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Desdemona othello6/6/2023 ![]() The rites for which I love him are bereft meīy his dear absence. So that, dear lords, if I be left behind, My downright violence and storm of fortunes That I did love the Moor to live with him or that wishes she were a man like Othello, instead of a woman.ĭesdemona's also pretty frank about her sexual desire for her husband, which is part of the reason she wants to go with him to Cyprus: We also know that Desdemona has said she wishes the heavens had made her a man like Othello, which could mean that she wanted to marry a man like Othello. It was my hint to speak-such was the process-Īnd of the Cannibals that each other eat,ĭo grow beneath their shoulders. Rough quarries, rocks and hills whose heads Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' th' imminent deadlyĪnd sold to slavery, of my redemption thence, Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances: To th' very moment that he bade me tell it, I ran it through, even from my boyish days We learn that Othello wooed Desdemona by telling stories of action, adventure, and danger, and that Desdemona consumed these tales with a "greedy ear:"įrom year to year-the battles, sieges, fortunes, This isn't so surprising, given that Desdemona seems to be drawn to Othello's exciting past. At the play's beginning, Desdemona's an adventurous spirit-when her new husband is called away for military duty in Cyprus, she begs to go with him and can't stand the thought of remaining at home where there isn't any action. Like Othello, Desdemona undergoes a dramatic transformation over the course of the play. which we discuss in more detail in our " Themes" section. In this way, Desdemona's relationship with Othello speaks to the play's concerns with 16th century attitudes about sex, gender, and race. Turns out, this is a pretty gutsy move-Desdemona not only defies her father's expectations (that she marry a white man of his choosing) she also thumbs her nose at a society that largely disapproves of interracial marriages. Instead, she elopes (gasp!) with Othello-an older black man, an outsider to Venetian society (gasp!). She refuses to marry any of the rich, handsome Venetian men that everyone expects her to marry. until she falls head over heels in love with Othello. He extends his point by saying that the only way she could love Othello is by magic and witchcraft.(Click the character infographic to download.)ĭesdemona is a beautiful, young, white, Venetian debutante. When her father is talking about Desdemona and her relationship, he often reffers to her with words suggesting that she is owned, and can be easily manipulated, as if she doesn't have a mind of her own, and is an object. ![]() She is described as being fair and perfect and innocent
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