Desdemona

            Throughout literary history women have played two very different, yet distinct roles. There is the role of the strong, determined woman who faces adversity with a confident approach. There is also the submissive woman who is at the mercy of the dominant males in environment. Desdemona, of the Shakespearean play Othello, is a very complex character who takes on both roles. Desdemona's actions and demeanor change throughout the play, depicting a self-effacing, loyal wife, while also showing a gallant, independent woman. Her strong side is subtle and can be easily overlooked and mistaken for quiet submissiveness, though it is this subtle strength that makes Desdemona such a powerful character.
             Desdemona is not unlike many women today; she is torn between her devotion to her father and her faithfulness to her husband. She shows her indecision in one of her first speeches with her father,.
             My noble father/ I do perceive here a divided duty./ To you I am bound for life and education;/ My life and education both do learn me/How to respect you. You are the lord of duty,/ I am hitherto your daughter/ But here's my husband,/ And so much duty as my mother showed/ To you, preferring you before her father,/ So much I challenge that I may profess/ Due to the Moor my lord. (I. iii. 178-187).
             This speech illustrates Desdemona's inner conflict and also enforces Desdemona's deep- seeded emotions. This is very important because this proves that Desdemona was not a weak woman at heart. She did not readily take her subservient role to her husband but is concerned about how her actions will affect the other people around her, and in turn, affect herself. This can also be construed in the opposite way. Her want to please her husband and her father, the two dominant male figures in her life, can be seen as her submissiveness to them. .
             One of Desdemona's most powerful speeches occurred in her final moments before Othello smothered her where she recited a song that she learned from one of her mother's maids, Barbary, "She was in love; and he proved mad And did forsake her.