Monday, January 21, 2013

In Act 4, Scene 2, why doesn't Desdemona react more strongly when Othello accuses her of infidelity?

This scene is particularly powerful because Othello has become violently angry with Desdemona, taking Desdemona completely by surprise.    In the previous scene, Othello slapped Desdemona in front of Lodovico.  She has no idea why she is being treated this way.  In Act 4, scene 2, Othello treats her like a harlot, calling her whore, accusing her of being false, and weeping as he makes these accusations.  Desdemona can hardly defend herself because Othello has named no names. He has yet to mention the fact that he thinks she is sleeping with Cassio.  She can only repeat that she is his true and faithful wife.  It is not Desdemona's nature to return anger with anger.  And these accusations are so surprising, so unlike the way Othello has treated her in the past, that she reacts with disbelief, almost trance-like.  She tells Emilia that she is half-asleep, and that she no longer has a lord (or husband).  For Othello has changed.


  I don't think Desdemona is necessarily passive.  She goes to Iago to find out why Othello is angry, and believes Iago when he tells her that some "business of the state" is the cause.  She can only hope that this fit of anger is temporary and that Othello will once more become the man she married.  The idea that Othello is plotting to kill her has never crossed her mind.  

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