Desdemona

In Shakespeare’s tragedy of Othello, Othello’s wife Desdemona is portrayed as a well-rounded woman. She displays confidence when it is needed, but is also a devoted bold true wife. She is young, sexual and recently married, and in the play she occasionally displays a somewhat chiding wit. At times we see Desdemona as being submissive, but only ever to Othello. Although she exhibits an independent personality, she seems to make an effort not to come across as being too independent. She especially has to convince Othello of this, as he questions her fidelity. Until the end Desdemona seemed to have been capable of rising above the demands placed upon her.

Many like to see Desdemona as being a stereotypically weak and submissive woman of that era. But this ignores the conviction and authority she displays in her opening speech as she states “My noble father, / I do perceive here a divided duty”, this conviction is also later seen in her terse fury after Othello strikes her in front of many people, she then says “I have not deserved this”. Although Desdemona is an independent character she does display some submissiveness. This seldom seen submissive nature is most notable when she takes credit for her own murder, when in response to Emilia’s question, “O, who hath done this deed?” Desdemona replies as her final words, “Nobody, I myself. Farewell/ commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell.”

Contradictorily the play also represents Desdemona as a modest and faithful wife, who possesses a bold and independent personality. It is possible that this contradiction was intentional, the purpose being to portray the way Desdemona feels after defending her choice of marriage to her father, and then virtually straight away having to defend her fidelity to her husband, Othello. In the beginning of the play she appears to be supremely independent, and courageous as she stands up to her father with her choice of marriage, as Othello pays tribute to her “high and plenteous wit and invention”. It was Desdemona who first gave the Othello the hint to ask her to marry him, which is heard in Othello’s speech to the Duke and others “if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story, / And that would woo her”. She also speaks with confidence when she tells the Duke that she “did love the Moor to live with him”, and also asks whether she may go to Cyprus with him.

Midway through the play Desdemona must struggle, as she desperately tries to convince Othello that she is not too independent. It also appears that Brabantio failed to understand his own daughter. The impression that she had grown up under the guidance of a possessive type of father is given. Nothing in his household, including his daughter had ever been challenged. He seems to have failed to realise that over the years she had grown up to be a person in her own mind. Brabantio was not the type of father that Desdemona could have shares her feelings with, and had never had a close enough relationship to open her heart to him. It is clear that Brabantio is appalled with her choice in husband as he states he evidently would have preferred “the wealthy curled darlings of our nation”.

Throughout the entire play we see that Desdemona has an absolute trust in Othello, as she states, “My noble Moor/ is true of mind, and made of no such baseness/ As jealous creatures are. She continually gives Othello entire obedience as we see the word “obey” appear in the marriage service. She at all times seeks to please him and is also very sensitive, “a child to chiding”. This is why we assume she did not tell Othello about the handkerchief. She is deeply in love with him, even after “his stubbornness, his checks and frowns”. Even Iago, the man that plots against her happiness, admits “she is of so free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a disposition, that she holds it a vice in her goodness not to do more than she is requested”.

It is unfortunate that Desdemona has fallen in love with a man that trusts others over her, which in turn leads to the murder of her. Emilia’s question is one the audience would be asking too, “what should such a food do with so good a wife?” Emilia plays quite an important role in the play, as her comparative vulgarity emphasizes the purity of Desdemona, who fails to understand how any woman can deceive her husband, and can hardly pronounce the wore “whore”.

Desdemona’s character is strong in some ways, and quite weak in others. She also has no mother, which is used for the dramatic effect of Desdemona on her own resources in moments of stress and need. Desdemona’s estrangement from her father is quite decisive, and in this situation Desdemona has no woman upon whom she can rely and to whom she might turn for help and sympathy when her father shuts the door against her. There is no one to give her any support, this fuels our sympathy for her lonely hand and increases the pathos of her situation. Desdemona is a loving wife, but unfortunately not one with a strong character all round.

Othello murders Desdemona, as he smothers her with a pillow in a bed covered in her wedding sheets. This murder seems to be symbolic as she is now literally suffocating beneath the demands put on her fidelity. Since her opening lines Desdemona seemed capable of winning against all odds, and meeting demands that were placed upon her, until Othello takes away all her strength. Desdemona possesses a true, kind heart. She is a very trustworthy character which only increases our sympathy for her, as she doesn’t in any way deserve what has come to her. Desdemona maintains right to her death that she is “guiltless”, and the audience can only begin to imagine her fear when she awakens to find Othello standing over her with murder in his eyes.

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