Othello Thesis

My Thesis:


Even though Othello wrongly accused Desmonda, she still showed great love for him by not ratting him out for her soon to be death, by sticking up for him, and being faithful.


I picked this topic because it was of my interest as to why she still loved him so, after all of the hateful things he had said and done to her. After all of this she still managed to show great love for him, and let everyone know it during her final words. To me there is only so much that you can take of verbal abuse and accusations. She didn't even seem to care about that fact that he just listened to his friend, and didn't even bother to go and ask her for himself. This astonishes me, because I know that if I was in her position, I wouldn't feel as if I was in a marriage, but in a high school fling. It just makes no sense to me at least. Then again, maybe she had such strong feelings for him that nothing he could ever do would ever change the love that she had for him. That is something so rare that it is rarely found in modern today. Here are some examples that prove that Desmonda was still in love with her husband despite his accusations:

Act 4, scene 2, 176:
Desmonda says,
"What shall I do to win my Lord again?"

This is a really good example of how she loves him so. First off she is proving that she would do anything to win him back, and to prove that she is innocent, and is completely faithful to him.

Act 4, scene 3, 12-15:
Desmonda says,
"He says he wil return incontinent, and hath commanded me to go to bed and (bade) me to dimiss you."

This is just another example showing how she would follow anything that he tells her to. She would do anything for him, because he is her true love.

Act 4, scene 3, 59-61:
Desmonda sings,
I called my love false love, but what said he then?
Sing willow, willow, willow.
If I court more women, youll couch with more men-

Basically, this is a song that Desmonda is singing to Emilia about her relationship with Othello. Even though she loves him so, she is worried as to why he is acting wierd to her.
Act 4, scene 3, 88-89:
Desmonda says,
" Beshrew me if I would do such a wrong for the whole world."

Right here Desmonda is talking about when she was called a whore by Othello. She is asking Emilia if she really is this, and if she is then to "breshew" her.

Act 5 scene 2, 49:
Desmonda says,
" They are loves I bear to you."

This is talking about when Othello asks her about the sins in which she has commited, and she states that the only sin of wrong would be that she has loved him too much.

act 5, scene 2 , 51-55:
Desmonda says,
"That death's unnatural that kills for loving. Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip? Some bloody passion shakes your very frame. These are protents, but yet I hope, I hope they do not point at me."

This shows that she believes that if he does love her as she loves him then he would not point his sword at her.

act 5, scene 2, 73-76:
Desmonda says,
"And have mercy too. I never did offend you in my life, never loved Cassio but with such general warranty of heaven as I might love. I never gave him a token. "

Here she is trying to convince him of her love for him, and to prove that she never did anything with Cassio, and that he himself is the only one who she has ever given herself to and has loved.

act 5, scene 2, 151-153:
Emilia says,
"O, who hath done this deed?"
Desmonda says,
"Nobody. I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind Lord. O, farewell."

This is the moment in which Desmonda could have told on her husband for killing her, but instead she told Emilia that she did it herself. Therefore sticking up for her husband. This is where I find it every interesting and is one of my favorite parts of this act.


Act 5, scene 2, 165-166:
Emilia says,
"Thou art rash as a fire to day that she was false. O, she was heavenly true."

This is after the fact that Desmonda is dead, and is when Othello is finally finding out that his wife was truly faithful to him. Here Emilia tells him that she was only just heavenly true to him the whole time.

Overall, these are just a few of the examples that help to support my thesis. I could say that from this it is easy to conclude that Desmonda was truly, truly in love with her significant other, and would do absolutely anything for him. It's just sad how everything had to work out in the wrong for her, because she was total faithful and a good wife to Othello.