Monday, November 28, 2011

Desdamona's Death


As discussed in class, I would like to know your thoughts about the tragedy that befell Desdemona. Who do you feel is responsible for the death of Desdemona?

Naturally, some argue that Iago is to blame, while other charge Othello. Interestingly and unexpectedly, a few people accuse Desdemona. What do you think? Who is to blame for Desdemona’s heartrending death?

16 comments:

  1. Are there supposed to be only one main character responsible for the death of Desdemona or can it be a mixture of all three characters?

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  2. I believe the responsible for the death of Desdemona consist on herself, Iago, and Othello. Assuredly, one blames Iago because he plays a major role on the revenge against Othello.In a certain way Iago influence Othello's actions agains Desdemona.However Desdemona insists on talking to Othello about Cassio. Eventually, after Iago tells Othello about Desdemona and Cassio,he becomes insecure and does not trust Desdemona. In a way Desdemona causes her own death by insisting to Othello to talk to Cassio. Desdemona try's to help Cassio without realizing she is confirming Othello's thoughts.

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  3. I see how, as you said in class, you think Desdemona's death is due to Desdemona herself, it actually looks like that, but I personally don't share this idea. I don't think it was in Shakespeare's intentions to blame Desdemona for her lack of resourcefulness. I think that his purpose was to underline how, in the plot, she is defenseless and pure. Sure, speak up more directly with her husband could've probably helped her situation, but at the end, she is, just like Othello, a tragic hero, that can't avoid her fate and nature. Her character is presented as mild and sweet as possible, so that it appears unavoidable for her to subdues herself to her husband and let the destiny extinguish her. I think that Othello is to blame for Desdemona's death's direct cause, because it's not in Othello's nature to kill such a gentle and, again, defenseless creature, though he does commit the murder. Indirectly, I think that the real cause of that homicide was Iago as well, because without his machination we wouldn't have found such a tragic ending. However, I actually think that indirectly it's Othello's fault too, for he shouldn't have let doubt turn into certainty because of a person that he considered at the beginning with such weak trust. He preferred to oay attention to someone that was there when his father-in-law accused him of witchcraft, over a woman that he loves, therefore he's supposed to trust, and that committed her life to follow him even against her father's will, and his closest friend and companion. Brabantio said that if she deceited her father she could easily deceit her husband, but I don't think she could turn her back on something she desired and still desired so much to give away the safety of her native house and family for.

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  4. Now, Desdemona is portrayed as "pure." However, is she innocent? I like all that has been stated, but Desdemona fails to strike me as one who is completely pure. Yes, she did not commit adultery, but she does meddle in affairs that do not concern her, fails to disclose her marriage to her father, and, in a way, seems to be condescending and self-righteous.

    Additionally, everyone warned her and encouraged her to "leave" the Moor because he was a barbarian and a pagan. Moreover, they also remind her of his lineage. Technically, she claims to be a Christian, yet she becomes unequally yoked with a non-believer, judges others who may have committed a specific sin, and seems to hide “things” from important people in her life; all of which are not very “Christian-like.”

    She knew that something was off about her husband before she entered that room. She speaks of her fears with her confidant and even after Emilia offers to stay with her, Desdemona requests that she leave. Love; I believe it is more like she was “CRAZY in LOVE” as Beyonce put it.

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  5. I believe that Othello's tragic flaw(trust) caused the death of Desdemona. Since Iago conveyed himself to be trustworthy and had evidence to prove his claims, Othello went with his instinctions and trusted Iago. Therefore it has to be Othello's fault because he never even tried to talk things throughly with Desdemona.
    Othello, ironically, feels like the trust between him and Desdemona was broken after the handkerchief incident, when in reality he should have felt betrayed by Iago. Going off of what we discussed in class, that Othello only wants to feel worthy enough to be with Desdemona, we can say that that is the main reason he feels angered now that it seems that everything he did to be "worthy" has fallen down the drain because now Desdemona does not seem to worthy enough to have fought for now. (Im not sure if that made sense)

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  6. @ Alejandra: You are ALL making sense. Literature is supposed to evoke emotion and provoke curiosity. From your post, it appears that you are beginning to mature in your analysis of texts.

    [As an inspirational tear drops down my cheek] the dialogue on the blog encourages me because I see your growth as a class. You are all presenting your ideas and supporting your claims with logical evidence. Can I ask for anything else?

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  7. I believe that Othello is responsible for Desdemona's death because like Alejandra stated before it's his tragic flaw that causes his own downfall. Downfall is described as ruin or failure of achieving happiness, reputation, etc. Based on our Socratic Seminar, we discussed that all Othello wants in life is to be happy and since he is the protagonist/tragic character isn't it justified that what he desires the most he losses because of his flaw in trusting Iago. He was irrational to believe the rumor of Desdemona's affiar because he never directly witnessed the affair, he just relied of Iago's word because he had the reputation of being honest. He was a fool to believe Desdemona's tainted reputation and Iago untainted reputation because he himself fights against the stereotype of being a "moor" (barbaric). Ironically, when he kills Desdemona he does gain the reputation he avoided since he kills someone that was innocent and devoted to him.

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  8. I personally think that Othello holds the responsibility for Desdemona's death. He believed Iago when he said that Desdemona was being unfaithful. Othello was married to Desdemona, so he should have believed and trusted his wife when she denied being unfaithful to him. Furthermore, I agree with Alejandra and Lizbeth; Othello's trust is his tragic flaw and it lead to his downfall. Othello trusted Iago and truly believed in his honesty and loyalty. Iago was very manipulative and he took advantage of Othello's trust, but Othello should have investigated for himself if Desdemona was being unfaithful or not. Overall, every person has control over his/her actions, so I believe Othello is the only person to blame for Desdemona's death.

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  9. It is Othello's fault. Desdemona died because he acted upon the drama of the moment in their bed and he acted upon asumptions without getting any facts. Even if Desdemona isn't completely pure, she is only human and she didn't do anything wrong. She only pitied other people's situations. Iago is equally to blame for Desdemona's death because he started it and didn't stop it. Desdemona, while talking to Emilia in Iago's, Desdemona states, "If any such there be, heavon pardon him!"(page 71) which shows her forgiveness and pity even for the man that is wronging her, Iago. It is ironic that Desdemona's name contains the word "demon" in it because she seems to be the purest of all the characters.

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  10. In my opinion it is Othello and Iagos' fault that Desdemona died. If Othello was not easily manipulated then Desdemona would have remained alive, but in my opinion it was ment to happen because it demonstrates how easily any human being can be manipulated. Yes, Iago did take advantage of the opportunity that was in front of him, but wouldn't anybody? Iago was only jealous because he did not get something he desired and Cassio did. I am pretty sure that if this situation occured to anyone, anyone would take that chance and take REVENGE. With this said, I believe it was just another scene that occured and was ment to happen because it is the scene that drove Iago to his DOOM. At the same time, Desdemona knew something was wrong with Othello once he walked into the room; the reason is because he had a different attitude. This should have been a red flag to her and she should have acted on it instead of staying in bed as if weverything was OK.

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  11. Nice Work Class! Loving the discussion. @Stephanie and Laura you are one of the few to challenge my opinion directly; I love it!!!!

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  12. I believe that Desdemona's death wasn't just one characters' fault, everyone had a flaw that lead to her death. Us as readers can clearly notice how ignorant and narrow-minded the characters were. Othello was part of her tragedy because he was so dependent on Iago's thoughts and opinions that his own fear of losing Desdemona took over by jealousy. He trusted Iago way to much just because of his reputation when he should of realized that he didn't know him well enough to give him his complete trust. If he wasn't so naive and really thought about the situation he could of suspected Iago's lies. He became the "monster" like mention in the text (Act III Scene III) without realizing that the real "monster" was Iago and Iago was just feeding upon Othello's rage. It is pretty straight-forward that Iago was part of Desdemona's death. He was the one manipulating everyone and deceiving them just to get vengeance. His jealousy and hate towards Othello kinf of sets the conflict overall. I see why you think Desdemona was part of her own death. She was very naive and lost in "love" for Othello that she was like hypnotized by him in some ways. Yea it was a form of respect towards him but all that respect made her lose her self-respect and made it easy for Othello to do what he pleased which lead to him killing her. She placed herself in her own death basically because she didn't try to argue with Othello and prove him wrong. She already sensed what was happening within his mind then why didn't she do anything about it?

    ***haha to me this book is just so hysterical. Yea it's sad that almost everyone dies but they practically killed themselves! the most ironic part of the play to me was when Emilia reveals the truth and Othello just feels so stupid about the whole situation and kills himself. It was just too funny.

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  13. WOW! V--your response is interesting. Good work. It is ironic that so many people die; however, if they did not, we would not have a tragedy.

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  14. I think that Iago caused Desdemona's death. Sure Othello was the one to actually commit the crime, but it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Iago manipulating Othello's trust. Iago developed a trustworthy impression on Othello and, of course, whatever Iago says will affect him. I mean if we meet someone that seems charismatic and honest, we are going to trust them and there are a lot of times where we just take people's words. That is all Othello has done; he found someone he believes he could trust and he falls for what Iago presents him. Iago, on the other hand, uses his aquired trust to his advantage. With the handkerchief, Iago plants it in a way to make it seem like Desdemona gave it to Cassio. Also, Iago is evil in the way he plans for Othello to catch Cassio and Desdemona speaking to each other and make it seem as if there is an affair between the two. Overall, it is truly Iago's fault for Desdemona's death because he, in a way, forced the idea of Desdemona being unfaithful into Othello's mind and without him the thought probably would have never came up.

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  15. i believe it is Othello's fault. she died at his hand ut he also made the decision on his own to kill her. Iago planted the seed of doubt but Othello is the one who took it to extremes and decided that she had to die for what she's supposidly done. if he is known for being so trusing why didnt he trust Dsdemona and trus in her love for him? after Iago put the thought in his mind, othello lost all sense of reason and comon sense. he went over board and killed the innocent woman he loved.

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  16. I personally think that Desdemona is held accountable to her own death. Everyone automatically recognizes Othello as the tragic hero but couldn't desdemona be the tragic hero as well? She has the characteristics of the tragic hero and that must mean that HER flaw is responsible for her demise. To me, her flaw seems to be her nature-- she is too kind and too caring. Her nature caused her to make it her duty to repair the situation between Cassio and Othello. If she wouldn't have brought up Cassio's name so constantly and persistently it would've been far less likely for Iago to manipulate Othello into thinking Desdemona was unfaithful. Not to mention, it was not until Othello saw Desdemona and Cassio talking from a far in act III scene III that Othello began to question whether Desdemona was faithful or not. If she wouldn't have cared as much about Cassio's problem and disregarded it and then dismissed him, Cassio would have probably left and Othello wouldn't have seen them together, thus, Othello wouldn't have questioned Desdemona's fidelity.

    By the way I know this response is really late but it was not until yesterday that a certain quote in the take home final led me to this conclusion.

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