Shakespeares Othello - Desdemona, the Heroine in Othello Essay

Desdemona, the Heroine in Othello In William Shakespeares Othello Michael Cassios praises of the richly blessed Desdemona, as he awaits her arrival on Cyprus, are tumesce deserved. This essay will amply support this statement. Blanche Coles in Shakespeares Four Giants interprets the protagonists very meaningful four-word greeting to Desdemona which he utters upon disembarking in Cyprus Othellos four words, O, my souls joy, tell us that this beautiful Venetian girl has brought great joy, felicity, bliss to the very depths of his soul. This exquisitely beautiful love that has have sex to a thoughtful, earnest man is indescribably impressive. For him it is heaven on earth. And all the while, almost within arms length, stands Iago, the embodiment of abhorrence, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. (87) In Act 1 Scene1, Iago persuades the rejected suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemonas father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two ignite him with loud shouts about his daughters elopement with Othello. In response to Iagos vulgar descriptions of Desdemonas involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed and, with Roderigos help, gathers a search troupe to go and find Desdemona and bring her home. The fathers attitude is that life without his Desdemona will be much worse than before It is too true an evil gone she is And whats to come of my despised time Is nought but bitterness. (1.1) So obviously the senator has great respect for his daughter, or at least for the comforts which she has afforded him up the beginning of the play. This respect is shared by her new husband Othello, who ... ... You told a lie, an odious, damned lie Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie. She false with Cassio (5.2) Then she accuses him of create murder And your reports have set the murder on. Emilias stunning interrogation and conviction of her own husband as the evil mastermind basis the murder results in Iagos murder of her. Gullible Othello, grief-stricken by remorse for the tragic mistake he has made, stabs himself and dies on the bed next to his wife, his sorrowfulness being as deep as his love for Desdemona prior to Iagos machinations. WORKS CITED Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http//www.eiu.edu/multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Coles, Blanche. Shakespeares Four Giants. Rindge, newborn Hampshire Richard Smith Publisher, 1957.