When Desdemona hears these stories she is swept off her feet by his virility. Desdemona courageously stands up to her father and tells him of her love for Othello. She says that her heart is subdued even to the very quality of her lord. This is a very courageous thing to do, as it was uncommon for a white woman to be married to a black man at the time that this play was written. This would cause a lot of jealousy to other men from Venice who would find it strange that a beautiful pure white Venetian girl would choose an old black man over any young man she wanted.
Desdemona shows her strength by pleading with the Venetian Senate to allow her to go with Othello to Cyprus. As Othello knows Cyprus’s military conditions best, he must put aside his private affairs and take charge over Montano in this situation. Desdemona exclaims, ’If I left behind… the rites for why I love him are bereft me’’. This also shows Desdemona as a strong character as it was highly uncommon for a lady to be going out into war at the time of this play. However this could also in a way be showing Desdemona as a weak character, her father Brabantio has disowned her after he found out about her marriage to Othello behind his back. This would mean Desdemona would have nowhere to live and would have to live with Othello, who has gone to Cyprus. This can be viewed in another way, I think that Desdemona goes to Cyprus with Othello because they have just been married and would want to spend time together.
Desdemona’s weakness is shown in Act 4 Scene 1. Iago has worked up a lot of suspicion inside Othello’s mind at this point in the play, and jealousy has begun to overcome him. Lodovico a kinsman of Brabantio brings a letter from Venice to Othello commanding Othello to return to Venice. Desdemona talks to Lodovico about the trouble between her husband and Cassio -not of course the one invented by Iago, but Cassio’s dismissal for drunkenness and fighting. As Othello appears to be reading this letter, thoughts in his mind of what Iago has told him of Cassio and Desdemona’s affair (of which Desdemona knows nothing) finally affect him. Desdemona and her words about Cassio, are heard by Othello and he shouts out ‘fire and brimstone’ which cause Desdemona and Lodovico to think the contents of the letter have made him angry thus driving Othello to strike Desdemona. Then she obeys Othello by getting out of his sight. Othello then takes the opportunity to insult her before her old friends.
This shows Desdemona’s weakness as she has just been hit by her husband and instead of standing up to him and questioning him on why he struck her, she obeys him by getting out of his sight. Desdemona appears to only be strong in the play when it involves her love for Othello. Although this reaction can be interpreted in a different way in this scene as she doesn’t want to stand up to Othello because she loves him so much. It must also take a lot of strength to resist defying Othello just having been struck by him.
Desdemona shows her strength towards the end of the play. This is a scene in which Desdemona is a very strong character, this scene is the conclusion of the play. Desdemona lies asleep in bed and Othello enters certain that his reason for killing Desdemona is correct. Othello says that it isn’t jealousy that drives him to kill her, it’s that Desdemona can’t have another opportunity to do wrong. This is shown in the line ‘‘yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men’’. This shows Iago’s lying and his plan to destroy Othello throughout the play has worked and he’s inclined to believe Iago instead of his wife. When Desdemona awakens, Othello tells her to pray, as she doesn’t know his reason for wanting to kill her, she stands up to him and asks why she should fear him. When Othello finally accuses Desdemona of giving Cassio her handkerchief she denies it and begs for him to bring Cassio to ‘‘bear out her words’’( to prove that she isn’t lying). Desdemona doesn’t show her strength in this part of the scene. Then Othello tells her Cassio is dead and he smothers her, distracted by Emilia’s call at the door Othello has to try and kill Desdemona quickly. However Desdemona is unconscious.
Desdemona is very strong in this scene she stands by Othello even after his attempt at killing her. Immediately before she dies when Emilia discovers what Othello has done, Desdemona attempts to cover for him with her very last breath when she awakens from her unconsciousness. This last act of protection for Othello really shows how strong and devoted Desdemona’s character can be in the play. Even though Othello has attempted to kill her she remains strong by not telling Emilia what he has done thereby attempting to save his reputation.
Desdemona is the strongest women out of the three in the play. She has defied her father and marries a man of different race. This takes a lot of strength and courage. She sacrifices being shunned by her father in order to marry the man she loves. Another sign of her strength and courage is the fact that her father will look down on her for marrying Othello and so will the rest of society. This and many other examples prove my theory that Desdemona is a strong character throughout the play. She is strong in that she goes against what society considers the right way she does what makes her happy, and doesn’t limit herself based on other peoples opinions. She has strength of character and lives life according to what she thinks is right for her. In her time this took strength and courage. She was seriously looked down upon not only by society but by her father as well. Desdemona loves her father in the play but also loves him because that’s what she has to do. This is why Desdemona is one of the strongest characters in the play. Not only is she a women of strong will but a woman from an age when women were supposed to be weak.
For most of the play, Desdemona proves to be the strongest female character. She sacrifices her reputation with society and her relationship with her father to be with the man she loves. Desdemona uses her last breathe to save Othello’s reputation. The only evidence that Desdemona is a weak character in the play is due to Iago .He is the only reason there is any conflict in the play. He causes the deaths of Othello, Desdemona, Emilia, and Rodreigo. Overall I think that Desdemona’s a strength of character is evident throughout the play Othello.