Desdemona in Shakespeare's "Othello"

iii.99). All too often, the dilettante can cite Shakespeare's own lines to prove that a lawsuit is e trulything from a demon to a saint.

This lack of clear consultation definition is established as a motif when Desdemona primary appears in Act 1, Scene 3. The audience has al groom perceive her described as a strumpet by Iago, a saint by Othello, a rebel or deluded lady friend by her father. Then she enters saying she has a " split trading" (I.iii.209) between her "noble" (I.iii.209) father and her "Moor my lord" (I.iii.218). She chooses Othello, citing the circumstance that her mother left her father for him. This shows how much she loves Othello, change surface if world with the one she loves means that her father will "have make" (I.iii.219) with her.

If, as she says, she has a "divided duty," the logical question is divided between or divided among what? The latter is the more accurate, since a careful study of Desdemona suggests multiple divisions rather than a bare(a) duality of purpose.

Division 1: Saintly Wife or Naive Girl?

From what others say of Desdemona, we be intimate at the base that she is a young Venetian woman who has lived a very shelter life in her father's home. Yet it was in this sheltered environment that she meets Othello and is captivated by his stories, and wishes to see the things that Othello has seen. She marries Othello against he

r father's wishes (in a parallel action to that through by Juliet in Romeo and Juliet) and although she appears ready for "love" she hardly knows whether she is ready for "marriage."

Shakespeare, W. Othello. New York: Simon & Shuster.

When Desdemona tells the story of her mother's maid, Barbary who's love went mad, and sings the "Willow's Song", she parallels the nurturing in that song. "His shun I approve" (IV.iii.56) just as she approves and still loves Othello even though he is angry with her.

However, even this nurturing moment is contrasted with the posture that has been established by Iago, when Desdemona suddenly refers to Lodovico (IV.iii.38). Has Desdemona thought sexually of Lodovico? And if she had, ability we assume that she has thought sexually of others, including Cassio?

Although it has often been argued that Iago is the ultimate villain, it has rarely been proven that he was a poor judge of character. If that is true, then(prenominal) perhaps Iago's statements close to Desdemona might reveal an aspect of passion that other characters overlook? This is suggested because of the fact that by her reported actions, Desdemona is non perfect, and has some flaws in her character. Established right away as spoiled and willful, she treats Brabantio terribly, she stubbornly and persistently challenges Othello to change his mind about Cassio, and most importantly, she tells a needless and fatal lie when Othello wants to know about the handkerchief.

The very fact that she chose Othello and went against her father makes her an unusual Elizabethan woman. That she was unaware of the duties and responsibilities of a wife (including those services of the marriage bed) is in any case more typical of the times, rather
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