Examples Of Desdemona Injustice In Othello

1423 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Who is responsible for Desdemona's death

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello, Desdemona faces injustice in her marriage to the Black Moor, Othello. Desdemona and Othello elope since Othello is a Moor and Desdemona’s father, a Venetian Senator, Brabantio would not allow them to get married. Desdemona is disobedient as she betrays her father to be with the love of her life, Othello. Yet, Othello does not side with Desdemona when Iago manipulates him and accuses her of adultery with the notion that she easily betrayed her father, she can easily betray him as well. During the Renaissance, a time when religion highly influenced culture, adultery was considered the worst sin of all: “more detestable, …’than homicide or plunder,’and formally deemed punishable by death” (Greenblatt 246). Many who were newly married, during the Renaissance, were expected to display their blood-stained wedding sheets outside their house to prove the virginity of the woman, yet men are not questioned at all. As the husband and male in the marriage, Othello feels as though he has the right to kill Desdemona to prevent her from committing more sins: “Think on thy sins” (Shakespeare 5.2.39). The many Renaissance rules and customs regarding how a woman should act and behave, along with Iago’s manipulation, and Desdemona’s own lust for Othello are the reasons that …show more content…

Desdemona arrives in Cyprus with Othello’s ensign, Iago, and his ensign’s wife, Emilia, awaiting Othello’s safe arrival in Cyprus. Othello’s lieutenant, Cassio, arrives first. Iago, who is desperate for Cassio’s position, improvises a plan to manipulate Othello into believing that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair after noticing how overly friendly Cassio is. Iago gets Cassio drunk and involved in a fight, damaging Cassio’s reputation and giving Othello no choice, but to demote Cassio. Iago begins his plan and suggests Cassio asks Desdemona to cajole Othello into giving him his position

Show More
Related

  • Desdemona's Naivety In Othello

    73 Words  | 1 Pages

    Desdemona's naivety is the prime cause of the conflict in "Othello" because she doesn't know that Iago is depriving her in Othello's mind by using her actions against her. Desdemona loves Othello, but also is benevolent in helping anyone even if it might be practiced against her. Cassio asked Desdemona if she can help get Othello's trust back, only as Othello and Iago enters they see Cassio leave and gets a bit

    Read More

  • The Themes Of Jello And Iago In William Shakespeare's Othello

    1879 Words  | 4 Pages

    Othello sees Cassio as the man most Venetian women in Desdemona 's position would like to marry and, therefore, as the man she would turn to if she ceased to love her husband. In a way, he is waiting for the dream to come to an end, for Desdemona to decide that she has made a mistake in marrying him. Othello being outclassed in intellect is his lack of self-knowledge; this is with regard to how his military background has affected his logic. He constantly commands Iago to bring him proof of Desdemona’s disloyalty “Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore”

    Read More

  • Theme Of Truth In Othello

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    We get introduced to Iago and Roderigo, who are scheming about getting back at Othello or so called the Moore, for promoting Cassio to lieutenant instead of Iago. We find out that Iago’s plan is to be friendly to everybody in order to gain their trust and betray them. They go to the house of a person called Brabantio, to tell them that Othello has stolen his daughter. He is in shock because this is Venice a place of logic and peace. This makes Barbantio pissed and he gathers up a mob to find Othello. Iago snags off to buddy up with Othello to make himself look like a good guy. Iago tells Othello that he is his “friend”. Cassio comes in to tell Othello that duke request him. Barbantio then comes in to accuse Othello of using dark magic to seduce his daughter and tries to arrest him. Othello says that they were both summoned by the duke. The duke and the senator are discussing the war in Cyprus. That the Turkish fleet is coming. We find out that Othello is a general and they need him for the war. However Barbanto explains what that “Othello stole his daughter” and the duke agrees with Barbantio that whosever took his daughter should be punished. Othello explains that he and Desdemona fell in love when she heard him tell stories Barbantio about his life and experiences. Brabantio doesn’t believe Desdemona isn’t like that, but then Desdemona comes in for herself and says she did fall in love with Othello. Barbantio accepts

    Read More

  • Defending A Mans Honor

    1305 Words  | 3 Pages

    Proud, noble, and brave warrior Othello is well respected and his military skills and adventures are widely known. He is charismatic, charming, self-reliant and well traveled. These personality traits made Desdemona fall in love with him, and by these, he measures his honorability. His measures his self-worth by the way he is perceived by others. That is the main reason why he perceives Desdemona’s alleged infidelity as ruining his honor. It makes him look like a fool and he feels that he has been taken advantage of because he is unwise and unfamiliar with the devious sexual practices of Venice women.

    Read More

  • Redemption in Death in Othello

    1552 Words  | 4 Pages

    The love between Othello, the Moor, and Desdemona, his wife, is strong from the outset of the play, and Othello relies on this love and on Desdemona’s loyalty. When Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, brings him before the senators, accusing him of corrupting Desdemona, Othello is so confident in her love for him that he offers his life if she says she does not love him: “If you do find me foul in her report, /…let your sentence/ Even fall upon my life” (I, iii, 117-19).  He reaffirms this when Brabantio suggests that Desdemona will deceive him.  Othello responds, “My life upon her faith” (I, iii, 289)  Twice, then, he has trusted his life to Desdemona’s loyalty.  This not only emphasizes his love for her, but also his reliance upon her...

    Read More

  • Revenge For Revenge In Othello

    1387 Words  | 3 Pages

    She mentions how she physically cares for Othello, asking him to take care of himself and his body. She then uses this as a segway proving that if he trusts her council in these small matters then her advice on larger matters should hold even more weight and proof upon them. Othello agrees to her council and asks to be alone so that he may think, However Iago had different plans. Previously Desdemona had spoken to Cassio and had told him she would try to win back Othello’s favor for him, and Iago used this friendship to his advantage. After Othello had spoken to Desdemona and agreed to meet with Cassio, Iago began to whisper poisonous thoughts into his ears saying Desdemona is unfaithful. Desdemona is clueless to this change of events and continues to play in to Iago’s hands, innocently continuing to befriend Cassio and entreat Othello to accept him. Even so, she continues to love her husband even when he begins to act distant and strange. Desdemona tries again to comfort Othello when he is distraught, but this time he pushes her away, wishing not to be comforted by his wife as he is now suspicious of her. Later, Desdemona realizes her handkerchief is missing, not knowing Emilia took it as Iago had instructed her. Desdemona realizes that Othello will be cross with her, but she does not realize the torrent of frustration she has now been placed in the

    Read More

  • Dbq French Revolution

    432 Words  | 1 Pages

    From 1789 to 1799, a period of radical social and political upheaval in France, named as “French Revolution”, that profoundly affected French and modern history. Before 1789, France was under the rule of the aristocracy and the church. The ideas of the Enlightenment were start to make the common people want more authority. They could see that the American Revolution had formed a country in which people had supremacy, instead of a king. This period is the bloodiest period in the Europe history. French people was very frustrated with the king because of his lack of ability to deal with the declining living situations, financial circumstances, shortages of food and few religious intolerances. As people become angrier because of the power of privileged few, they wanted change,

    Read More

  • Violence in Shakespeare's Othello

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    The situation above leaves an opening for Iago to fulfill his vital plan to bring down Othello through Desdemona. Cassio was a mental wreck and told Iago that his reputation was ruined. Iago told him that he can get his rank back through Desdemona and get back on Othello's good side. "Confess yourself freely to her, importune her help to put you in your place again (p. 54)." Once Cassio talks to Desdemona, Iago will speak with Othello and get him to think of his wife's trust. In Act three Scene three Iago is speaking to Othello and warns him to look out for Cassio and Desdemona. Othello asks Iago if it was just Cassio that left from speaking with his wife.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Honour In Othello

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    From this point on, Othello insecurity manifests into a seemingly irrational fear of being cuckolded, and his self-perceived worth diminishes exponentially. Othello comments on the likelihood of Desdemona cheating, by explaining how it may be “for [he is] black / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have…” (3.3.280-282) Othello’s frustration with the threat of being cuckolded puts strain on his relationship with Desdemona, and she quickly becomes a victim of domestic abuse. For example, Othello acts as an interrogator, demanding to see the handkerchief which he gave her that symbolizes faithfulness and commitment towards Othello. (Quotation) When she is unable to produce their symbol of trust, Othello’s anger manifests inside him. The audience is shown a stark contrast to Othello’s typically cool, collected and composted nature. This abrupt and irrational change in behaviour is emphasized when Othello strikes Desdemona in front of Lordovico, (4.1.245) Othello’s

    Read More

  • A Feminist Analysis of Othello

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    When Othello summons Desdemona and dismisses Emilia, “Leave procreants alone . . .; / Cough or cry hem if anybody come. / Your mystery, your mystery! . . .” (IV.2.28-30), he not only dismisses Emilia, accuses Desdemona of infidelity, and betrays his own insane bitterness, but he converts the marriage into a brothel arrangement in which all three are involved, and by so doing establishes imaginative lines of connection with the role of Bianca and particularly with the Iago philosophy of sexual conduct. (331)

    Read More

  • Modernism and Postmodernism in Shakespeare's Othello

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Othello men see women as objects to control, first by their father, and then by their husband. When Iago yells to Brabantio, telling him his daughter has gone off to marry Othello, he yells "Thieves, thieves! / Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags! / Thieves, thieves!" (Othello I.i.79-80). Othello has taken away Brabantio's property, his daughter, and is called a thief because of it. Desdemona refuses to be treated like property, however and makes "A gross revolt, / tying her duty, beauty, wit and fortunes" (Othello I.i.134-135) to Othello. Her marriage to Othello is not an act of a free woman, but a revolt by Brabantio's property. Desdemona is also incapable of independent feelings or thoughts. Othello must have "Enchanted her" (Othello I.ii.63), "In chains of magic" (Othello I.ii.65), because she could never make such a choice on her own. In Brabantio's mind, only he can know what is in Desdemona's best interest and then choose it for her. Brabantio tries to guard her, but Desdemona has "Run from her guardage" (Othello I.ii.70). In Othello the culture of the time treats women as objects to be guarded and watched over, too tender and gentle to fend for themselves in a dang...

    Read More

  • The Perception Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the male characters perceive women as adulterous and property, treating them as inferior that need to be submissive and obey. Iago creates a false perception of his wife thinking she is promiscuous. Also, Othello sees his wife as promiscuous, an impression created by his jealousy and one he has convinced himself of it. Furthermore, Iago and Othello perceive their wives as inferior, and by his words, the reader can see that they are both their wife and subordinate. At last, the male characters refer to Desdemona’s marriage as a “steal” and “purchase” of property, then, Iago and Othello end their wives’ lives because they see them as possessions of no good.

    Read More

  • The Role of Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello

    412 Words  | 1 Pages

    Desdemona and Othello have just eloped at the beginning of the play. The first run-in with Desdemona is with her father, Brabantio. He asks her about her duties as a daughter, and she responds saying her duty as a wife now supercedes her former place. Society in the 1600s expected women to be subservient and obedient, as Brabantio’s outrage at Desdemona’s elopement shows. Women were required to remain loyal to men. Additionally, as a daughter, Desedmona was required to ask permission to be married, and because she did not she turned away from society’s expectations. However, by saying that she is now loyal to her husband more than to her father, Desdemona sticks with society’s expectations. But the shock of her marrying without permission was enough to anger and sadden Brabantio, the symbol for society in the beginning of the play.

    Read More

  • The Character Desdemona and the Role of Women Depicted in Shakespeare's Othello

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    The society in which Othello takes place is a patriarchal one, where men had complete control over women. They were seen as possessions rather than being just as equally human and capable of duties performed by men. All women of the Elizabethan were to obey all men, fathers, brothers, husbands, etc. Which leads me to the most reliable and trustworthy character of Desdemona, whom goes through many trials just to satisfy her love. Shakespeare brings the thought of Desdemona into the play by Barbantio, her father, “It is too true an evil. Gone she is....Oh, she deceives me Past thought! …” (1.1.163)(1.1.168-169), whom has just found she has taken off with Othello and firstly suspects they have been hitched. Shakespeare gives reader the impression Desdemona is a devious imp full of disrespect towards her father. However, surpassing normal tradition of asking of her fathers’ permission to wed, Desdemona ran off and did marry the moor. This in a sense was her emancipation of her father’s possessiveness and oblivion of Othello’s dominance over her. Othello replies to Barbantio’s accusation, sedating or using black magic on his daughter, by saying, “My very noble and approved good masters, That I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter. It is most true.” (1.3.79-81), which brings me to the claim that Desdemona’s character in this tragedy, was only to become and to serve as Othello’s private possession rather than a typical beloved daughter or wife as in modern time. Shakespeare bases this tragedy on the foundation of Desdemona’s character by the symbol of the discrimination of women in the Shakespearean time era. Desdemona even for the first and only time within the play stands up and challenges her inferiority under her father’s aut...

    Read More

  • Critical Response Othello

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout this play, Desdemona is constantly verbally abused by Othello, an act which may have been ordinary at the time considering her act of adultery but instead seems like a story of domestic abuse for the contemporary reader. When Othello is unjustifiably notified that Desdemona is cheating with Cassio, Othello constantly verbally abuses Desdemona saying “O thou public commoner!” (IV,ii,75) and asks her “Are you not a strumpet?” (IV,ii,85) and “What not a whore?”(IV,ii,90). Despite the subsidization in meaning of sexual slurs do to their overuse in present day society, both readers may have felt the use of vulgar language to degrade Desdemona suitable seen as though Othello did not know the truth.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Desdemona Injustice In Othello

Open Document