Jenelle Fiori; Othello Act 4

At this point of the play, Othello has decided that he will kill Desdemona. He tells Iago of this, who fuels the fire by asking him questions about how he thinks that Cassio and Desdemona had their affair. Iago even manages to tell Othello to kill Desdemona by strangling her, rather than poisoning her. This, I believe, is because Iago wants everyone to know who killed Desdemona and therefore portray Othello as a ruthless savage who kills his wife. Othello strikes Desdemona when he first confronts her and calls her a whore- which was in front of her cousin, the Duke of Cyprus. Desdemona's cousin realizes makes a comment about Othello seemed so noble in his description, but in reality Othello is uncivilized... which is portrayed throughout the play when the characters move from the city of Venice to the island of Cyprus. Along with this, Desdemona's reaction at first is that she takes blame for the thing that he is accusing her of. She knows she is innocent but realizes that she will die and accepts her fate. Clearly, she is a very loyal wife, despite rumors, and will do anything for her husband- even if that is giving up herself to be killed.