Why Desdemona is more than a victim | Character analysis | Othello | Top grade | Shakespeare

[@emilyh9392]

I stumbled across this video a few days ago while revising for my Othello exam (it's tomorrow!) and I've re-watched it about 3 times now! The deification of Desdemona making her a victim of impossible standards is something I'd never even considered before but it is a brilliant idea and has made me think differently about the character, I even dedicated a paragraph to it in one of my past essays. Great video! :)

[@JenChan]

So pleased to hear that it's helped you with your exams - thanks for watching, Emily!

[@ellagrosse1165]

Girl you are saving my a level rn

[@JenChan]

Haha glad to know, and all the best with your exams!

[@annamanuelle2699]

I've just stumbled upon your character analysis and I can't refrain from thanking you for making such quality videos!

[@JenChan]

You're so welcome! Glad this helps and thanks for watching :)

[@christopherbako]

The Allman Brothers wrote a song called Desdemo. Very soulful.

[@samkeen1018]

Thank you so much!! Have my Othello A Level on Tuesday and your videos have really helped!

[@JenChan]

I'm so pleased to hear that, Sam - all the best with your exams on Tuesday!

[@rojo1945]

How was it?

[@mohahoseini6587]

I just finished Othello and I loved hearing your ideas. Some of them were exactly what I was thinking about while reading the play. Thanks ;)

[@JenChan]

Wonderful to hear - great minds think alike ;) Hope this was helpful for your studies.

[@sophieharrison2238]

thank god I watched this the morning of my exam. honestly helped me so much, I can't thank you enough!! are you planning to do any Y2 a level content like Journeys end?

[@JenChan]

I'm so pleased to hear this, Sophie! Hope your exam went well :) I'll look into doing more videos on A-Level texts, but can't promise a 'Journey's End' video any time soon as my priority is to make more content on widely studied texts and general lit study skills. Let me know if there are any lit-related skills or general lit topics that you'd like to learn though, and I'll definitely consider doing a video on that soon.

[@sarahquirke2439]

Thanks so much, this is such a great help pre-exams!

[@JenChan]

You are so welcome! And I'm incredibly pleased to hear that :)

[@adamjharcourt]

Shakespeare’s cheeky wink at 7:58 😂

[@barrondub1125]

Righteous bro love the new ideas

[@JenChan]

Ha thanks bruh!

[@ewilshire38]

You have saved my preliminary exam thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏

[@JenChan]

Glad to hear it - hope it went / goes well! 🥰

[@wlyangel]

this is really helpful !! tysm

[@JenChan]

You're so welcome :) Glad it helped!

[@kiss_kiss_chloe]

Oooh I love this idea!!! I have just found your channel and I have watched about 4 videos so far! You are so helpful, please keep up the good work! :)))

[@JenChan]

😘😘😘

[@ra5424]

THANK YOU SO MUCH ! Im struggling with my a level rn and these videos are really helpfull i cannot thank you enough, can you please please make analysis videos on the awakening by kate chopin?

[@JenChan]

You're so welcome, and I'm glad that this video has been helpful for your A-Level revision :) I will consider doing more A-Level fiction texts in the future, but my emphasis right now (as far as AL is concerned) is Othello and The Great Gatsby, just because those are the most widely studied ones. I have written a blog post on 'Awakening' (comparing it to another text) about the theme of marriage, though, see if this helps for now? hyperbolit.com/2021/03/18/on-marriage-in-fiction-reading-kate-chopins-the-awakening-and-l-p-hartleys-the-go-between/

[@ra5424]

@@JenChan omg thank youuuu so muchhh❤

[@aliceglover5973]

Also, would it be possible to apply the point about expectations of saintliness to the question of whether Desdemona takes a risk in marrying outside her class and culture?

[@hannahgreen1927]

This was so helpful thank you !!!

[@JenChan]

You are so welcome - all the best with your exams!

[@anton2559]

another great video !

[@quickhacks3387]

Totally agree ❤

[@essaypro9776]

Thank you very much! You are so informative and enlightening. I used your explanation of the character Desdemona write my essay. By any chance could you have a published article on the same which I can reference?

[@JenChan]

Thanks for the lovely feedback! This blog post might help? hyperbolit.com/2021/03/08/debating-women-in-shakespeare-i-lady-macbeth-desdemona-character-analysis/

[@essaypro9776]

@@JenChan Thank you very much I really do appreciate it. YOU ARE AWESOME!

[@Ella-qk6ou]

This is so helpful thank you!

[@JenChan]

You're so welcome :) Thanks for watching!

[@David-sh8th]

this is perfect. I love it

[@JenChan]

Thanks for watching, and glad you found this useful! 😘

[@line2089]

this was interesting! subscribing :)

[@JenChan]

thank you!

[@cezzajess7238]

Great video!! Thanku 💕

[@JenChan]

Glad to hear it - thanks for watching xxx

[@bmai7304]

Can you explain more abit about the last line 14:10 pls?

[@adgstgx9339]

Desdemona embodies the ideal of a virtuous woman but dramatises the failure of any woman ever becoming perfectly virtuous. Her tragedy occurs due to the expectations of saintliness that she herself and other men impose on her. Desdemona's frequent allusions to the word "heaven" are contributed to by the men around her which associate her with all that is elevated, reasserting the ideal linking her to the 'impossible woman trope'. By not believing that woman would cheat on their husbands she is denying that women like men are humans with weaknesses - falling into 16th century stereotypes and beliefs of the Great Chain of Being where woman were below men. Virtue is relative. Desdemona's language is marked with hyperbole reflecting her ignorance.

[@aliceglover5973]

Hello, please could explain this again, I'm not quite sure how this is the cause of the tragedy?

[@adgstgx9339]

@@aliceglover5973 Desdemona represents a typical 16th-century woman and the men in the play (Iago, Cassio, and Othello) present the mindset of Shakespeare's male audience. Desdemona's tragedy is that of simply a woman in a misogynistic society who has begun to accept the same ideology which oppresses her. The men around her objectify her and elevate her, but in a way where she is viewed as lesser than the men and grand in the same way jewels/fine objects would be - seen as Othello describes himself as the "base Indian who threw the pearl away". Desdemona internalises this perpetually justifying the men's shallow ways of talking about her by referring to herself similarly. The tragedy is finalised as Desdemona becomes the very thing the men describe her to be - submissive and immobile. Unlike, at the beginning of the play where she acts as makes her own decisions such as marrying Othello and disobeying Brabantio. She accepts Othello's dictation that she must die, only begging for her life not fighting for it. She becomes a mere victim of fate; "an ill-fated star", as Othello calls her and through this allows the final stage of the tragedy to commence as Othello becomes a murderer and she dies.

[@aliceglover5973]

So because she begins to internalize and passively accept the inferior way she is viewed by the men around her, the tragedy is self fulfilling? This is stark contrast to her assertive behaviour we see at the beginning of the play?

[@aliceglover5973]

It is the result of labelling?

[@adgstgx9339]

@@aliceglover5973 There are many factors but I would say the argument of the tragedy being self-fufilling - the men tell her who she is and she becomes their idealisations - is a strong argument.

[@rohhanbhardwaj]

for what reasons does brabantio think desdemona is with othello?

[@JenChan]

How exactly do you mean? First, Iago tells him; then, Othello verifies in front of the Duke and senators that Desdemona married him for love / out of her own volition. It all happens in Act 1 of the play.

[@aliceglover5973]

I'm probably being really thick here, but to me, Othello's conviction that Desdemona is a "whore" is another example of her failing to meet the expectations of saintliness imposed upon her by men, along with her lack of empathy, stubbornness and immaturity, as demonstrated in her persistent nagging and impatience for her husband to re-instate Cassio, without taking into consideration that is not an easy or quick decision to me made. She is therefore not the "divine" Desdemona that Cassio describes but is shown to be flawed, just like any other human being. Apologies if that is rubbish!

[@JenChan]

Ooooof. So I definitely see where you're coming from with the point about her failing to meet the unrealistic expectations of saintliness, but I'd hazard to be too extreme with the assessment about her being stubborn and immature. It's all contextual, I suppose. Perhaps the heat of the moment and emotions (emotions, always emotions!!) compel her to behave in a stubborn manner, but does that necessarily mean she's a stubborn character...?

[@aliceglover5973]

Apologies for bombarding you with all of that! Oh no, sorry, I meant to say that she appears stubborn, immature and to lack empathy when she pleads Cassio's case, but that isn't a reflection of her overall character.

[@pakspiderman6579]