Othello: Women Flashcards
Who is Desdemona?
wealthy young venetian woman, the daughter of Brabantio, she elopes with Othello and accompanies him to Cyprus, falsely accused of adultery and murdered by Othello
“jewel” and “a maiden never bold”
In act one this is what Brabantio describes Desdemona as, ironic as this is inaccurate in act one but in act five she becomes for submissive and fearful
“she has deceived her father and so may thee”
Brabantio- In act one Desdemona is subversive and goes against Jacobean gender roles by marrying a man who was not a suitor chosen by her father
“my hearts subdued/Even to the very quality of my lord”
Even though Desdemona has “deceived her father” she is still loyal and expects to submit to Othello
“she did deceive her father, marrying you”
Desdemona’s transgression is used by Iago in 3.3 in order to manipulate Othello’s hamartia
“my noble moor is true of mind and made of no such baseness as jealous creatures are, it were enough to put hi to ill thinking”
3.4 desdemona does not believe that othello could be jealous but still fears his reaction to the lost handkerchief
“I have not deserved this”
4.1 when Othello strikes her publicly she reproaches him briefly and stands up for herself - not entirely submissive
“That cunning whore of Venice” vs “I love the gentle Desdemona”
Othello loves Desdemona in act one but as his love disintegrates chaos ensues
“I do love her too, Not out of absolute lust […] but partly led to diet my revenge”
2.1 Iago claims to love Desdemona, perhaps his motivation is also jealous which makes it ironic that he tells Othello “beware my lord of jealousy”
“Wife for wife” “turn her virtue into pitch”
Iago uses Desdemona’s innocence to manipulate Othello
“Do not weep, do not weep: alas the day!”
Iago 4.2, perhaps he cares for Desdemona and regrets exploiting her to bring about Othello’s downfall
“Wretched fortune”
In 5.2 Desdemona refused to blame Othello for her unhappiness
“Commend me to my kind lord”
5.2 Desdemona’s final words are submissive and contradict her earlier assertiveness, cements her role as tragic victim
How does Honigmann interpret Desdemona’s last words?
“An act of forgiveness” where “good defeats evil”
“By heaven you do me wrong”
4.2 defends her honour across the play, she is still brave and assertive when Othello attacks her physically and verbally, reference to heaven reinforces her virtue and innocence, example of irony and foreshadowing, Othello will refer to heaven just before he murders her
what does Hanigmann suggest about Desdemona?
it is possible to see Desdemona as the “strongest, most heroic person in the play”
“I saw Othello’s visage in his mind/ and to his honours and valiant parts/ did my soul and fortunes consecrate”
1.3 Desdemona actively chose Othello and sees him as a hero
“my love doth so approve him/ That even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns {…} have grace and favour”
4.3 love of Othello makes Desdemona submissive, she defends him to Emilia
“souls joy”
Othello’s love for Desdemona in act one
“out of her own goodness make the net/That shall enmesh them all”
2.3 Iago manipulates Desdemona’s innocence to bring about Tragedy
Who is Emilia?
Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s lady in waiting in Cyprus
“hath a hundred times/ wooed me to steal it”
3.3 Emilia makes the wrong moral choice when she gives the handkerchief to Iago
“{Desdemona} so loves the token {…} that she reserves it evermore about her”
3.3 Emilia knows that Desdemona loves the handkerchief yet gives it to Iago anyway, he is utterly controlling of her
“I know not madam”
Emilia lies to Desdemona about the handkerchief which makes it uncomfortable for us as an audience, dramatic irony as we know that she gave it to Iago
“a foolish wife”
3.3 Iago has no respect for Emilia - misogynistic language
“a good wench, give it me”
3.3 Iago softens once he realises Emilia will give him the handkerchief but is still commanding and controlling
“speak within doors” “you are a fool go to”
act 4 - Iago is just as dismissive of Emilia in the public sphere as he is in private
“villainous whore” “filth”
5.2 Iago’s mistreatment of Emilia intensifies just before he kills her
“the Moor’s abused by some most villainous knave”
4.2 Emilia is wise without knowing it, acts as the comforter to Desdemona that Othello should be to his wife, she is selfless and sharp witted
“so come my soul to bliss as I speak true!/so speaking as I think, alas, I die”
5.2 Emilia’s final lines confirm her and Desdemona’s honesty, she dies beside her mistress which reinforce her loyalty and defence of her
“You shall not write my praise”
2.1 Shakespeare gives Emilia a distinctive and increasingly assertive female voice, she uses it to defend her and her sex when Iago derides women
“they are all but stomachs, and we all but food, To eat us hungerly, and when they are full, They belch us.”
3.4 Emilia is more realistic about heterosexual relationships, the audience will appreciate that Emilia speaks from bitter experience
“I think upon’t, I think I smell’t, O villainy! / I thought so then: I’ll kill myself for grief!”
5.2 perhaps Emilia suspected Iago before she finally speaks out, her words suggest guilt at keeping quiet about her suspicions
“My husband?”
5.2 Emilia repeats this question implying that she knew nothing of Iago’s villainy, Emilia realises the true extent of her husband’s evil when it is too late (as does Roderigo)
“jealous souls […] are not ever jealous for the cause […] it is a monster begot upon itself, born on itself.”
3.4 these lines describe Iago’s jealousy, he takes revenge on Cassio and Othello without a “cause”,, these words suggest Othello’s jealousy will feed itself, the personification of jealousy links it to the handkerchief, it is ironic that Emilia is the wise expert on jealousy, when she seems to have no clue about Iago’s villainy
who is Bianca?
Bianca is a courtesan, who is in love with Cassio
how is Bianca a victim?
seen only in relation to the male characters, Iago accuses her of being involved in the plot to kill Cassio, vulnerable due to her social position as well as her treatment by the male characters, as a prostitute her only power lies in her ability to attract customers, her voice doesn’t count as her profession makes her morally dubious
Bianca key context
Venice had a reputation for courtesans (prostitutes)
“tis the strumpet’s plague/to beguile many and be beguiled by one”
4.1 love makes Bianca vulnerable, the irony is that Bianca is more honest and true than the outwardly honourable men who abuse her, her victimisation by Iago in 4.1 prepares us for the deaths of the other female victims in the final scene
“she haunts me in every place”
4.1 Cassio, suggesting he is more to Bianca than a customer and that she loves him
“some minx’s token”
4.1, Bianca is extremely jealous just as Othello is, in regards to the handkerchief
“to the felt absence now I feel a cause”
3.4 Bianca complains about Cassio’s week long absence from her, foreshadows Othello’s opening line in the final scene when he repeats “It is the cause” to justify killing his wife, Othello and Bianca are linguistically linked as they are both apparent victims of Cassio and Desdemona’s affair
“Alas, he faints! O Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!”
5.1 Bianca’s genuine love for Cassio is seen when she realises her lover has been stabbed, her constancy in love links her to Desdemona, subverts the stereotypical crude and aggressive prostitute
“Tis very good: I must be circumstanced”
3.4 Bianca says this when Cassio sends her away when he doesn’t want to be seen with her, her words reveal how powerless she is, she has to be content with the way men treat her, just like Desdemona, acceptance of authority foreshadows Desdemona’s words and actions in 4.2
“I am no strumpet/ But of life as honest as you that thus/ abuse me”
5.1 Bianca is a tragic victim, criticism of the double standards of male and female sexuality in Jacobean society
“But I do think it is their husbands’ faults if wives do fall”
4.3 Emilia, women as tragic victims, foreshadows the deaths of her and Desdemona at the hands of their husbands
“Let husbands know their wives have sense like them”
4.3 Emilia acts as a mouthpiece for female equality in the play
“I call’d my love false love”
4.3 Desdemona, the willow song, foreshadows her death, omen
“Jealous souls will not be answered […] they are not jealous for the cause,/ But jealous for they’re jealous”
3.4 Emilia recognises jealous as a hamartia, links to both Othello and Iago
“even the bed she hath contaminated”
4.1 the bed is symbolic as Desdemona is killed in what should have been her marriage bed but it is likely that their marriage was never consummated due to the interruption on the brawl
The willow song
The Willow Song tells the audience what is going to come further in the tragedy. This ballad is about a woman who is loyal to her lover despite his cruelty. Desdemona sings this song a few moments before Othello murders her. Therefore, by introducing this song to the audience, Shakespeare depicts Desdemona’s tragic destiny.
The name ‘Desdemona
means ‘ill-starred’ she is fated to die
“sing willow, willow, willow”
4.3 Desdemona, willow was a traditional symbol for lost or unrequited love
“If you bethink yourself of any crime Unreconcil’d as yet to heaven and garce, Solicit for it straight […] I would not kill thy unprepared spirit”
5.2 Heaven imagery used before desdemona’s death
“this sorrow’s heavenly”
5.2 Othello before Desdemona’s death
“he smothers her”
5.2 Othello kills Desdemona in what should have been their marriage bed
“Nobody; i myself. farewell”
5.2 Desdemona defends othello in her death
“she’s like a liar gone to burning hell”
5.2 Othello associates hell imagery with Desdemona
“O , the more angel she, And you the blacker devil”
5.2 emilia is loyal to desdemona
“thou art a devil”
5.2 Emilia about Othello
“villainy, villainy, villainy”
5.2 emilia realises what has happened too late
“O God! O heavenly God”
5.2 Emilia realises her role in the death of Desdemona
