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Desdemona's Infidelity In Othello

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John Lennon once said, “It’s weird not to be weird”. Such a society is non-existent in William Shakespeare’s Othello, in which any non-conforming belief has the potential to become very dangerous or even life-threatening. Voicing these opinions which go against societal thoughts lead to the downfalls of multiple characters in the play. Desdemona’s opposition to racism, Emilia’s extreme feminism, and Iago’s apparent belief of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness are what ultimately lead these three people towards their deaths or tortures. Desdemona rebels against society by marrying an African American named Othello, which leads to her murder. Desdemona looks past the colour of his skin and claims that she fell in love with Othello for his stories; however, …show more content…

Although men were not feminists and didn’t like to receive attitude from their wives, society agreed on a general consensus that Desdemona was a fair and loyal woman. When she arrives in Cyprus, Cassio orders everyone to kneel before her and calls her “the grace of heaven” (2. 1. 90). Therefore, society respects Desdemona and holds her to very high standards of kindness and loyalty. Despite not believing it himself, Iago voices an opinion that violates this trend and tries convincing others of its validity. Iago, who hates Othello and wants to ruin his marriage, hints to him that Desdemona “may fall to match [him] with her country forms” (3. 3. 243). By saying that Desdemona will inevitably compare Othello unfavourably to white Italian men, he plants the seed of doubt in Othello’s head that Desdemona might be disloyal. Furthermore, once Othello finds out about Iago’s true intentions, Iago is arrested and tortured. After Emilia calls her husband out, Othello requests that she “demand that demi-devil why he hath ensnared [Othello’s] soul and body” (5. 2. 314-315). Since Iago uses the unpopular belief of Desdemona’s falseness to get Othello to murder her, Emilia exposes him, and he is tortured. Therefore, by convincing Othello of an opinion which goes against society, Iago causes his own downfall. In summary, the world of Shakespeare’s Othello is a very hostile

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In William Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Othello is a Venetian General who sails to Cyprus to fight the Turkish fleet. Before Othello goes to Cyprus, he secretly marries Desdemona, a young and beautiful Venetian girl by telling his war stories. Due to fate and Shakespeare’s use of assonance, it results in all the characters traveling to Cyprus. Othello and Desdemona leave Venice with the excitement of being a newlywed couple and plan to have their honeymoon in Cyprus. Othello’s love for Desdemona fails as his hamartia of jealousy and skepticalness causes his trust for Desdemona to break, as she is an inexperienced and young youth.

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Othello had fallen in love with Desdemona, daughter of Brabantio who is the Venetian senator. Brabantio is upset that Othello has run off with his daughter and got married in secret. He did not like that his daughter was marrying a black man. Desdemona loved him very much, and did not care that he was black.

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Shakespeare’s Othello, an early 17th century play, is a widely renowned work that is still studied in a psychological aspect worldwide today. The eponym of the play had ambivalent feelings for Desdemona, his wife, that were prevalent in the sense that he’d gone to extreme lengths, such as; abusing her, mistreating her, and ultimately murdering her. This was all due to his inner conflict of his love, yet intense hatred for Desdemona. All of his unsureness about Desdemona, though, was due to his true flaw- insecurity in himself. He had internal feuds about whether he, a black man in 16th century Venice, was a satisfactory husband for a noble white woman.

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In the play, Othello, written by William Shakespeare, Venetian women describes as an ‘objects' to sell; they have to obey their owner and have no ability to stand up for themselves. For example, although Desdemona is loyals to her husband, she is still being called a ‘whore' by the one she loves the most. Firstly, culture-conditioning plays a big role on how Desdemona has to obey Othello. Secondly, women have to face to double-standard given from their gentlemen, which makes Desdemona obey Othello without hesitation. Lastly, as a wife of the general and the daughter of a Venetian Senator, Desdemona’s position is different compared to other ladies.

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The passage evokes pathos from the readers as they feel pity for Desdemona. Despite Desdemona’s pitiful circumstances, she remains melancholy and displays her unconditional love for Othello by accepting her fate under his false accusations of adultery. She is certain that her death will come but even on her deathbed, she defends her husband by stating, ”Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve” (Oth.4.3.53). This particular quote shows the depth of Desdemona’s love towards Othello. Her innocence and purity are shown through her faithful actions, but it is her unawareness of Iago’s manipulation that leads reader 's’ to pity Desdemona.

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Throughout the play, Desdemona appears as abnormally kind and innocent, as well as obtaining multiple attributes of a Jesus-figure, these characteristics carry her through the journey from a young wife to a tragic victim. Throughout Othello, Shakespeare teachers his audience the reason bad things often happen to good people. Over the course of the play, Desdemona constantly acts with

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“ Let husbands know, their wives have sense like them : they see and smell, and have their palates for both sweet and sour, as husbands have.” She implies that men are weak minded which is very true, “They eat us hungrely, and when they are full they blech us. She exclaims they are unable to control their desires with logical thoughts. It is “natural” for women to be feminine and to do as their fathers and husbands tell them, Desdemona breaks her honor to her father by marrying Othello. Desdemona however only expresses her beliefs of men in private, but she shows power in

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Iago uses very clever methods of persuasion and manipulation aimed to use Othello’s hamartia against him, pointing out that “ “She (Desdemona) did deceive her father, marrying you,” so much so that Brabantio “thought ’twas witchcraft”. Through this, Iago is subtly raising the issues of Othello’s cultural differences with Desdemona; a root cause behind Othello’s insecurities with his wife – along with inadequacy due to race, degree of sophistication and age. As Iago prompts Othello to think the worst, his utterances are short and uneasy, revealing the beginning to his downfall, whilst Iago’s dialogue is at length highlighting his growing power of

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In the play Othello, William Shakespeare creates an elaborate tragedy with various in depth characters, enhancing the story with powerful characterization. Iago, the main antagonist of Othello, exemplifies Shakespeare’s use of characterization to create in depth and complex characters. Using his manipulative nature, intellectual mind, egotistical attitude, and dishonesty, Iago controls the other characters in order to achieve his goal, leading Othello to succumb to an overwhelming jealousy causing his downfall. In order for Iago to gain control of the characters in the play, he manipulates Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, and more to believe false information and turn on one another.

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The tragedy of “Othello” is the destruction of one’s integrity. The play is one of the great Shakespearean tragedies, which are all “a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character,” (Oxford Dictionary) who in this case is Othello. He was a Venetian general living in Cyprus with his lovely wife Desdemona. The play begins with one of his most trusting friends, Iago, who is furious about Cassio being appointed as Othello’s lieutenant rather than him. Given this, Iago forms the web that he would use to ensnare the characters that he would use to bring Othello down for him.

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In Othello, Othello and Desdemona are both characters that are struggling with their identities. In the beginning of the play we find Othello as a respectful man that is successful, but then we get Iago that manipulates him to make him seem as the bad guy. We also find Desdemona that turns against her father and the Elizabethan society to marry Othello, but we also find that she is respectful and obedient to Othello.

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John and Othello are both rejected from their societies, Othello is a black man in a predominantly white society while John fits in neither in the Savage nor the New World. Similarly, John is in love with Lenina like Othello is with Desdemona, though their own expectations of love end up destroying their relationships. Othello is a military general in Italy who is held below the others in his society because of the color of his skin. He falls in love with the beautiful Desdemona but fears that he is undeserving of her love because of how society had portrayed him all of his life. Though Othello had defied all odds to marry Desdemona, he begins to feed into his insecurities and, out of jealousy, he suspects his wife of being unfaithful and says, “Was this fair paper, this most goodly book, made to write 'whore' upon?”

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Also, each relationship in Othello provokes jealousy in one partner. In a typical Venetian society, a woman was considered to be a man’s property, so if a woman was disobedient, it negatively impacted the man, while also questioning his masculinity. The hyperbolic soliloquy as Othello expressed he would “rather be a toad” than “keep a corner of the thing I love” is Othello’s justification of killing his wife, as her untrustworthiness challenged his masculinity and reputation. Referring to Desdemona as a “thing” emphasises the idea of women being property. Iago’s jealousy of Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is emphasised through the degrading comment of Othello, “an old black ram” “tupping” Brabantio’s “white ewe”.

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It is also important to note that there are different types of jealousy at play in Othello for different characters-- Iago’s envy of Cassio is not in the same branch as Othello and Brabanzio’s watchfulness and ownership over Desdemona. Unfortunately, in the case of Othello, Desdemona’s class is often hidden as a source of jealousy, due to her innocent characterization and place as the long-suffering victim. However, it is still made evident to the audience that Desdemona is a valuable resource to be had. This is made to be even more of a problem when race is brought into the equation-- not only is Desdemona of a higher class than Othello, she is also of a higher ranking race as a white

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Iago’s powerfully disruptive insinuations torment Othello to fall precipitously into his intricate trap, believing in the prospect of Cassio and Desdemona’s fictitious affair. Through the use of linguistic techniques such as elliptical speech, subservient vocative choices and a hesitant tone, Iago is able to construct artful innuendoes to deceive and manipulate Othello. Supplementary to linguistic techniques, dramatic techniques such as dramatic irony reinforces Iago’s role as a two-faced villain, who is making a pretence of being Othello’s loyal ensign. Eventually, Iago’s villainy nature sows a seed of doubt in Othello that germinates into the murder of Desdemona. Through the characterisation of Iago as a notorious villain, Shakespeare is able to hold Iago’s actions accountable for the play’s tragic downfall, establishing a sense of powerlessness amongst the

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