In Act Two, the audience is given more and more of Desdemona’s character and feelings. She has already left with Othello, even though she was advised to stay put and not go with him during the battle. The audience is left with a high level of suspense in the first Act, as we hear about many sides of her personality. He hear that she is a deceiver, from her father and marrying Othello without his permission, but we also hear that she is supposedly a quiet, sweet woman as Barbantio’s daughter.
When she is first introduced in the scene, the first question she asks is ‘what tidings can you tell me of my lord’, showing that she is generally concerned and cares about her husband. We see this even more in the line ‘I am not merry, but I do beguile the thing I am by seeming otherwise’, as this line is aside to the audience she is really showing the audience that she loves Othello and fears about him in this battle. When they are finally reunited, there is a love filled, romantic scene where both Othello and Desdemona share their love and say some truly heart warming lines, such as ‘the heavens forbid but that our loves and comforts should increase, even as our days do grow’. Scene one is definitely Shakespeare’s way of showing the audience Desdemona and Othello’s love for one another, and how they both take each other seriously. At the end of scene one, we find out that Iago is planning to ruin this partnership, and make it look like Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. This would suggest that not only has Iago got grudges against Othello, but Desdemona as well because she has never done anything wrong to Iago, yet he still wants to seek his revenge on her. This also makes the audience continue to conspire as it brings up the question, of has Desdemona done anything to upset Iago in the past.
At the beginning of scene three, Desdemona and Othello both leave the scene as the marriage has been celebrated but not yet consummated. When they both leave the scene, Cassio is heard saying ‘she is a most exquisite lady’. This could be taken many ways. He may just be innocently commenting on the fact that she is a lovely woman and Othello is a lucky man, but since Iago entered, he tries to focus on this point more and try to twist Casio’s words. This conversation shows that many of the main characters like and admire Desdemona. There is next an important fight in the story which takes place between Cassio and Roderigo. This fight, not only excites the audience visually, but also presents many questions. One very important question is that who will Desdemona take sides with, as we already know that Roderigo is in love with her, while Cassio is slowly being tricked by Iago. . This scene is a milestone in the plot for the rest of the play, and without realising it; Desdemona has become a key character for the remaining acts.
At the beginning of Act Three, Scene One, Desdemona declares her trust with Cassio ‘be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do all my abilities in thy behalf’. Some people would argue that maybe Desdemona is being quite ignorant in not seeing what is happening around her and what Iago is doing, but in defence, she would have no idea what is happening and why anything would be different. Desdemona tells Cassio she is going to nag Othello until he reinstates him. This also shows how strong and unafraid Desdemona is. When Iago and Othello enter the scene, Iago immediately starts to raise the awareness of a possible affair between Desdemona and Cassio. At this point of the scene, Othello is still in love with Desdemona ‘I will deny thee nothing, whereon, I do beseech thee, grant me this: to leave me but a little to my self.’ After all the treachery from Iago in the middle of scene three, Othello has a headache from all the suspicions of adultery. Desdemona tries to mop his brow with her handkerchief, but he refuses saying ‘your napkin is too little’. This could be a metaphor for something bigger, like he is trying to say that he feels her love is not big enough for him anymore, when this is definitely not true. By the end of scene three, Iago has cheated his way into his military position. This is very special as this shows the weakness of Othello and how he has been lied to so much. Othello is so enraged by these lies; he actually wants to kill Desdemona. Iago stops him, but only so he can provoke more sadness upon these characters. Shakespeare has written this scene in such a way to get the audience to realise that Othello is wrong and Desdemona is innocent.
In scene four, we really see Desdemona’s positive, idealized view of Othello. She feels she completely understands him and loves him, but the truth is that she just doesn’t know him well enough. By agreeing to help Cassio is only fuelling Othello’s hatred of Desdemona. This is showing that even though she loves Othello, she is naïve and often innocent to men. People start to change their opinion of Desdemona is this scene, even friends. When Desdemona asks Emilia if she has seen her handkerchief, she lies and replies ‘I know not, madam.’ When Othello appears on the scene, angry and upset, he accuses Desdemona of having a ‘moist palm’, which often meant to indicate sexual awareness. This upsets Desdemona and tries to calm him down by saying ‘for ‘twas that hand gave away my heart.’ When Othello questions her about the handkerchief that she lost, she doesn’t understand his fury. They are both obsessive about different things. Understandably, Othello wants this handkerchief, as it would tell him of Desdemona’s innocence. When Othello continues to pressure her, Desdemona peruses to have Cassio reinstated. This really adds tension to the scene, as Othello is obviously jealous of Cassio. This argument just shows how stubborn they both are. Desdemona is really upset, and just cannot understand Othello. This again shows her naivety and her problem in knowing her husband. She doesn’t want the ‘monster’ of jealousy to haunt Othello.
Act Four is very much so Desdemona’s scene. We find out some of her past, we see the present and we hear of what she would like to do in the future, which is stay with Othello. It is also the scene in which Othello has definitely gone past the point of safe return; he is no longer the same. He has actually had enough of Desdemona and plans to kill her by strangling her.
When Desdemona arrives after Othello has been tricked once again by Iago, she is completely confused. She does herself no favours in the line ‘for the love I bear to Cassio’, but it is said in complete innocence. The audience can see that there is a strong sense of dramatic irony through out the play. When Othello strikes Desdemona, she immediately states that she does not deserve it, which is true. She is completely innocent while Othello is the guilty one. Lodovico questions Othello about the strike, and hopes that he will apologize, but he doesn’t. In fact, he accuses Desdemona of faking crying. This scene shows the audience how much Othello has lost it, and how full of all different emotions he is, and also how he is taking it all out on Desdemona. This scene also shows how weak Desdemona is. She does not stand up for herself, like she would in the first two acts. She has been tainted by Othello’s difference. In scene two, the lies continue. She is cautious and confused when Othello calls for her. She is exceptionally strong when she is alone with Othello on the stage. It shows the audience that she is not naive, as she simply didn’t know what was going on. In the line from Desdemona ‘Your wife, my lord, your true and loyal wife’ she is being completely honest. Othello is so overcome by his emotions he starts to cry, and Desdemona is quite bewildered by this passionate outburst. When Emilia returns, Desdemona is in a state of shock ‘faith, half asleep’. When she is asked about her husband, she replies ‘I have none.’ This is really clever from Shakespeare, using short, sharp sentences to emphasize the problem and tension. The audience really get the feeling that Desdemona has finally realised the love is gone, and no longer feels love for Othello. She has been completely weakened, and asks for help from Iago, which shows the state that she is in.
Scene three is often known as the willow scene. It really is a window into the past Desdemona has had, and how she has come to be the woman she is today. After the past events of the act, this scene is always bringing the audience close to tears. Understandably, Desdemona is extremely upset and depressed. This shows the extent of Othello’s actions, and how he has changed the strong, un-breakable spirit of Desdemona forever. We also find out Emilia’s thoughts on men, and how she perceives them. She feels that ‘it is their husband’s faults if wives do fall’ which Desdemona simply replies by saying she will try to amend herself.
All through the four acts, we see many sides of Desdemona. We start with a strong, brave woman, who stands up for what she believes what is right. Shakespeare deliberately introduces Desdemona with a dramatic, bold scene to show the audience that this is a powerful character. He also very cleverly shows the audience how her character is destroyed by the lies and treacherous actions by Iago. By the end of the four acts, she is weak, feeble and very vulnerable. Most of all, she is confused. This is also a theme that runs throughout the play, with many characters, to intertwine and join many plots together.
