Desdemona's Innocence In Othello

650 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Iago importance in othello

Othello is livid after hearing the “confession” and kills Desdemona. In the minutes leading up to her death, Desdemona insists that she is innocent, and begs Othello to let her live so she can prove her innocence:
DESDEMONA. Kill me to-morrow: let me live to-night!
OTHELLO. Nay, if you strive--
DESDEMONA. But half an hour!
OTHELLO. Being done, there is no pause.
DESDEMONA. But while I say one prayer!
OTHELLO. It is too late. (5.3.96-101)
The fact that Othello wouldn’t even let Desdemona live a few minutes to prove her innocence demonstrates the extent of Iago’s manipulations on him. Iago was able to successfully convince Othello to murder the woman he loved.
Similarly, in Macbeth, the witches were able to successfully lure Macbeth in to killing the king (with the help of Lady Macbeth) and many others in order to seize and protect his position of king. In addition, both characters’ crimes were also partially motivated by wounded prided – Lady Macbeth taunted Macbeth with his manliness to convince him to kill the king, and Othello kills Desdemona because he feels she wounded his manly pride (even though he was reluctant to kill her at first), and therefore she must be punished.
In Macbeth, Macbeth’s tragic flaw of ambition is the biggest contributor to his downfall. Macbeth’s ambition is what allowed him to believe what the witches told him, despite Banquo’s warnings – Macbeth believed what the witches because he desperately wanted what they were saying to be true. As soon as he hears the prophecies, he starts to contemplate murdering Duncan to seize the throne: “Stars hide your fires/Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.57-58). Macbeth himself states that the only reason he has for murdering Duncan i...

... middle of paper ...

... by grief and commits suicide. Similarly, in Macbeth, Macbeth was too late to discover that he was tricked by the witches, and is killed by Macduff. Their flaws also cause them to lose touch with reality: Othello believes that his wife – who was always faithful and loving towards him – is cheating on him, and Macbeth becomes suspicious of and killed anyone who he believed posed a threat to his throne. In both cases, the characters’ tragic flaw is what leads to their downfall and causes them to see things that are not necessarily there.
Shakespeare’s Othello and Macbeth portray how easy it is to manipulate someone by playing on their weakness. Othello and Macbeth both started out as brave and honourable people who were admired by their acquaintances, but are slowly lead to their downfall thorough the wrong people knowing their weaknesses and playing on them.

Show More
Related

  • Manipulation and Love: An Analysis of Othello

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the time when Othello is about to kill Desdemona his heart is tried to find a reason not to. Othello cried, “O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade/ justice to break her sword, one more, one more!/ Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,/ and love thee after. One more, and that’s the last!/ So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep,/ but they are cruel tears. This sorrow's heavenly;/ it strikes where, it doth love (Act 5: 2; lines 16-22). Even though his hatred for Desdemona was strong, his love for her was even stronger and sweeter than ever before. For almost half of the play, Othello had grown a deep hatred for his newly wed Desdemona but exactly at the moment when he was about to kill her, his weak heart did not have the courage to commit his heroic duty. This shows how unbalanced his emotions are and how he cannot seem to get his mind straight. Even after his spouse’s death, Othello would still continue to reveal his darkest

    Read More

  • The Emotions of Ambition, Remorse, and Fear in 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare

    387 Words  | 1 Pages

    Macbeth is captured by his wild ambition at the opening of the play when he and Banqou meet the three witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he is the Thane of Cawdor, and later will be king. They tell Banquo that his sons will be kings. Instantly Macbeth started to fantasize how he is going to be king. He understood that in order for him to become king he has to kill Duncan. “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical”(Act 1 Sc. 3, p.23). He was pondering about the assassination until the moment that he could no longer control his emotions. “To prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself and falls on the other-“(Act 1 Sc. 7, p.41). Because of his “vaulting ambition” he killed Duncan.

    Read More

  • Macbeth and His Mental Deterioration

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play centring around opposing forces trying to gain power in the succession for the throne of Scotland. Macbeth, in the beginning, is known to be a nobel and strong willed man, who is ready to fight for his country. However, one may see that Macbeth has a darker side to him, he is power hungry and blood thirsty, and will not stop until he has secured his spot as King of Scotland. Though Macbeth may be a tyrant, he is very naïve, gullible, and vulnerable. He is vulnerable and willing to be persuaded by many characters throughout the play, his wife, the witches to name a few, this is the first sign that his mental state is not as sharp as others. One will see the deterioration of Macbeth and his mental state as the play progresses, from level headedness and undisturbed to hallucinogenic, psychopathic and narcissistic. The triggering event for his mental deterioration is caused by the greed created from the witches first prophecy, that Macbeth will become King of Scotland (I.iii.53). Because of the greed causing his mental deterioration, Macbeth’s psychosis is what caused his own demise by the end of the play. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the tragic hero Macbeth’s demise is provoked by his hallucinogenic episodes, psychopathic actions and narcissistic behaviours.

    Read More

  • Reason And Emotion In Othello Analysis

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    Interestingly, as Othello is preparing to kill Desdemona, he still believes that he is using reason to make his decisions. He says, “It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul./ Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,/ It is the cause” (V.ii.1-3). While he does not speak his reason, he is confident that he has one good enough for which to kill. This continues into an emotional set of lines about how much he is dreading preforming the necessary deed. It is not until the last set of Othello’s lines that he admits to being a fool overcome with

    Read More

  • Othello's Responsibility for Desdemona's Death

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    really does believe Iago. That makes Othello responsible for Desdemona's death. For example, When Othello sees Cassio talking to Desdemona, Iago winds him up. says he should beware of jealousy, the ''green eyed monster''. This explains to us that from now on you have to take on jealousy as well.

    Read More

  • Pride And Betrayal In Othello

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    Feeling betrayal from the person you love can be one of the most hurting and painful feelings somebody gets to experience in life, but the feeling of being betrayed accompanied by publicity can cause more harm to the situation. That feeling of “Everybody knew except for myself” can be extremely excruciating and can cause extreme harm like portrayed on the story written By William Shakespeare Othello. In the story Othello, we have the protagonist Desdemona and Othello who are married to each other, and the antagonist, Iago, who ruined their marriage by lying to Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him. This story ends in a tragedy as we would expect from the author Shakespeare, but the key that led to the tragedy was the theme of pride. Othello was a very powerful and prevailing male character, who believed his men above anyone including his wife. Othello wouldn’t have been able to go on with the embarrassment of knowing people believe his wife has been lying to him. Othello’s self-conscious and pride was the motive that led him to killing his innocent wife, Desdemona.

    Read More

  • Othello Essay

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    Now, when Othello and Desdemona, get the hesitant approval of their marriage by Desdemona’s father by blessing their marriage, the Father of Desdemona says “She has deceived her father, and may thee (Act 1, 3, 294).” This may not at first give Othello concern that his wife might cheat on him, but later with the help of Iago’s lies, this line becomes more relevant to Othello, giving him the idea that Desdemona may not always stay loyal. Now here Othello has some proof, of Desdemona’s betrayal but it is not very strong proof, at lest not enough to go to the extreme the Othello went to. Now, Iago also makes h...

    Read More

  • Who's Responsible for Desdemona's Death?

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Her confession then confirms that Desdemona was faithful and did not deserve to die and as a result she shows one that love can be foolish and naïve. Her love and loyalty to Iago causes her to deceive her friend and this ends with both women being killed because the love they possessed for too foolish men. Othello is responsible for murdering Desdemona; Iago is

    Read More

  • Vaulting Ambition in Shakespeare's Macbeth

    433 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the play Macbeth, Macbeth's ambition was to become king. But the only that he saw fit to become king was to kill Duncan. Duncan and Macbeth were cousins, and Duncan was a kind person to Macbeth. But Macbeth was blinded by his ambition. Macbeth said, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other," (Act I Scene VII). By this quote, Macbeth meant that the only reason he sees to kill Duncan was because he wanted to become king. He didn't think about the future consequences or repercussions. At first Macbeth was loyal, but his ambition overcame his morals a kind-heartedness and made him evil.

    Read More

  • The Portaryal of Gender in Othello by William Shakespeare

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...or Desdemona and attest to her innocence” (Gruber 100). It is, “Desdemona’s disobedient insistence on her innocence [that] maddened the priestly Othello and hastened her death” (Calderwood 363). Ironically, Othello finds out the truth only after he has smothered the life out of Desdemona and silenced her permanently and many others have suffered unjust deaths as well. Once Othello learns the truth, he can no longer live with the guilt of having killed his innocent wife. He is definitely not the man that he wanted to be. He feels as if the only way to escape the coming judgment is to take his own life.

    Read More

  • Consequences of Actions in Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    After struggling with the thought of killing Duncan, Macbeth is reprimanded by Lady Macbeth for his lack of courage. She informs him that killing the king will make him a man, insinuating that he isn’t a man if he doesn’t go through with the murder. This develops Lady Macbeth as a merciless, nasty, and selfish woman. She will say, or do anything to get what she desires, even if it means harming others. It is this selfishness that makes it hard for the reader to be empathetic towards her later in the play, as it is evident in this scene that her hardships were brought on by herself. If she hadn’t insisted on the murder, she would not be driven in...

    Read More

  • Blind Ambition in Macbeth

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Among the greatest gifts that the renaissance produced was the eloquent and incredible Shakespearean plays. Written mostly in the 1590s these plays have been performed and admired countless times; entertaining mass audiences by providing interesting tales that explore the depth of human insights and the different universal themes. Among the many Shakespearean plays Macbeth, written in 1606, stands out with its short composition but multiple themes. This tragedy narrates the tale of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s quest to grasp ultimate power by ignoring their morals and succumbing to their dark desires, which ultimately leads to their downfall. This tragic play portrays the desires, needs, and temptations that accompany ambition in men and women. However the ambition in Macbeth is blind, it does not abide to the morals, but it allows space for dark actions as means necessary for accomplishment. Blind ambition serves as the main driving force that drives Macbeth to subdue to his dark desires, defy his noble behavior, and ultimately his downfall.

    Read More

  • Othello, Desdemona And Iago

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    The world is a scandalous place filled with egocentric people to who will often make choices based on personal pleasure and beneficial needs. In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, when not chosen for the higher titled position, the villain seeks revenge and manipulates others in scandalous acts to take over. Through characterization of the three main characters, Othello, Desdemona, and Iago, we realize that, lacking trust leads to a self-disrupting nature filled with betrayal, death, and suicide.

    Read More

  • Tragic Hero's Downfall In Othello '

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even though Othello trusted Iago, he did not once think about Desdemona’s faithfulness and that Iago might just be completely lying. I’ll not expostulate with her. ”(IV.i.206-208) It shows that he came to a quick and poor conclusion to kill Desdemona. Othello having poor judgment lead him to trust the wrong people and when he finally realized this, it lead to his demise. The third trait in Othello that led to his downfall was his jealousy and obsession with Desdemona.

    Read More

  • Iago Responsible For Desdemona's Death In Othello

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s most famous play called “Othello”, Iago would be responsible for Desdemona’s death at the near end of the book. Iago would be stated as guilty and should be charged as an accessory. Although he did not physically kill her he is still accountable for her murder. Iago manipulates Othello to make him suspect Desdemona is cheating on him with his lieutenant Cassio. Plans to use Desdemona against her own will to Othello.

    Read More

More about Desdemona's Innocence In Othello

Open Document