Desdemona Flashcards
A05 Critics
Valeria Traub
Highlights how D’s assertiveness in pursuing her love for O disrupts the expected submissive role of women in Venetian society
Valerie Traub - ellopmennt
elopement w O demonstrates autonomy & rejection of patriarchal control
E.A.J Honingman - quote
“D is not as naïve as she seems, but her generous spirit is what blinds her to O’s jealousy”
E.A.J Honingman - fatal weakness
virtues become her fatal weakness in the toxic environment of jealousy & manipulation created by Iago
Marylin French - position
suggests that D accepts her subservient position making her complicit in her demise
Marylin French - views D as…
a figure who embodies the contradiction of strength and subservience in women
Marylin French - quote
“she accepts her culture’s dictum that she must be obedient to males, and is self-denying to the extreme when she dies”
Marylin French - tragic flaw
her willingness to forgive & excuse O’s violence
- her excessive loyalty & passivity contribute to her victimisation , reinforcing pat norms
Ania Loomba - quote
“D’s desire is monstrous because she is a white woman who choses to marry a black man”
Ania Loomba - highlights how…
D’s relationship with O disrupts the racial & pat. orders of V. soc
- her tragic fate reflects the inability of this society to tolerate hr defiance of social norms
Ania Loomba - emphasises
D’s death reinforces pat & racial power structures eg her murder symbolic silencing of a woman who dares to love
Karen Newman - quote
“D’s love for O repositions her as a transgressive figure who challenges societal norms”
- transgression makes her vulnerable to punishment
Karen Newman - marriage
D & O’s marriage is a rebellion against the racist & patriarchy; structures of V . soc
- her seat h serving as restoration of societal order
Kiernan Ryan - quote
“D’s tragedy is that her love is not enough to overcome the forces of sexism and racism that permeate the world”
Kiernan Ryan - D’s fate
- D’s fate is a product of systematic injustice rather than personal flaws
- she is caught in a web of societal forces that privilege male dominance and racial hierarchy
- ultimately destroys her & O
Stanley Cavell - quote
“D’s love is an assertion of faith in O that persists even in the face of doubt & death”
Stanley Cavell - D represents
- represents an ideal of unconditional love
- but her tragedy lies in inability to dispel O’s insecurities & mistrust
A.C Bradley - quote
“D is helplessly passive . She can do nothing whatsoever. She cannot even ask why she is being ill-treated. She is the stuff that martyrs are made of”
A.C Bradley - interprets D as
- a tragic victim , unyielding love for o and unwavering innocence => her downfall
- represents pure goodness
- overwhelmed by destructive forces of jealousy & manipulation
- traditional archetype of D as a tragic heroine
