the trouble with gender in othello - Auburn University Electronic ...

her husband. However, there can be no denial that it is her actions, her
disruptions of the patriarchy from within the discussed matrix of power that she
lives in, have led to her final moments on stage. If the status quo is to be
restored, then those who have transgressed must be removed. Desdemona’s
dying words are an admittance of complicity; they are not, however, apologetic
or regretful as is seen in her statement, “A guiltless death I die” (V.ii.147). If, for
the patriarchal status quo to be maintained, strict adherence to the “script” must
be maintained, then Desdemona (as well as Othello, whose end we shall discuss
shortly) must, perforce, have an awareness of the ways in which she has violated
the societal norms, the ways in which she has not performed her gender (as well
as race and culture) correctly. Therefore, it was “she, herself” that made the
decisions that led to her violent death. With immortality at hand, Desdemona
takes back her subjectivity, reclaims herself as an “I”.
Desdemona, although she attempts it at times, refuses to be returned
permanently to her status as object, therefore the only conclusion that will allow
a return to the status quo is her death. By Iago’s machinations and Othello’s
actions, Desdemona is, to put it crudely, reduced back to an object. For what is
more lifeless or less individual than a dead body? She is even referred to as such
in the final lines of the play: “Lodvico: Look on the tragic loading of this bed.
This is thy work. The object poisons sight: Let it be hid.”(V.ii.420-421) Further,
under the pressure of Othello’s wrath Desdemona begins to lose her ability to
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