female passivity Flashcards
(9 cards)
Devil! [he strikes her]’ / ‘I have not deserved this’
Othello becomes physcially violent to her and yet Desdemona passively resists it as she can do no more
‘O falsely, falsely murdered’/ ‘A guiltless death I die’/ ‘Nobody; I myself. Farewell’
This emphasises her as a tragi.c victim as she dies believing she has done something wrong, yet she is not guilty
‘Come, Desdemona, ‘tis the soldier’s life’
While Desdemona seems to be included in male business in Venice, she is excluded from it in Cyprus, and her failure to understand this change or military culture leads her to her traged.y
‘out of her goodness make the nett that shall emesh them all’
Metaphor - again, patriarchal manipulation of women allows men great power over women’s fates, and Iago uses this to also entrap Othello, who is inextricably linked to Desdemona
‘Why do you speak so startingly and rash?’
Desdemona cannot understand Othello’s change and what it is due to as she naive to male behaviour and blinded by her love
His unkindness may defeat my life/ but never taint my love’
Tragic foreshadowing as it seems Desdemona knows her fate yet she accepts it and loves him too endurably to care
‘I understand a fury in your words/ but not the words’/‘Am I the motive of these tears my lord?’
This is yet another piece of evidence of Desdemona not understanding male jealousy that leads to her tragedy later
‘Am I that name, Iago?’
Desdemona needs male validation in order to confirm her place as she feels helpless against Othello’s anger
‘It is mry wretched fortune’/‘Here I kneel’
Her kneeling shows she is surrendering herself to fortune as she has no power to change it
