her cousin Lodovico about his arrival and informs him of Cassio’s dismissal. This angers Othello as she is praising another man, taking a persona of being proactive about him. For Othello this concludes that she is disobedient and has dishonored him - to put her in place, he resorts to violence:

She begins the play as a independent and thoughtful person, but she must struggle against all odds to make Othello believe that she is not too independent. Desdemona is a symbol of innocence and helplessness. However in the beginning of the play, she seems to be mature and quite insightful of events around her. Iago often tells Othello that she is unfaithful. It seems that she refuses to accept what Iago is doing. She has a tendency to be sympathetic towards other people's situations, like Cassio. This also further inspired Othello's jealousy when Iago pointed out that Cassio and Desdemona were speaking in private. She often pays attention to other people’s thoughts, yet remains distrustful if they differ from her own. She has a loyalty to her husband in all aspects of life,

"You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not” (Picoult, 384). This quote is the definition of true love, something the two protagonists of this play sadly never had. The tragedy Othello is about a general of the Venetian army, and his beautiful wife Desdemona, whose lives are completely ruined by the deceitful, cunning, and cowardly Iago. One of Iago’s biggest accomplishments was breaking up Othello and Desdemona's relationship by getting it into Othello’s head that Desdemona was cheating on him. This really made the reader question Othello’s feelings towards Desdemona as for someone who claimed to have love Desdemona with a passion, Othello sure was quick to believe Iago’s lies and turn on Desdemona. Based on his actions towards Desdemona, Othello proved that he does not truly love Desdemona because he is insecure, lacks trust, and is a very jealous person.

Brabantio showed a bellicose determination saying to Othello that if Desdemona deceived him her own father, then she would surely do the same to him ‘Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see She has deceived her father, and may thee’ which meant that Brabantio was already blaming Desdemona in advance for anything that was going to go wrong regarding the two of them. Othello then assigned Iago to bring Desdemona to Cyprus so they could be together ‘Honest Iago, My Desdemona must I leave to thee: I prithee, let thy wife attend on her: And bring them after in the best advantage’. As Desdemona was in Cyprus she was thrown into trouble as Iago was plotting to imply to Othello that Cassio and Desdemona were lovers. The loss of Desdemona’s virginity is very important because female sexuality was dangerous because men couldn’t control themselves around attractive women this was dangerous because it endangered male control over society which shows discrimination to the female gender because it would be a danger for them to be in charge. A woman that talked a lot was considered to be open and Desdemona was a woman that spoke her mind

Iago’s line after Cassio’s exit which is shown above presents Desdemona and Cassio as two characters that have something to hide from Othello. Desdemona is presented as a victim at this point. This is because Iago has embedded a sense of doubt in Othello’s mind about Desdemona. Having said this, Desdemona partly contributed towards her victimisation by promising to talk about Cassio to Othello and doing just that. Desdemona says the line “to suffer with him”. By “him” she is referring to her friend in need Cassio. For Desdemona to say the word “suffer” to Othello in relation to Cassio’s sadness indicates a strong sense of passion which holds them together. This could make the audience feel uneasy for Desdemona because her lines are building more tension. This is also dramatic irony because Desdemona is unaware of the trouble her constant mention of Iago is doing to Othello. One of the things that make up a tragic victim is loss. The character Desdemona losses her handkerchief.

"For whiles this honest fool (Cassio) Plies for Desdemona to repair his fortune, And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor, I'll pour this pestilence into his ear: That she repeals him for her body's lust; And by how much she strives to do him good, She shall undo her credit with the Moor. So will I turn her virtue into pitch, And out of her own goodness make the net That shall enmesh them all." Othello Act II. iii. 373-382.

Looking at the play, all along Desdemona is a very feminine character. She most likely acts like a wife and daughter. So full of cares, Desdemona at a point of the play even neglected her house quarrels and goes out to spare fellings with Cassio to try to help with his situations with Othello. So faithful she was, even when she and Othello were not on the best terms, she was still trying to fixed everything even she knows that she was not cheating, which she explains, " Yes, faith, so humbled that he hath left parts of his grief with me to suffer with him. Good love call him

Desdemona defends herself and her actions by stating “I never did offend you in my life, never loved Cassio but with such general warranty of heaven as I might love. I never gave him token” (Othello

Othello’s immediate trust for Iago’s speculations demonstrate the truth of the matter that Othello is not close with his wife to be able to hear the truth from her. Othello exhibits assurance in Iago and goes to him for advice. In return, Iago deceives Othello by pointing out Desdemona’s actions saying “She did deceive her father” by marrying a Moor (III.iii.206). Iago is implying that Desdemona is not to be trusted because she lied to her father. Othello now disregards Desdemona and changes his attitude towards her. Othello believes that if she was able to lie and hide a relationship from her own father, she is capable of hiding her cheating ways from him. Othello is persuaded that Desdemona has what it takes to go behind the backs of the people she loves and this creates