Desdemona Strong Woman Essay

She is then disowned by Barbantio with no further words directed to her by him but is referenced as a liar and should be kept on watch for her conniving ways by him towards Othello. Which then begins Shakespeare’s in depth writing on Othello and Desdemona’s relationship where she is as “a child to chiding” (4.2.119-120). Not even a moment after her father leaves Othello commands Iago to tell his wife, Emilia, to tend to Desdemona as a babysitter. Irony occurs within (2.1.169-171) where Desdemona challenges Iago and stands as an independent woman for Emilia objecting to his conclusion, that women no matter how beautiful or intelligent play the same “foul pranks”. However, as Othello’s jealousy and rage arises throughout the play it seems as her character has to fight even harder to breathe under his control; symbolic for her death of suffocation. Desdemona is a gentle women living under her love’s control with no power to object even if she had opposed this type of controlling relationship. As a higher class woman she had more power and respect over other women characters such as Emilia or Bianca, but is this dominance enough to feel in control of oneself? It is believed that Shakespeare added the 2 other

Desdemona is of the higher class and is depicted as a fair, pure and respected woman who makes her own decisions. This is evident from the references made about her in the opening Act, scene 1, spoken by Iago “...an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” as well as in later scenes when she is constantly referred to as “fair Desdemona”. Her ability to make her own decisions was particularly evident within the opening Act where we learn of Desdemona’s deception to her father when she wed the man of her desire by denying her father any right to choose for her. This was Desdemona’s act of independence in her attempt to break away from male authority. Desdemona’s honesty and strong belief in morality plays on the good vs. evil concept with Iago’s character.

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

Although misperceptions about the other gender are dangerous causes of downfall, flawed views among one’s own gender are also great contributors to destruction. Othello and Desdemona best exemplify this notion. Desdemona presents herself as pure, compassionate, and understanding towards everyone, especially Othello. Shakespeare theorizes on how some women believe the stereotype about females is valid and must be followed, and men can exhibit the same

Othello believes that Desdemona is his possession, an object in his life which is supposed to show he honour and reputation as a man, therefore the belief that Desdemona has broken that honour and nobility forces Othello to destroy her.

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:

We see Desdemona as a young beautiful white female, madly in love with a powerful black man. She is strong inside but doesn't tend to show that side of her as much as she would want to. She tends to play the peace-maker in her marriage and is always trying to understand Othello. Throughout the play she struggles to prove her loyalty and respect to her husband, no matter what it takes she tries to be a

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was doomed from the start. They did not start well; their marriage was controversial because of their race and Othello’s failure to follow proper etiquette while he was courting her. However these issues could have been overcome with time. The biggest problem is Othello’s attitude to Desdemona. Othello’s model of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. She becomes untouchable in Othello’s mind, and he begins to distance himself from her. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as “Alabaster”(5.2.5) he will never consider

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,

It is here that the audience begins seeing a different identity of Othello. Who was once regarded as so valiant and courageous, was now beginning to show signs of severe insecurities dealing with matters, most importantly, such as his lack of experience in love and marriage causing shadows of doubt over his confidence in himself and his ability to be loved by and worthy of someone like Desdemona. Desdemona, although not intentionally, seems to be the reason for all the unrest in Othello. This is an instance in the play when irony shines it's smiling face upon Shakespeare's most tragic characters. Othello feels truly happy with the presence of Desdemona in his life (Act II.1, 181-187):

Desdemona is shown as the most pure and proper of the women in Othello and is put into the center of all the drama. The men of the play manipulate her image of a naive lover to being a “ ...strumpet!” (V.ii.94). Desdemona is oblivious to what is going on around her and stays loyal to her morals but Iago’s rumours lure Othello to thinking otherwise. Desdemona’s true morals is her absolute devotion to her husband. She stayed loyal to her lover throughout the entire play and in the end it did her no good. “Nobody; I myself. Farewell! Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!” Desdemona on her deathbed, still defends her Lord’s actions. She does not fight back nor call for help, Desdemona begs for her life asking to “Kill me (Desdemona) tomorrow; let me live tonight!” (V.ii.97). She is not as strong-willed like the other ladies and is Shakespeare’s example of the archetype of the innocence and has the bases of a flat character. After the

When given an opportunity to speak for herself after Othello has tried to permanently silence her, Desdemona still blames herself, going so far as lying about the true cause of her death in order to defend her husband. Now, Desdemona has become a cautionary tale for young women like Barbary was, to warn young women to obey the men in their lives or die. In the unlikely event society holds Othello solely responsible for the misfortune between the lovers, Desdemona still disobeyed her father by making a choice of her own to love someone he disapproved of, leading to not only her death but her father's as

Desdemona's reported sympathy and interest for Othello's tales of bravery paint a picture of an ordinary, kind young woman. When she is summoned to support Othello's story, she realises that her loyalties are divided. Her consideration for her father's anger is shown by the way she asks not to live with him. Her reasoning is that he would then not be angered by her presence.

Although she died, Desdemona still showed grit in her last moments. In accordance to the play she states, “ A guiltless death I die… Nobody- I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell! “ (Act 5, scene 2 Shakespeare). Presumably, you can infer that Desdemona loves Othello more than anything. She defied her father by marrying him. She even fought death (though her death was inevitable in her husband 's eyes) by proclaiming that she wanted to live.he showed her grit by saying over and over that she did not sleep with Cassio.

The character of Desdemona in Othello, Moor of Venice was the one that endured the physical and emotional abuse by her husband. His love was so strong that he could not bear the thought of her loving someone else, at the same time; he didn’t have the ability to trust her. This play was classified as a tragedy and that it was since Desdemona was verbally attacked with an abrasive behavior and eventually murdered. Desdemona was an innocent person that did nothing wrong, but love her husband. Despite this, Othello was accepting the word of a manipulative evil person that Desdemona was in love with another man. He was so consumed with jealousy that he believed Iago over her. Unfortunately, it was the lost handkerchief that was the so-called proof that Othello was looking for. Othello also strikes Desdemona during a raging moment, even in the company of another man, but this person does nothing to protect Desdemona, but knows it is not right when she is so obedient. Shakespeare highlighted that it was not unique for human intervention to save a woman from a murderous husband (Vanita, 1994). She states, “I have not deserved this” (Shakespeare, 4.1.247) after he strikes her. Othello scolded her and screamed at her in an authoritative manner. You could tell she was confused and scared because of his unexpected behavior when he was demanding to see the handkerchief. “Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men” (Shakespeare, 5.2.6) and then he kisses her while she sleeps. Hence, this is the action of a person that has felt they have been deceived by the person that is supposed to love them. It is the uncontrollable rage that controls the mind and body that makes a person act. Desdemona, a chastised woman that appears on stage with a black eye shows the seriousness of violence inflicted on her as a woman (Carlson, 2010). It was Desdemona’s personal maid, Emilia that tried to convince Othello that Desdemona was