She is then escorted to Cyprus by the evil and jealous Iago and learns that another officer, Cassio has been disgraced as a result of Iago's stratagem. Cassio asks Desdemona to intercede for him with Othello, and Iago, who is annoyed that he wasn't promoted, used this contact to suggest to Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are lovers. Iago then boosts Othello's jealousy and in the end Othello kills his wife by smothering her in her bed.
In many productions of the play, Desdemona is shown as a soft and passive beauty. This is not true. She has the strength of character to 'buck the system' and marry without her father's permission. But not only that, but she marries a Moor as well. She is also a sophisticated woman of the world who has a witty tongue, this being apparent when we hear her flippant banter with Iago and Cassio on the quayside in Act II. sc.i.
On the other hand, although she is an educated Venetian lady, she is slow to realise the depth of Othello's jealousy and tends to belittle Cassio's flirting. It is this innocence on her part that causes many directors to cast her as a simple, passive wife.
Iago's wife, Emilia, sums her up best, "O she was heavenly true!'
Desdemona was first played by an actress (not allowed in WS time) by Margaret Hughes in 1669, this performance being watched by Samuel Pepys. The 19th century actor, Charles Kean (1811-68), son of the famous actor, Edmund Kean collapsed while playing in Othello and died soon after. Memorable performances of Desdemona were given both by Sarah Siddons (1755-1831) and Dame Ellen Terry (1847-1928).
More recently in 1966, Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey, Marigold Hotel and Pride of Miss Jean Brodie) played Desdemona opposite Sir Laurence Olivier and the film received more Academy awards for a WS play than any other. An Indian Bollywood version was produced in 2006 and starred the ever-popular Kareena Kapoor as Desdemona.
It is generally agreed that WS based Othello on Giraldi Cinthio's novella, Hectommithi (1565), but the only direct link is Desdemona's name which is the only name that appears in both the original and the WS version. In the original, Desdemona dies when the bed falls on her while other versions have Othello smothering, stifling or strangling her to death. In the 1948 film, A Double Life, actor Ronald Coleman kisses his wife to death.
In another version, Orson Welles stretches a scarf across Desdemona's mouth before kissing her to death. Some other versions in keeping with the Elizabethan stage tradition had Desdemona killed off-stage. The murder was accompanied by lurid and fatal noises.
Next time: Sir William D'Avenant (Shakespeare's godson?)
Comments: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com
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