Desdemona: Loyal Wife Of Othello Essay, Research Paper

Desdemona: Loyal Wife of Othello

Othello is also a unique tragedy in that it focuses on the destruction of love through sexual jealousy. It is a domestic tragedy. Othello is, however, a truly romantic character because he is very passionate and full of deep feelings. It keeps one wondering what could have possibly brought the sweet Desdemona to be his wife. Was it because he has lived a life of adventure and war and he is somewhat exotic due to his origins and dark complexion? On the other hand, is it because she fell head over heels in love with him because he represented all that was noble and strong. She tells her father, Brabantio, in 1.3 that she fell in love with his character and the wonderful stories that he has told her about his life.

Whatever the case may be, Desdemona represents the innocence, truth and goodness of the play. She truly represents the goodness and light associated with “true love.” Her father troubled by her love for Othello insists that she abandon her love for the Moor and obey his wishes. In 1.3 lines182-191 she tells Brabantio how she loves him according to her bond.

“My father I do perceive here a divided duty.

To you I am bound for the life and education;

My life and education both do learn me

How to respect you. You are the lord of duty;

I am hitherto your daughter. 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!

This young beautiful and bold asks the Duke if she can go with Othello to Cyprus so that whe will not just be a “moth of peace” while her noble husband is fighting for their country. The Duke, like all of the characters in the play, respects Desdemona and her wishes and allows her to leave with Othello.

Desdemona is given a handkerchief with strawberries on it on her wedding day from Othello. This wedding gift ultimately destroys her. It is wrapped up in Moorish mysticism and deep meaning for her husband. She adores it and keeps it with her at all times. The issue of the handkerchief and its ownership easily becomes one of the

most crucial plot points of the play. Although the actual occurrences are only mentioned

in the play, an Egyptian first gave the handkerchief to Othello’s mother, and she then gave it to her son upon her deathbed to give to his future wife.

“She told her, while she

kept it

‘Twould make her amiable and subdue my father

Entirely to her love, but if she lost it

Or made a gift of it, my father’s eye

Should hold her loathed, and his spirits should hunt

After new fancies.” (3.2, 60-64)

Little does Desdemona realize the true meaning of the cursed handkerchief. As long as his mother had the handkerchief, his father would remain happy. The parallel to her life becomes self-evident unfortunately for her too little too late. When the handkerchief disappears so does Othello’s trust in her. When Othello and Desdemona marry, he gives it to her. In this instance, the handkerchief symbolizes the love a wife holds for her husband and how to lose it or give it away would symbolize to him loss of love it somehow is transformed into the marital bond. Here we can seriously characterize Desdemona as the tragic character. How could her husband be so simple minded as to put so much faith in a piece of muslin? How could he distrust her so easily and trust Iago so completely. Sure camaraderie between fellow soldiers is to be expected, but over your mate? Othello makes a crucial mistake.

When Desdemona loses the handkerchief Emilia finds it and steals it away. The implication is that the doomed Desdemona has also lost her husband’s love. Emilia then

gives the handkerchief to her husband Iago, who has expressed a great interest in the unusual item. To Iago, the handkerchief is the realization of all his furtive plotting–the final piece of “evidence” needed to convince Othello of Desdemona’s infidelity and Cassio’s disloyalty.

Desdemona feeds the fire of his jealousy unknowingly. By trying to mend things between Cassio and her husband she dumps kerosene on his burning mistrust of her. She had no idea that he was prying her about the whereabouts of the handkerchief in an attempt to be proven wrong in his suspicions of an affair between his wife and Cassio only to find her defending him again.

“Why, so I can, sir, but I will not now.

This is a trick to put me from my suit.

Pray you, let Cassio be received again.” (3.4 lines 89-91)

She is adding nails to her coffin in an attempt to be a good wife and mend the problems between her beloved husband and his friend. Iago continues to pray on her kindness and innocence. She is so blind to her fate that it is difficult to harbor anything but pleasant feelings for her character. She is respected and loved by all of the characters in the play. Iago even admires her and defends her to her husband although maliciously. Emilia continues throughout the play to tell Othello that she is true to him and would never stray

As Othello becomes increasingly bitter in his dealings with her and she seems to love him more and more despite his shortcomings. She makes excuses for his poor temper. Desdemona is a loyal spouse admiring and faithful who will do absolutely anything for her husband. Even when he is falsely accusing her of adultery and sin, Desdemona defends Othello. She tells Emilia that “some unhatched practice in Cyprus” has “puddled his clear spirit. Desdemona does not blame him; she tries to understand what has upset him. She is an unselfish and loving victim who defends her husband to the very end of her life.

The tragedy unfolds and her life is cut unbearably short. The end is upon her when Othello observes Cassio with the handkerchief, and all of the suspicions of the noble Moor are confirmed. At this turning point, the cursed handkerchief has little to do with love; he sees it as the tangible manifestation of her tainted honor. . No matter what anybody tells him Othello is threatened by her sexuality in such a way that he refuses to believe anybody. It is as if the handkerchief awakens a fatal attraction. If he cannot have her to himself then she must die. He also refuses to listen to reason. Iago just continues to poison his mind and he readily accepts this.

Desdemona serves the function of a weapon for Iago. It is through Desdemona that Iago will get to the Moor and gain status for himself. He begins building this status by tormenting Brabantio with the news of Desdemona’s disappearance. He then continues by using her love for her husband against him. She her friendship for Cassio as a primary dagger in her downfall. It is her sensitivity to her husband and his feeling of loss over the problems between himself and Cassio that bring her to defend him. She ultimately believes that by bringing them back together her husband will be more at peace.

However, Iago is sure to be the devil’s advocate if occasion shall arise. Desdemona just happens to be there to give him the leverage he needs. She plays right into his hands by defending Cassio. Again she works as a tool to Othello’s demise by losing the handkerchief. Emilia here also loads the gun of deception by handing her mistress’s handkerchief to her husband.

Desdemona is apparently unaware that she is destroying her husband by being herself. Her actions coupled with Iago’s twisted desire for power bring Othello to his knees. He adopts a feeling that he must save her from herself and destroy her. By destroying her, he can restore her purity. However, even when Othello kills her in a jealous rage, Desdemona does not want her husband to be responsible for her death. She claims that “nobody, I myself” committed this tragic deed. Her character holds her purity and her love for Othello until the very end of the play.

Desdemona is the purity, the light and the truth throughout the play. Her tragedy is completely unwarranted and completely brought about by the evil that lies within the demon mind of Iago. Iago plays Desdemona ,our tragic character, lie an instrument of destruction and it brings about her untimely demise and his as well. In the end we see that Othello is redeemed through his love for her when he realizes his grave error and his belief in his wife is restored.