Desdemona quotes

Question 1

‘Kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight.’ (5.2.)

Answer 1

• Even when Desdemona does speak out, she seems to accept that Othello has the right to kill her if he wants to.
• She doesn’t ask that her life be spared, but only that her death be delayed.

Question 2

‘I will not stay to offend you’ (4.1)

Answer 2

After Othello becomes deranged and gives her no sympathy, sh calmly and politely leaves, which shows that she is composed and admirable. Some may argue that she is subservient here as she may still feel sympathy for her husband as a result of how badly he is treated, she refuses to become a typical Elizabethan women.

Question 3

‘a guiltless death I die’

Answer 3

She asserts her victimization and her innocence on her deathbed, but refuses to name her murderer. Instead, she takes responsibility for her own death and asserts Othello’s “kindness” to the end.

Question 4

Naive and pure: (spiritual overhang of heavenly purity)

Answer 4

’ a maiden never bold’
‘an exquisite lady’
‘the divine desdemona’
‘a most fresh and delicate creature’

Question 5

Tragic figure:

Answer 5

‘my lord are you wise?’
‘I will not stay to offend you’
‘he strikes her’

Question 6

‘nobody, I myself’ last line

Answer 6

Her belief as to why she must die, ruined by her desire to be good and innocence, and realises this will not save her, lie in her marital bed where she dies, tightens her tragic sense of loyalty and goodness. Role of women like Desdemona, myopic view that she has that blinds her from the reality of her vulnerability.