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👩 A woman's name 🌙 A moon of Uranus
Desdemona

Desdemona

13 8.4
A woman's name from Shakespeare's play Othello
  • proper noun
  • /ˌdɛzdəˈmoʊnə/
  • Literature
: Desdémona
  • Othello gives agency first to Desdemona and then redirects it to Cassio.
  • Desdemona in Othello
  • Cassio and Desdemona
  • wooing of Desdemona

Remember her frown, wide eyes, terror of getting things wrong, her clear, arguable thesis on Desdemona's motives.

Examples

  • The play provides four principal tellings of Othello's wooing of Desdemona, including importantly that of Desdemona herself.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Othello's pride in winning Desdemona comes about because she has chosen him, rather than vice versa.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Nicholas and Desdemona are ready.

    A Haunting in Venice (2023)

  • I'd like to play Desdemona.

    Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970)

  • And Freni was such a wonderful Desdemona.

    Quartet (2012)

  • Have you prayed tonight, Desdemona?

    Do Not Forget Me Istanbul (2012)

  • You'd make a very good Desdemona.

    Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970)

  • Othello indicates that his love for Desdemona is so great that he is prepared to be damned for it.

    Academic text (2005)

  • An essay on Desdemona's role in Othello.

    Melinda and Melinda (2004)

  • In Shakespeare's play, Desdemona is Othello's loving wife, whose fate hinges on jealousy and betrayal.

Surface Forms

Desdemona main

Etymology

Desdemona comes from old Greek parts dus- meaning 'bad' and daimon meaning 'spirit' or 'fate', the same root you see in English demon. Shakespeare gave the name to a loyal but unlucky wife, so the name now brings to mind someone who is 'ill-fated'.