Essay on "William Shakespeare's Play, Othello, Desdemona"

Essay 6 pages (1740 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

William Shakespeare's play, Othello, Desdemona is "more sinned against than sinning" because she is the innocent victim in the play. Her husband, the man she should trust with her life, turns against her in a fit of jealousy. He allows himself to be duped by a cunning heartless man but the real sin not in the jealousy, although that is bad, but in the fact that he never allowed Desdemona to defend herself before taking her life. Desdemona is the definition of innocent victim as her sins were all imaginary. She commits no sin and yet seems to pay for the sins of her husband.

Othello sins against Desdemona in the worst of ways because he never gives her a chance to defend herself against Iago's libelous attacks. His sin is complex in that it is multi-faceted. He believes Iago over Desdemona and then he allows himself to be tricked by Iago as the play progresses. He believes the story about the handkerchief without confronting Desdemona. His sin is believing the lie and then perpetuating it in his own jealous mind. He never even considers giving her an opportunity to explain anything and this is a great sin. Throughout the play, Othello never allows Desdemona to defend her honor, regardless of how wrecked his mind is. Instead, he simply accuses her of infidelity and when he decides that she is guilty, there is nothing she can do. The irony is that she could have alleviated so much of his worry had he simply let her but his emotion simply would not hear of it.

Othello demonstrates the brutality of his sin against Desdemona through the very fact that of his love for her. They go to great pains to be together at the beginning of the play. He tells her father that she "loved me for the dangers I had passed, / and I loved her, that she did pity them" (Shakespeare I.iii.166-7). Desdemona confirms this when she tells her father, "My heart's subdued/Even to the very quality of my lord" (I.iii. 247-8). Here we see a couple intent on being together. They are bound at this point I the play so that none may come between them and they are fighting for a love they believe in with everything they know. The sin is that Othello could forget this love and its power so quickly. Of course, it could be said that it was because Othello's love for Desdemona was so strong that the jealousy became so uncontrollable. His love was so great that it fueled great passion -- both positive and negative. Nevertheless, there is no excuse for his behavior.

Desdemona becomes a victim of two men of whom she did absolutely nothing. The greatest sin Desdemona suffers is, of course, her murder at her husband's hands. This crime is especially awful because of her innocence throughout the entire play. Desdemona is the one person in the play that does not have some sort of sin on her hands. She defended Othello before her father and supported him in all of his endeavors. The fact that he could be turned against her in such a short time is the cruelest thing of all to accept. Othello's sin against her is unforgivable. Iago, too, sins against Desdemona. He uses her as a pawn to get what he wants and unfortunately, he gets exactly what he wants. Desdemona does not deserve the treatment of Othello or Iago but as we discover, there is no justice in this play.

Desdemona's only sin was perhaps loving and honoring her husband too much. She chose to marry a man that was strong and she even went against her father's wishes. This action proves that she loved Othello and was willing to risk her relationship with her father to be with him. She is "subdued / Even to the very quality of my lord" (Shakespeare I.iii. 247-8). She gives everything she is or ever will be to Othello at this point. Desdemona's honor is reflected in her relationship with Emelia, who sins against Desdemona without knowing it. Desdemona confesses to Emelia that she values faithfulness over all else and we can see how she even expects Othello and Emelia to be faithful to her. While she suspects something is upsetting Othello, she believes that somehow he will come to his senses before anything terrible happens. Her hope was misguided and it cost Desdemona her life.

Desdemona is the epitome of being sinned against. She did nothing wrong and yet paid for the worst crime imaginable with her life. She was never given a chance to defend herself even after she professed to love Othello with all she had. She sacrificed her relationship with her father to be with Othello and the rumors against her deserve, at the very least, an opportunity for explanation. There is no other way to look at this character. She was sinned against in the worst way and Othello deserved to die because of his sins against her. In essence, she suffered for Othello's sin of jealousy and anger.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Othello. Kenneth Muir, ed. New York: Penguin Books. 1968.

William Shakespeare's play, Othello, is all about sin and evil. While Othello commits the greatest sin in the play when he kills his wife, he is also one that can claim that he is "more sinned against than sinning" because of how the tragic events occurred. Othello was sinned against by a man he thought he could trust and this is the greatest weapon anyone evil can have -- the trust of someone they intend to destroy. Iago abuses this trust to the point of death without showing signs of regret or remorse. Othello is no doubt a murderer but in tracing his steps, we see how his judgment might have become so skewed.

Iago sins against Othello because he is nothing short of evil. Iago has no regard for life or his relationships with people, so it is easy for him to dupe Othello into believing his wife is cheating. Iago is cunning and extremely smart and this is what hurts Othello the most. Iago is smart enough to know how to dupe Othello. Iago has not simply acting upon a fleeting thought; he is not simply hoping for the best -- he is going in for the kill because he knows just what will anger Othello the most. From this perspective, Othello is innocent and is only guilty of being duped.

Iago plants the seed of doubt in Othello's mind. We can also call this the seed of death for Iago and Othello. Again, Iago is smart. He never comes out and makes an accusation but simply alludes to the fact that Desdemona might be having an affair with Cassio. He can do this because he knows that Othello is a:

Moor is of a free and open nature,

That thinks men honest that but seem to be so and will as tenderly be led by th' nose

As asses are. (Shakespeare I.iii.393-6)

Here we see his true intentions, which Othello will not see until it is too late.

Iago is successful because Othello is a trusting man. This is the sin that is committed against him as he begins his life anew with Desdemona. Iago sees and knows Othello's jealousy is an issue and only feeds it when the moments are right. For example, he tells Othello, "O, beware, my lord of jealousy! / it is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock / the meat it feeds on" (III.iii.166-9). He also tells him, "Look to your wife; observe her will with Cassio . / Wear your eye thus: not jealous, nor secure" (III.iii.195-6). Here we see the brilliance of Iago in that he tricks Othello so easily. He actually has to do very little to anger Othello and this is a sin against him. Iago knows this weakness and instead of treating him like a friend and consoling him, he instead encourages jealousy and anger.

Iago is evil and another sin he commits against Othello revolves around the trust of friendship. Othello sincerely thinks he has a friend in Iago and Iago not only knows this but also uses it to his own advantage. He has no consideration for Othello's feelings or Desdemona's life even though neither of them have done anything specifically cruel to Iago to make him detest them so. The friendship is feigned and Iago sees that as his path to success. Again, this is not something that Othello could have known about Iago without some prior knowledge.

Iago is also great sinner because he revels in his cruelty. He intends to hurt. The pain he causes is not accidental or a result of unintentional consequences; it is the intended consequences and he will settle for nothing less than this. We see this when he says:

Work on,

My medicine work! Thy credulous fools are caught, and many worthy and… READ MORE

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