Desdemona's Death: a Crime of Passion

1265 Words6 Pages
In Othello, a constant debate revolves around whether or not Othello and Desdemona truly love one another. However, it is seen through Desdemona’s actions and words that their love does exist. In the play, Desdemona marries a man racially, religiously, and morally different than herself. In the end, this marriage and love ends up causing her death. Due to Desdemona’s never ending, continuous love for Othello, she ultimately played a role in her own death.
The love Desdemona feels for Othello is seen in the fact that she goes against her family and marries the man she loves, not the man that may necessarily be more suited for her. Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, believes that Othello lures Desdemona away with his witchcraft and that her life would be much better if they never married. However, Desdemona ignores her father’s instruction; despite the fact Brabantio believes their relationship is unnatural: “She [Desdemona] is abused, stol’n from me and corrupted by spells and medicines bought of mountebanks; for natures so preposterously to err, being not deficit, blind or lame of sense, sans witchcraft could not” (Othello, 1.3.60-64). At first, Brabantio believes that his daughter was tricked by Othello, that he stole her away with his magic spells and witchcraft. However, in reality, Desdemona had wanted to marry Othello all along, despite their differences and her father’s warnings. Desdemona let herself marry a man of which her father did not approve. This witchcraft Brabantio believes Othello possesses is advice to Desdemona. This acted as a warning that Desdemona should never have become involved with such a “Moor”. He was warning his daughter of the unnatural. However, Desdemona went against his wishes and married Othello, the true love of her life. Brabantio saw how this marriage was going to eventually end. This unnatural union ended in Desdemona’s murder,
Open Document