Othello: Desdemona’s Plight
Young Adult Character Analysis
Written by DJ Hadoken
Desdemona, from William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, is a prime example of a victim of these conflicts. Othello is depicted as a tragedy, Desdemona herself suffers from the workings of the tragedy by being excluded from society by choice, without choice, and forcibly. Her character is doomed to succumb to the realities of her social world.
Desdemona’s initial marriage to the Moor, Othello, breaks the general principle that one should not marry those outside of their own race, more specifically, or bluntly, light-skinned people should not marry dark-skinned people. She further separates herself by disobeying her father, Brabantio’s wishes.
Desdemona was aware that her father would not accept her marriage to Othello, therefore, marries in secret. Brabantio becomes outraged at this, as the society which he strives in typically follows the idea that daughters are to respect their father’s desires, thus, Brabantio feels that others may look upon him as a man who cannot control his own daughter.
Because of the disruption of this pact between father and daughter, Brabantio removes Desdemona from his life in an act displayed when he refuses to allow her to stay in his home, while Othello leaves to fight the Turks. Desdemona, as well, agrees with her father that she would not enjoy staying in the same home as him.
Desdemona’s individual qualities caused her to become distinctly the neutral character of the play. Unlike the other characters, Desdemona appears to have no enemies. Othello, Cassio, Iago, and Roderigo may each become quarrelsome at times and may show dislike towards other characters.
Although some of the characters may not be fond of each other, Desdemona is friend to all. She does not display what the other characters tend to display- that the nature of people is to typically hold enemies and plot against them.
Desdemona desires to help the other characters. She cares for Othello and tries to aid him at times. She is able to understand the misunderstandings. She pleads on Cassio’s behalf because she is aware that he had been wrongly stripped of his power.
But Desdemona, unfortunately, finds herself being pushed away by the other characters.
Because of her nature (and with a little help from Iago), she is further separated from the norm, as Othello shuns her after being led to believe that her attempts to help Cassio are because she is secretly in love with him. Iago mentions Desdemona’s status as a Venetian, this causes her to be further antagonized, as the typical stereotype of Venetian women is that they are unfaithful and deceitful; women who let God know of their wrongdoings but not their husbands.
Othello begins to doubt her faith because of Iago’s plans. Othello witnesses Cassio sneaking away from Desdemona’s presence as he and Iago are approaching them. Iago’s subsequent comments act as seeds planted into Othello’s mind against Desdemona.
It is interpreted by Othello as an unlawful meeting between the two, when in actuality Cassio was not yet ready to confront Othello so soon after his loss of rank. This leads to Othello’s penultimate actions of anger towards Desdemona, as it is drawn from the idea that women should not have meetings with men in such a matter.
Othello soon begins to neglect and abuse Desdemona, both verbally and physically. Iago has caused Desdemona to become that which has made a cuckold of Othello.
Shortly after, Desdemona must be punished for what she has not done. Othello acts upon the ideology that women should not be unfaithful and that those who are, must be punished. Desdemona suffers one of the most serious forms of alienations: unjust death.
Plays and stories may generally reflect the views of the times they were written in, while many of these views may still be applied to modern times. They may serve as examples that would be wise to learn from, although many do not take the time to study the actions of the characters and societies created by storytellers and playwrights.
The works of Shakespeare, although centuries old, still display proven examples of the human disposition. Our world is still rampant with “honest” Iagos and “deceitful” Desdemonas.
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