Desdemona Complex Character

William Shakespeare is known as a master playwright, creating characters such as Romeo and Juliet to Hamlet and Ophelia, but Shakespeare’s Desdemona is usually viewed as one-dimensional. Shakespeare’s Othello is riddled with complex characters, of which Desdemona most definitely falls in the category. Desdemona is viewed as virginal and naive, but in truth is manipulative. It is also unknown if she truly loves Othello, as her love stems from pity. The most convincing reason Desdemona is a complex character is her growth through the play. Desdemona is a complex character, contrary to popular belief, Shakespeare demonstrates her complexity through her character growth, her search for power ,and the ambiguity of her love for Othello.

Before Desdemona’s

marriage to Othello, she is seen as the innocent, virginal, and naive girl that her father believes her to be. Brabantio referred to her as, “A maiden never bold; / Of spirit so still and quiet that her motion / Blush’d at herself” (I iii 112-114). Brabantio believes Desdemona would never be so bold as to marry Othello. At some point in Desdemona’s life she was an innocent maiden, who would never have thought to pursue a black man below her class and upset her father in the process. Brabantio believes his daughter is unable of doing wrong and going against convention, which is why when Iago goes to Brabantio and brings up the fact that the moor is tupping his white ewe, he is beyond surprised and does not believe that such a thing is possible. Brabantio believes his daughter is under a curse which the moor placed on her, so that she would fall in love with him. Desdemona may have been a fragile maiden before her marriage, but she certainly is not afterward. Desdemona stands up for herself, from the beginning of the play when her the Duke suggest her reside at her father’s, “I would not there reside” (I iii 276). She is speaking out of turn and giving herself power over her own life. Not only does Desdemona stand up for herself, she is sassy and talks back to people. When she says, “Alas, she has no speech.” (II i 115), she is talking back at Iago, in regards to Iago’s unkind comments about his wife, Emilia. Desdemona, is once again speaking out of turn and portraying a strong woman who not only stands up for herself but also for those she cares about. Desdemona also attempts to provoke Iago into showing his true nature by asking him to praise her: “I am not merry; but I do beguile / The thing I am by seeming otherwise. / Come, how wouldst thou praise me?” (II i 137-139). Desdemona went from a virginal girl, before her wedding, to a feisty woman in the beginning of her marriage to Othello. Towards the end of her life and marriage, she tamer as if she has lost her fire. She begins to lose her spark when it is clear that Othello has begun to doubt her faithfulness. Desdemona speaks less and less, becoming less of the woman she was when married to Othello.
Desdemona married Othello against convention and behind her father’s back, by doing so she puts Othello in harm’s way.

Desdemona’s apparent love for Othello is born out of pity, drawing question to whether or not she truly loves Othello. Desdemona fell in love with Othello through his stories, which she would listen to with a “greedy ear”. “Greedy” does not have a good connotation, evoking a feeling of distraught and untrust of the person being described with this word. Othello recognizes that Desdemona pities his stories saying, “My story being done, / She gave me for my pains a world of sighs. / She swore, in faith, ‘twas strange, ‘twas passing strange, / ‘Twas pitiful, ‘twas wondrous pitiful” (I iii 182-186). Desdemona finds the stories of his life pitiful and that is the reason she enjoyed listening to his stories and the reason she fell in love with him. Othello accepts that Desdemona loves him because she pities him, but the reason he loves her is because she pities him, “She loved me for the dangers I had pass’d, / And I loved her that she did pity them” (I iii 188-189). Their relationship is one based on Desdemona’s pity for Othello, they do not have a true love, which goes against the virginal idea of her. Iago sees the true

Desdemona:
Mark me with what violence she first loved the
Moor, but for bragging and telling her fantastical
lies; and will she love him still for prating? let not
thy discreet heart think it. Her eye must be fed; and
what delight shall she have to look on the devil?
When the blood is made dull with the act of sport,
there should be, again to inflame it and to give
satiety a fresh appetite, loveliness in favour, sympathy
in years, manners, and beauties; all which the Moor
is defective in. (II i 243-253)
she loves Othello for his stories, but when his stories are over who knows if she will love him for talking foolishly, Iago does not believe so.

Iago knows that when Desdemona grows tired of Othello she will find someone new to pity and love, this person just happens to be Cassio. Desdemona acknowledges that she pities Cassio, “That he hath left part of his grief with me, / To suffer with him. Good love, call him back” (III iii 58-59) and it is know that she continually confuses pity and love, what is to say that she does not move on from Othello to Cassio.Iago also realizes the oddity that is her love for Othello, “If she had been blessed, she would never / have loved the Moor. Blessed pudding! Didst thou / not see her paddle with the palm of his hand? didst / not mark that? (II i 274-277), Iago is seeing her “paddle with the palm of his hand”, which is a flirty gesture, and reinforcing that she may actually be cheating on

Othello.
Though there is not concrete evidence that Desdemona cheated on Othello, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence proving her guilt. Desdemona speaks to Othello about allowing Cassio to be his general again and she calls him a “suitor”, the definition of suitor is someone who is vying for a lover who they intend to marry. Desdemona is letting Othello know that there is a suitor, that someone is pursuing her romantically. Desdemona admits that Cassio has “wooed” her more than once, “Michael Cassio, / That came a-wooing with you, and so many a time, / When I have spoke of you dispraisingly, / Hath ta’en your part; to have so much to do / To bring him in! Trust me, I could do much --” (III iii 78-82), Cassio has put the moves on Desdemona, with the intents of marrying her. It is also suggested that Desdemona has infact slept with Cassio, “O, that’s an honest fellow. Do not doubt, Cassio, / But I will have my lord and you again / As friendly as you were.” (III iii 5-7), by saying she will have Cassio again implies that they have slept together before and she intends to sleep with him again. Iago realizes that Desdemona is still young and when she grows tired of Othello she will leave him and find a new lover, “She must change for youth; when she is sated with his body, she will find the error of her choice: she must have change, she must” (I iii 393-395).
Not only is it believed that Desdemona cheated on her husband with his lieutenant, but she continually put him in harm’s way by not telling her father of their relationship. By not telling Brabantio about her love for Othello, she unknowingly put him in harm’s way. Brabantio does not believe his daughter would willingly marry anyone, let one the Moor, based on her tentative behaviour on the subject in the past, “Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy, / So opposite to marriage that she shunn’d / The wealthy curled darlings of our nation, / Would ever have, to incur a general mock, / Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom / Of such a thing a thou -- to fear, not delight.” (I ii 85-90). Brabantio is appalled by her marriage, and by the fact that he did not know about it. Their marriage is so against the convention of the time. Brabantio does not believe his daughter could fall in love with and marry the Moor, “In spite of nature, / Of years, of country, credit, everything, / To fall in love with what she fear’d to look on!” (I iii 114-116) Desdemona is opening Othello up to the criticism of her father, and the potential harm that her father could cause him.
Desdemona is not the innocent youth she appears to be. Desdemona is power hungry and manipulative. Desdemona holds a lot of power and she continues to search for more. Desdemona reassures Cassio that she will try to help his predicament, “Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do / All my abilities in thy behalf.” (III iii 1-2), Desdemona is overly confident in her abilities to get her way and convince Othello to give him his job back. Desdemona gives Cassio a sense of assurance, “For thy solicitor shall rather die / Than give thy cause away” (III iii 29-30), she makes him believe that she cares about the outcome just as much, if not more than Cassio. She leads him to believe she holds enough control to make Cassio believe this. Desdemona does not overtly exude power, she is more subtle and manipulative, “If I have any grace or power to move you”(III iii 50), Desdemona makes it seem as if it is Othello’s decision rather than her trying to persuade him. Desdemona is once again manipulating Othello in her subtle way, “I prithee, name the time, but let it not / Exceed three days.” (III iii 70-71), she is making him think it is his choice. Not only does Desdemona have power, she is willingly given it, “Whatever shall become of Michael Cassio, / He’s never anything but your true servant.” (III iii 9-10), Cassio is giving himself to Desdemona, giving her ultimate power of him. Desdemona is very stubborn and set in her way, when the argument does not appear to be going in her favor, she pushes to make her win the argument:
OTHELLO. Not now, sweet Desdemona; some other time.
DESDEMONA. But shall’t be to-night at supper?
OTHELLO. No, Not to-night
DESDEMONA. To-morrow dinner then? (III iii 60-65)
Desdemona will not back down from a fight that she wants to win. Othello knows that in an argument against Desdemona that he will lose, “Whereon, I do beseech thee, grant me this, / To leave me but a little to myself” (III iii 94-95), Othello is asking for her permission because he knows that she wears the pants in their marriage.
Desdemona is an extremely complex character. She is originally seen as the virginal daughter of Brabantio, but under the surface she is much more. She is a power hungry woman, who may not truly love Othello. The fact that makes her a complex character is not only these descriptions, but the arc that her character takes is what truly defines her. Against common belief Desdemona is a highly complex character.