Othello's Downfall

In Othello’s Act 1, Shakespeare displays the first of many examples of Desdemona’s strength and courage during her clandestine marriage with Othello. Critics must keep in mind that during the time Othello was written, the Church had rules against performing a marriage behind closed doors. Here Desdemona defiantly goes against the Church’s mandate and boldly elopes with Othello. She

Her character is portrayed as angelic through the use of heaven and hell imagery, where she is referred to as an “angel”. Desdemona was a loyal wife from the beginning of the play to Othello when Iago revealed their marriage to Brabantio, she describes her ‘divided duty’ as a daughter and a wife, but as tradition dictates, her commitment shall pass to her husband. She is a loyal wife to Othello but he does not see this, because of Iago’s manipulation and her constantly being blamed for being unchaste and “cuckolding” Othello. Throughout they play, Desdemona remains pure and loyal to Othello and when he questions her infidelity she responds with, “Your wife, my lord. Your true and loyal wife.” (Iv, II, 33). When Othello is manipulated to think that Desdemona is cuckolding him it makes him mad and eventually causes him to lose his sense and murder Desdemona. This shows no loyalty to Desdemona he didn’t even trust her enough to listen to her and sort out the conflict. Desdemona is perhaps the most loyal character in the play as even on her death bed, Desdemona refused to acknowledge Othello as her murderer and condemns herself for her own death, “Nobody; I myself. Farewell; commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!” (V, II, 138). It is in her last moments of life that she asserts her loyalty to Othello, “I never did offend you in my life; never loved Cassio but with such general

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

Othello is a frank and straightforward, honorable people. He believed that life is good, and society is fair; he treat people with sincerity, and believed that he can be received with honor. He wholeheartedly loves Desdemona, his own honor and dignity of all their faith in the awful happy marriage. Yet just at this time Igon told him that Desdemona has affair with its own honorable lieutenant Cassio, he was overwhelmed by this sudden blow, psychology began to lose balance, Othello caught in the pain and contradiction, a moment that Desdemona is chastity, and the next minute

In the play, The Tragedy of Othello, judging from the relationship between Desdemona and Othello, seems to say that marriage based on an innocent romantic love is bound to fail. There is a common thread of betrayal and deceit among many characters. Othello and Desdemona being the most vividly portrayed. The two appear to love one another romantically at first, but it soon after transforms into a secular love. This comes to pass because there is no foundation for a relationship. There is no trust, no communication, and no understanding.

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

When accused by Othello of her unfaithfulness, Desdemona states “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” (5.2.63-66). Desdemona was not guilty of committing adultery, but the “absence of viable options” (Vanita 344) left her as “A Women Killed with Kindness” (Vanita 341). Othello did not care to hear what she had to say because he does not think women have a voice to express themselves. Therefore, Desdemona “is destroyed by a jealous, sexually insecure husband who not only fails to investigate fully the charges leveled against his wife but also believes he is completely justified in vengefully punishing her for her supposed disloyalty” (Gruesser 108). She was nothing but kind and true, but once another man had told a lie to Othello that his wife had been unfaithful, he’s mind could not be persuaded by the true words she has told him. Desdemona marks that her death is her own fault and got closure from accepting the identity the women unjustly hold in society (Corporaal

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

Tragic Traits That Results to Downfall A downfall of a person can happen when they cannot overcome or find a solution to their problem. It always gets the best of their own selves and it prevents them from achieving their desires. In order to avoid that, one must learn to think more deeply rather than thinking simply.

For a white woman to marry a black man like Othello, was shocking and strictly unacceptable. Desdemona’s father accuses Othello of using some sort of ‘witchcraft’ to lure her into loving him, as he feels this simply cannot be true. Several characters throughout the play question why the woman who rejected many herself, would fall in love with a black man like Othello. Desdemona is a kind and friendly individual, whose suffering does not equate to her mistakes. She had been overcome by forces which were out of her control and sacrificed herself solely for the benefit of others. Othello, on the other hand, after going through a significant misunderstanding that Iago craftily built, became extremely affected by the ‘green-eyed monster’ that is jealousy and killed his own wife. Desdemona meant well to Cassio, thoughtfully trying everything she could to convince Othello to re-grant him the status of lieutenant once again after a ‘drunk’ mishap. Othello takes this the wrong way, as he becomes increasingly suspicious of Desdemona’s ‘relationship’ with

Shakespeare is very well known for his inclusion of tragic flaws throughout the storylines of his novels. Hero’s, as courageous as they may seem, are just like any other person and go through flaws throughout their lifetime regardless of the extent of their situation. In Shakespeare’s novel Othello, with all the events twisting the readers mind from one side to another, there are many distinct qualities that portray Othello’s tragic flaw. Iago was portrayed as an honest character but with his careful deceptions jabbing in Othello’s mind, he is far from honest. Othello’s tragic flaw is that he trusts others opinions more than his own perceptions and Shakespeare develops this flaw by using convincing persuasive appeals and strong syntax throughout

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Desdemona is murdered by her husband, Othello, after he is convinced by Iago, without real evidence, that she is cheating on him. Iago manipulates Othello by triggering what he knows to be Othello’s values: reputation and honor. After this tragic murder, the question of who is truly responsible for her death is raised. Although Iago put the ideas that Desdemona cheated into Othello’s head, Othello is solely responsible for the murder of Desdemona as he is the one who physically killed her to protect his reputation despite being aware of her innocence.

He fears being rejected for being aging and black, and he creates in Desdemona a confirmation of the certainty of that rejection. She becomes more of an object than ever before, just a mere posession, and her mind is left aside as the focus turns to her body and supposedly uncontrolled sexual impulses. Othello's words reflect his change of heart: “I had rather be a toad... than keep a corner in the thing I love/ For other's uses'” (act III, scene iii), “He that is robbed, not wanting what is stol'n/ Let him not know’t, and he’s not robbed at all” (act III, scene iii), “I’d not have sold her for it” (act IV, scene ii) indicate that she is no longer seen as a woman, but as an “it”, as a thing. Moreover, as the action moves towards and passes Desdemona's murder, Othello makes obvious the position she has for him in the dichotomy angel, to the image of the Virgin Mary/whore and daughter of Eve2. He says: “she was a whore”, “false as water”, “Down, strumpet”, “Out, strumpet” (act iv, scene ii). As she is now disposed of her honour to his eyes, he exerts his power and commands her with severity, as it can be seen in the two orders mentions. And if Desdemona is, after she is accused,

As tempting as it is to blame fate for all our misfortune, weakness of character is often the real reason behind it. This is the case at multiple occasion in Othello by William Shakespeare. Iago’s overconfidence causes him to become reckless and ultimately leads him to his downfall. And Desdemona’s innocence makes her see the best in people and prevents her from realizing the trouble she was setting herself before it was too late. Or in Othello’s case, insecurity prevents him from thinking straight and realizing how absurd Desdemona’s false betrayal was. Weakness of character is a dangerous force that lead Iago, Desdemona and Othello right to their downfall.