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Behind The Scene With Desdemona In Shakespeare's Othello

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Behind the Scene with Desdemona
While people believe Desdemona can be portrayed in a variety of ways from a rash young woman to an independent, free-thinking woman who stands out for the time-period, I cannot wrap my head around her being anything less than a intensely independent, strong character. The film version of Othello inspired me to portray Desdemona as a strong woman with undying loyalty to her husband. Considering the film adaptation paired with the original storyline, I envision Desdemona as a fiercely strong female character. While I did not completely agree with the portrayal of Desdemona in the film, I felt it was a good foundation to start my own interpretation.
While performing our adaptation of Act 5, Scene 2 to a modern audience, I played the part of Desdemona and I did so with three main points in mind. She has incredible mental strength, she is deeply loyal to Othello and she is socially dependent on Othello. Although she is about to be murdered by her husband in Act 5, scene2, she handles herself with grace. While Desdemona puts …show more content…

Irene Jacob gave strength to Desdemona that I felt was vital to her character. Irene Jacob has a beautiful voice that exudes strength. Desdemona, although not defiant, stood up for herself and pushed back against Othello while still remaining loyal to her husband. It is difficult to explain how powerful Irene’s portrayal was. She fought for her life while remaining the loving wife. She maintained her supportive roll as a wife, she never once turned on Othello and although she argued for her life she did it in a dignified way. Irene upholds a sense of strength as she refutes Othello’s accusations. She even attempts to put up a fight when he tries to suffocate her. I did not agree with this action, but it did further the idea that Irene wanted Desdemona to be seen as a strong character and not just a clueless young

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She exhibits resilience and courage against the patriarchy. I recognized this trait in myself as well. When I am being discriminated against, whether it is for race or gender, I show a sense of bravery to defend myself. Desdemona also uses her privilege and voice to defend herself because other people sharing a similar identity might not be able to voice their opinions safely. Although we are both

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Desdemona shows where her loyalty lies in this quote. At the start, Desdemona talks about her duty to her father, Brabantio, and how she is supposed to respect him above all others. Desdemona then turns it around by talking about how her mother showed more duty to Brabantio than her own father and Desdemona says that she will do the same. Desdemona proves her loyalty to Othello quite well. She chose her husband, the man she loved, over her own father.

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In Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, women are portrayed as either pure angelic beings and jewels, or as whores who are impure. They are objectified and shown as something to be used. The only women in this play are Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca compared to the main 6 male characters, not to mention the minor characters, who are also all male. Their depicted purpose is to belong to a man; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca’s lives revolve around being wives to Othello, Iago and Cassio. This fits into the idea of a perfect Elizabethan woman, who’s lives are subject to their husband’s rule across all aspects, to be disposed of as men wish.

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Although being written centuries apart, the limited expectations of women presented in ‘Othello’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ differ little from each other. The female characters are confined by society’s expectations of male dominance, female purity and virginity, and the many passive roles of women. Despite the differing legalities surrounding the position of women between the centuries in which the plays were written, both plays explore the impact of how societal conventions confine women and the ways they must comply to be safe in a patriarchal society. The behaviours and treatments of Desdemona, Blanche and Stella illustrate the attitudes enforced on and the behaviours of women throughout both periods in time and it is these attitudes and behaviours that impact the plays to the greatest extent. When characters in either plays defy their norms, or demonstrate a lack of compliance they induce negative consequences, such as the murder of Desdemona and the institutionalisation of Blanche.

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The way these women act and conduct themselves is unquestionably related to the ideological expectations of Elizabethan and patriarchal society. Desdemona, Othello 's wife and Brabantio 's daughter, is represented as the ideal woman. So she would never be disloyal to her husband. On many occasions, Desdemona obeys her husband firmly and calls herself obedient even after Othello hits her. She was loving and loyal to Othello and wishes a long marriage of prosperity and commitment that would lead to her ultimate happiness.

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Now, Desdemona does not get to live out her life, all because of one man’s jealousy. These two examples reveal that Othello’s stupidity and his desire for revenge influence his decision to yell at and eventually kill Desdemona, showing how an innocent woman was caught in the crosshairs of a bigger

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Desdemona is a white, Venetian debutante that chooses to marry a black man, a Moor, over the wishes of her father. At the beginning of the play, merely six hours after being married, Desdemona’s father attempts to stop her from accompanying Othello on military duty. He relents when Desdemona pledges her allegiance to Othello by telling her father, “But here’s my husband, And so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father, so much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my Lord”

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Desdemona starts the play by being a strong independent woman who does whatever she wants.

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Desdemona, daughter to senator Brabantio has spurned the advances of eligible young Venetian men, but is captivated by Othello chiefly because of his harsh experiences. We first come

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Due to the fact that there is not a single relationship in Othello that demonstrates true friendship, the tragedy unfolds and results in all characters ' demise. This can be seen when Othello vilifies Desdemona for being a disastrous wife and says, "I will withdraw, To furnish me with some swift means of death, For the fair devil [Desdemona]. Now art thou my lieutenant" (3.3 543-545). As a result, this shows how arguably the most sacred friendship is not even true in between Othello and Desdemona. Othello is notably naive in this instance due to the fact that he puts his wife on death row based on the suspicion Iago planted.

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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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She then says ‘But while i say one prayer!’ Othello responded ‘It’s too late’ and then he suffocates her. Without guilt Desdemona was killed by Othello’s blindness in falling for Iago’s trap. This would’ve ended up differently if only Othello had just talked things out with

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Internalised societal prejudices allow their flaws to overpower their love. Othello’s experience with racial prejudice and Desdamona’s with misogyny make their relationship susceptible to distrust and selfishness. Othello’s view of Desdemona as an accomplishment is demonstrated in Act 5 scene 2, when Emilia exclaims “O, the more angel she, And you the blacker devil!” Emelia’s description of Desdemona and Othello is an oxymoron that forces them to oppose each other, where Othello is viewed as a demonic creature, and Desdemona as angelic.

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However, this changes quickly, as Othello can begin recognize his lower social status in later acts, with the main character transition taking place in Act III. This leads him to see just how valuable Desdemona is, and begins the spiral of jealousy and self doubt that continues our story. In Olson’s reading, Othello even credits his own fate as the problem, stating that he was destined to have an unfaithful wife, rather than recognizing the class divide in his

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While Desdemona is a remarkably strong character, Emilia also displays independence unmatched by any other female in Othello, and there are multiple details of Shakespeare and his time that may have prompted such a portrayal. In Elizabethan England, many women worked behind the scenes of productions, like Shakespeare’s, as uncredited authors and editors (Crowley). Due to their anonymity, nobody can be sure that women were involved in Shakespeare’s plays nor Othello in particular, but there is a genuine possibility that female writers did have leverage. This may have had to do with how Emilia was portrayed as resilient from the time of Desdemona’s death all the way until her own, standing up for herself regardless of the ridicule it caused her (Iyasere). In fact, it even killed her in the end.

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