To What Extent Is Desdemona Presented as a Tragic Victim in Othello?

However strong Othello's and Desdemona's marriage seems, it begins to deteriorate as a result of Othello's self-pride. At first, Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful. Iago suggests to Othello that Desdemona slept with Cassio. Iago uses a handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona that he got Emilia to get for him as his proof against

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

In Shakespeare’s play Othello, one of the main character’s Desdemona possesses the most essential symbol and object in the play, a handkerchief. The handkerchief appears in Act III of the play and is a particularly important part in the plot of the play. It helps weave the entire story together. The handkerchief symbolizes Othello’s love and trust to Desdemona and Desdemona’s marital fidelity to Othello.

“Othello” begins in middle of an argument between Roderigo and Iago. Desdemona and Othello’s wedding is the main topic of their argument. Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who is treated as a possession of her father, Brabantio, but by marrying an outsider Othello, she goes against the tradition of venetian custom which she is expected to marry a rich man to maintain her family’s honour. Iago reports Brabantio that his daughter is being stolen by Othello. “Awake! What ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves!” (1.1. 76). This quote depicts how unmarried women were treated back in 16’s century. However, while everyone in the play thinks that Othello has stolen Desdemona to marry him, Desdemona speaks herself to prove that she truly loves Othello. “That I love the Moor to love with him” (1.3. 246). Also, she even asks for her permission to go to Cyprus with Othello because she can’t stand the thought of remaining at home, which doesn’t have any adventure. There is a comparison between her social class and her

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

The audience having knowledge of this stance, adds to the dramatic climax of the play, by having Desdemona killed not only for doing something she did not do, but for doing something she is firmly against.

Her death is therefore her punishment, furthermore making Emilia a tragic victim as she has died through no fault of her own. Like Emilia, Desdemona is also a tragic victim of the men in ‘Othello’. Her murder, like Emilia’s, is through no fault of her own is a result of Othello’s jealousy and Iago’s interference. What makes Desdemona even more tragic to the audience is the fact that even in death she tries to protect her husband, telling Emilia that she has killed herself, “nobody, I myself”, this further depicts to the audience that Desdemona is a good and pure character. Her devotion to her husband makes her a tragic victim in the play as she can not be blamed for her death.

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:

Brabantio’s rage, among other reasons, necessitate that Desdemona live with Iago and Emilia during the Moor’s campaign in Cyprus against the Turks. While awaiting the arrival of Othello’s ship at the seaport of Cyprus, Desdemona shows herself an intelligent, educated debater. She grows tired of Iago’s derogatory comments directed at his wife, and she quite matter-of-factly states her mind: “O, fie upon thee, slanderer!” She continues to critique the ancient’s answers to her questions:  “These are old fond paradoxes to make fools laugh i' the alehouse” and “O heavy ignorance! thou praisest the worst best.” She is not fearful or reticent in the least.

"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.

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

In Shakespeare’s play “Othello” the main characters Othello and Desdemona suffer a tragic fate due to their actions and unforeseen circumstances. A majority of Desdemona’s suffering is down to Iago’s manipulation. However, it could also be argued that Iago is not completely to blame for the misfortune of Desdemona. We as the readers can see evidence of this at certain points in the play where Iago has planted the seeds of despair and Desdemona and Othello have fallen for his plans. In this essay, I will look at key moments in the play where Desdemona is presented as a tragic victim by the writer and justify why she is a tragic victim using quotes from the play.

In her final moments, Desdemona chooses not to blame Othello for her death because she saw that the honor of their love was more important than honesty. After Othello was convinced that Desdemona was cheating on him, Othello had started to show his disappointment with her. He had even gone as far as hitting her (4.1 134). Despite this, Desdemona continued to stay true to Othello. Othello, though, decides to kill her. Desdemona senses a change in Othello and she has a feeling that she will die soon due to the hands of Othello. This does not stop her, though, from continuing to care for Othello. Even when Desdemona was found after Othello strangles her, she still believed that her death was not the fault of Othello. Emilia comes into the couple’s bedroom after Othello smothers Desdemona, but hears Desdemona cry out. Seeing her dying, Emilia asks who would do this. Desdemona replies that it was her fault: “Nobody – I myself. Farewell / Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!” (5. 2. 125-126). Not only does she try to protect Othello’s reputation by blaming herself, Desdemona tells Emilia to remind Othello about her showing that she stills respects Othello. By trying to hide the fact that Othello had murdered her, Desdemona has chosen to put the honor of their love above honesty.

Othello’s tragic flaw can be viewed as jealously which ultimately leads to his downfall. When Othello is manipulated by Iago to believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Desdemona, Othello does not change from his good person mentality. However, Othello carries out with the plan for murder for which he believes is a fine reason to end Desdemona’s once previous life to preserve her innocence. Othello is the tragic hero within the play titled after him and because of his title, because of this Othello, the Moor of Venice follows one of Aristotle’s requirements.

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