Desdemona is a likable character because she is sweet and innocent. She is rather pleasant, never doing anything to offend anyone. However, because she seems so innocent, she is almost a boring character that is just used as a tool. She leaves her father, marries Othello, causes him jealousy and then gets killed by him. In terms of individuality, Desdemona herself is not much of a person. When Othello is called to battle, she even says, “A moth of peace, and he go to war, / And I a heavy interim shall support / By his dear absence. Let me go with him” (Act I, Scene III). I appreciate a hopeless romantic but wanting to be with your husband and saying that you are useless without him are two very distinct things.
The only interesting thing about Desdemona is the fact that she betrays her father by marrying Othello. Now, I understand that I am supposed to believe that she and Othello are madly in love but honestly, I do not have much of a reason to believe that. Othello is sweet and Desdemona is loyal to him. Sweetness and loyalty are not the only two components of a happy marriage. I am sweet and loyal to my mother, for example, but I do not want to marry her.
So if powerful love is not the reason Desdemona betrays her father, what is? She tells him she is bound to him for life but that she has to be loyal to Othello now. Basically, she goes from being Brabantio’s property to Othello’s property. Othello is a great man based on his military achievements but based on his reasoning and logic, he is a schmuck. Plus, he is old and Desdemona is not. Out of all my confusion, I have been able to piece together one conclusion: Desdemona cannot actually be as innocent as she seems because an innocent, obedient girl would never dare to disobey her father. Perhaps she was even having an affair with a man that is not Cassio. If she has the nerve to blatantly betray her father, then she has the nerve to betray her husband.
Image Sources: http://thewallmachine.com/files/1337490580.jpg (My dad would not like to hear I am being…….penetrated by a big man either :/)
http://www.capecodprivateinvestigators.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Cheating-Spouse.jpg (How cute is this picture?)
