Desdemona's Motivation For Murder In Othello By William Shakespeare

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Othello is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare that tells the story of Othello, a Moorish general for the Venetian army who gets wrapped up in the hands of jealousy. The tragedy of the play begins when Othello starts doubting the faithfulness of his Venetian wife, Desdemona. These thoughts are put into his mind by Iago, the antagonist of the play who is seeking revenge after being passed over for the position of lieutenant by Othello. This ultimately leads to Othello killing Desdemona and when he finds out that he’s wrongly accused and murdered his wife, he kills himself. The passage in Act 5, Scene 2: lines 1-22 begins with Othello entering Desdemona’s room while she is asleep right before he kills her. He returns to his former eloquence as he speaks to his wife but is still determined to kill her. Othello’s soliloquy before killing Desdemona shows the motivation for his actions and his internal conflict of his love for her and his need for justice. …show more content…
In fact, he has convinced himself that he is on a mission of justice. Othello speaks repeatedly of “the cause” (1) - that is Desdemona’s infidelity, that drives him. For Othello killing Desdemona is the only way to keep her from “betraying more men” (6). He wants to prevent her from further destroying her innocence. He’s not just killing her out of vengeance or because of jealousy. He believes that if he “quench thee, thou flaming minister,/ I can again thy former light restore” (8-9). Though he is completely wrong in his accusations he’s justifying his actions by claiming that killing her will inevitably lead to her rebirth after
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