Desdemona In Othello

Desdemona is a central female figure in Othello and makes a great research paper topic. Desdemona in Othello research papers is the focus and reason for Othello's grief, fury and murderous action, she is Iago's maligned tool, used to destroy Othello, and is the means by which Shakespeare unravels love and loyalty and turns it to betrayal and murder. Othello's obsession with Desdemona's fidelity drives the plot and provides the emotion in "Othello".

Desdemona chooses her life with Othello, and participates much less in her own demise, protesting her innocence to Othello quite strongly in Act 4, to no avail. She is a victim who is overpowered, not by her own mind or an inclination toward death, as Ophelia is, but by subtle subterfuges far too complex for her to discern, by a society that dismisses, insults and devalues the words of women, and finally, by Othello's brute strength. The literal and symbolic death of Desdemona illustrates how an innocent woman can be harmed by society, the men she associates with, and by her own lack of worldliness. Because of this, it is the victim who creates internal tragedy and motivates the plot in "Othello".