Desdemona

Desdemona

1. She's a loving daughter and wife

   • Even though she acknowledges a duty to her father, she's strong-willed: "so much I challenge I may profess"
   • Promises to be as faithful to othello as her mother was to Brabantino- "so much duty as my mother shoes / to you, preferring you before her father"
   • Can't believe Othello would get jelous cause she never gave him "cause" and defends him to her death

2. Both strong-willed and obedient

   • Assertive
     • Rejects society's expectations by marrying Othello- contradicts Branbantio's view of her as "A maiden never bold / Of spirit and yet so still and quiet
     • she was "half the wooer" in her relationship with othello
     • she refuses to be "A moth of peace"
     • Assertive in her marriage when she tries to pursuade othello of his lieutenant's virtues: "Ill intermingle everything he does / With Caddio's suit"
   • Submissive
     • in second half of play she becomes increasingly vulnerable to Othello's anger. He hits her in public and calls her a "whore" - but she still defends him saying "we must think men are not gods"
     • The way she's smothered to death emphasises how she's become passive and defenceless
     • Even after Othello's hit her, she acknowledges his authority and continues to be obedient- "We must not now displease him"

3. Appears to be naive

   • soon reveals naiveity about marriage- refuses to believe unfaithful wives exist- "I do not think there is any such woman" - cause infidelity is unthinkable to her, she doesn;t realise othello suspects her- this emphasises her innocence
   • Doesn't understand Othello's anger, when he accuses her she says "I understand a fury in your words / But not the words" - her bewilderment makes her seem childlike

4. She was chaste and virtuous

   • Fact that she's faithful and a good "Christian" heightens the tragedy of her death.
   • Her innocence is emhasised by her frequent association with light and heaven " the divine Desdemona"
   • Some critics argue that they did consummate their marriage. some argue they didn't. Harold Bloom argues that if they did then Othello would've relasied she was a virgin and didn't cheat
   • Symbolism of her death is ironic as she was smothered to death in her wedding sheets- Sheets would've been associated with love and passion but are now link with death and end of their marriage

5. She's one of the main victims in the play

   • Maintains her innocence in the final scene. "A guiltless death I die" - Emilia calls her an "angel" and that she was "too fond of her most filthy bargain" creating pathos about her death.
   • Seems to accept her "wretched fortune" in Act 4, scene 3, she seems to anticipate her death. sings a song which mirrors her life and is haunted by the thought "That song tonight / Will not go from my mind" this creates dramatic irony for audience
   • Her final words are ambiguous: EMILIA: "O, who hath done this deed?" DES "Nobody - I myself - farewell"
     • Could be interpreted in 2 ways: Could suggest she's taken ownership of her own and she blames herself for Othello's behaviuor
     • she's a loyal wife - even in death, she tries to protect an defend Othello