Desdemona Quotes

Question 1

‘Look to your house, your daughter and your bags! - Iago in Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 1

Desdemona is presented as an object owned by Brabantio, showing Iago’s and the rest of Venetian society’s misogyny.

Question 2

‘Gone she is… O she deceives me past thought!’ - Brabantio in Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 2

Desdemona is reduced to a pronoun by her father, but also seen as a strong female character who makes her own decisions.

Question 3

‘My daughter; O, my daughter! …She is abused, stolen from me and corrupted’ - Brabantio in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 3

Desdemona is seen as a possession belonging to her father. Her purity has been tainted by Othello.

Question 4

‘I won his daughter’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 4

Othello views Desdemona as a prize, he values her for her beauty and status which creates unstable foundations in their marriage.

Question 5

‘And with a greedy ear devour up my discourse’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 5

Desdemona initiates the relationship, a role usually taken by men, showing how she isn’t a stereotypical woman. This reverses gender roles, which will come back to bite her and traditional order and values will be restored.

Question 6

‘Beguile her of her tears … she gave me for my pains a world of sighs’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 6

Desdemona is compassionate, empathetic and sympathetic - something Othello is not used to.

Question 7

‘She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 7

Their marriage is precarious, Desdemona only loves him due to his bravery, wild experiences and status in the army. They both love the idea of each other, rather than their true selves.

Question 8

‘I do perceive here a divided duty… so much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my Lord’ - Desdemona in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 8

Desdemona is a strong, opinionated character, not afraid to speak her mind. This is done to emphasise her change in personality later on, so that the audience feel pathos for the tragic victim.

Question 9

‘She has deceived her father, and may thee’ - Brabantio in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 9

Foreshadowing the future chaos and accusations facing Desdemona - Othello may be quick to see Desdemona as disloyal due to her betrayal of her father.

Question 10

‘Our great captain’s captain’ - Cassio in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 10

Desdemona controls and tames Othello, she is the one with the power in their relationship which goes against the patriarchal society - traditional order will be reinstated.

Question 11

‘Alas, she has no speech!’ - Desdemona in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 11

Iago is misogynistic towards Emilia yet frustratingly Desdemona does not defend her.

Question 12

‘O fie upon thee, slanderer!’ - Desdemona in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 12

Desdemona is outspoken, confident and gregarious, she enjoys her witty back and forth with Iago, signifying her freedom from Venice in a less constraining Cyprus.

Question 13

‘My dear Othello!’ - Desdemona in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 13

She seemed to flourish in Othello’s absence, now she is subdued and calm. This makes us question if Othello knows the real Desdemona, if he did know her truly, would he accuse her of infidelity?

Question 14

‘The purchase made, the fruits are to ensue: that profit’s yet to come ‘tween me and you’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 2

Answer 14

Othello is objectifying his union with Desdemona, his mentality is that marriage is a purchase. He does not see her as an individual in her own right.

Question 15

‘All’s well now, sweeting: come away to bed’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 3

Answer 15

Othello is patronising towards Desdemona, telling her to return to the private sphere, showing that he’s beginning to dominate their marriage.

Question 16

‘That she may make, unmake, do what she list, even as her appetite shall play the god’ - Iago in Act 2 Scene 3

Answer 16

Iago uses a misogynistic tone to describe how Desdemona controls Othello and will be able to get her way.

Question 17

‘For thy solicitor shall rather die than give thy cause away’ - Desdemona in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 17

Her oath of loyalty to Cassio’s cause foreshadows the lack of communication in her marriage that will lead to her death.

Question 18

‘Shall’t be tonight, at supper…tomorrow dinner, then?’ - Desdemona in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 18

Desdemona’s pestering only adds fuel to the fire, irritating Othello and cementing his suspicion that she is involved with Cassio.

Question 19

‘Whate’er you be, I am obedient’ - Desdemona in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 19

Desdemona is becoming subservient, she knows her place as a dutiful wife.

Question 20

‘I dare not say he lies anywhere’ - Clown in Act 3 Scene 4

Answer 20

The clown is twisting Desdemona’s words to wind her up which highlights her naivety and innocence and how due to her upbringing in high Venetian society, she doesn’t understand the cruelty of the world and how language can be used to manipulate.

Question 21

‘My noble Moor is true of mind, and made of no such baseness as jealous creatures are’ - Desdemona in Act 3 Scene 4

Answer 21

Desdemona still thinks the best of her husband, she is blind to his faults. The use of ‘my’ shows her belief that she still has power over him, ‘noble’ shows how she believes him to be moral and upright, while ‘Moor’ reveals that Desdemona possesses racist attitudes despite her love for Othello.

Question 22

‘This hand is moist, my lady’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 4

Answer 22

Othello’s use of ‘hand’ is a euphemism for Desdemona’s body, a symbol of sexual activity. Desdemona does not understand the innuendo, proving her status as an innocent, tragic victim.

Question 23

‘This hand of yours requires a sequester from liberty - fasting and prayer… here’s a young and sweating devil here that commonly rebels’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 4

Answer 23

Othello wants Desdemona to be more religious and to be locked away from lusty eyes. Using ‘devil’ and ‘young’ shows that he thinks she is stupid and immoral. Othello’s use of sexual, crude language in public shows the merging of the public and private spheres.

Question 24

‘Let Cassio be received again… I pray talk me of Cassio’ - Desdemona in Act 3 Scene 4

Answer 24

Desdemona won’t stop bringing Cassio up to Othello, fuelling his rage. She is digging herself into a hole and she doesn’t know it.

Question 25

‘Who is thy lord?… I have none… lay on my bed my wedding sheets’ - Desdemona in Act 4 Scene 2

Answer 25

Desdemona is distancing herself from Othello, he is now like a stranger to her. However she endeavours to change this by rekindling their romance by laying down their wedding sheets which are meant to symbolise fidelity, love and intimacy.

Question 26

‘Here I kneel… and his unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my love. I cannot say whore’ - Desdemona in Act 4 Scene 2

Answer 26

Shakespeare is building immense pathos for Desdemona as she declares her devotion and undying love for Othello. The erosion of her bold nature due to her newfound subservience and dedication to her husband worries a modern audience. Does love and loyalty equal the sacrifice of character and independence?

Question 27

‘If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me in one of these same sheets… She had a ‘song of willow’… that song tonight will not go from my mind’ - Desdemona in Act 4 Scene 3

Answer 27

Desdemona accepts her fate, she knows her premonition will come to pass, yet she makes no attempt to flee. Does she stay because of her undying love for Othello? Or because of her lack of options if she were to run away?

Question 28

‘That there be women who do abuse their husbands in such gross light’ - Desdemona in Act 4 Scene 3

Answer 28

Desdemona has a deeply innocent mind due to her sheltered upbringing she has now been plunged into chaos and is overwhelmed and confused by the reality of life and relationships that she had no idea of.

Question 29

‘Then heaven have mercy on me… then Lord have mercy on me…’ - Desdemona in Act 5 Scene 2

Answer 29

Desdemona calls to God rather than Othello, she is asking God to forgive her instead of asking Othello to spare her. Who does she believe has control over the situation - God or Othello? Has she already given up? Does she believe her death is inevitable? Why won’t she plead? This creates extreme pathos for Desdemona.

Question 30

‘O banish me, my lord, but kill me not!… Kill me tomorrow, let me live tonight!’ - Desdemona in Act 5 Scene 2

Answer 30

Only now does Desdemona begin to beg - but there is no hope as she has infuriated Othello even further and he refuses to show mercy. This shift in her behaviour is deeply uncomfortable and distressing for the audience - she goes from strangely unafraid to fearful and panicked.

Question 31

‘A guiltless death I die… commend me to my kind lord’ - Desdemona in Act 5 Scene 2

Answer 31

Desdemona insists she is innocent however she does not blame Othello or harbour any hatred. She maintains her loyalty to him even in death, personifying the idea of a ‘good christian wife’.