Key Quotes:

→ ‘I do here a divided duty: I am hither to your daughter. But here’s my husband.”

→ “Let me go with him”

→ ‘I’ll intermingle everything he does with Cassio’s suit.”

→ ‘I say it is not lost”

→ ‘Nobody; I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord.’

Relationships with other characters:

→ In love with Othello - married - Fell in love with his stories about his past

→ Good friends with Cassio → tries to help him get his position back

→ Emilia - friend / lady in waiting

→ Brabantion - father - she deceives him by marrying Othello - chooses Othello over him

Motives:

→ Please Othello - be a good ‘obedient’ wife

→ Wants to help others (Cassio) - Iago uses this

→ Protects Othello - when dying she says it wasn’t him who killed her

Symbols:

→ Handkerchief - represents Othello’s love

→ She loses it - Othello interprets this as evidence of her infidelity

Development: stable, doesn’t change

→ Exposition: Married Othello in secret, Betrays her father, loyal to Othello and her role as his wife

→ Development: her kindness is used against her, not manipulated as much as others, remains loyal to Othello and is confused when he starts to change.

→ Climax: Othello kills her, truth comes out, she still defends him and is loyal to him

→ Resolution: She is dead, her virtue is honoured and her name is cleared. Othello is overcome with guilt

Language used to describe Desdemona

→ Brabantio: “Look to her Moor… she has deceived her father and may thee.”

→ Iago: “Out of her own goodness, name the net that shall enmesh them all.”

→ Othello: “ I think my wife be honest, and I think she is not.” “O devil, devil!” “Are you a strumpet?” “What, not whore”

Jealousy

→ She is a victim of jealousy

→ Desdemona was killed by Othello’s jealousy/ indirectly Iago’s

→ She is not jealous, but many people are jealous of her.

→ Roderigo is jealous that Desdemona is with Othello and not him

Appearance vs reality:

→ Brabantio thought she was too shy/ timid to marry anyone, especially a black man

→ She is trying to be kind and help Cassio, but due to Iago’s manipulation, Othello sees her as cheating.

→ Cassio sneaking around

→ She keeps talking about Cassio

→ Very transparent- doesn’t try hide anything'

Deception:

→ Hides her relationship from her father - ‘O she deceives me past thought’

→ Well intentioned manipulation - tries to subtly get Cassio his position back

→ Deceives by Emilia by not being told the handkerchief’s whereabouts

→ Othello believes she is deceiving him

→ Lies about losing the handkerchief

→ Indirectly deceived by Iago by helping Othello