1992-Confidant/Confidante
In a novel or play, a confidant (male) or a confidante (female) is a character, often a friend or relative of the hero or heroine, whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result is, as Henry James remarked, that the confidant or confidante can be as much “the reader’s friend as the protagonist’s.” However, the author sometimes uses this character for other purposes as well. Choose a confidant or confidante from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you discuss the various ways this character functions in the work. You may write your essay on one of the following novels or plays or on another of comparable quality. Do not write on a poem or short story.
Othello
I think it is pretty clear that Desdemona is the confidante for Othello. She stands by him almost until the very end (only when Othello is moments away from killing her and she tries begging for her life is when that role ends), but other than being a good listener, I think Shakespeare used Desdemona to give reason for Othello's insecurities. At the beginning of the play when Othello is talking to the court about the secret marriage between himself and Desdemona, he even says that he was astonished that she chose to marry him even though she knew what he looked like. Othello had doubted why Desdemona loved him from the start. That doubt made it very easy for Iago to manipulate Othello's emotions to the point of wanting to murder his wife. If there was no doubt, Iago's plan had been foiled when he first brought up Desdemona's unfaithfulness to Othello.
ReplyDeleteFYI this was from Caitlin Marino, I don't remember ever making an account under sgfh...
DeleteI agree that Desdemona serves as Othello's confidante, but Iago also serves as Othello's confidant, although Othello probably shouldn't confide in Iago. If you think about it this makes perfect sense considering Iago and Desdemona are the perfect foils for each other: cunning, manipulative Iago and sweet, caring, loyal to the end Desdemona. If you think about it, Desdemona and Iago can potentially serve as the hypothetical "devil and angel" on Othello's shoulder.
DeleteAlso hi Caitlin, I didn't know who I was replying to.
DeleteI love that comparison of Iago and Desdemona as the angel and devil on Othello's shoulders! Also, the quote above says that the confidant can be "the reader's friend as much as the protagonist's". Now unless I'm completely misinterpreting this, does that mean Iago and the audience could be confidants as well? He has a lot of "asides" where he unfolds his plan. He cannot express his motives to a lot of people, for he even keeps things hidden from Roderigo and especially Emilia. Therefore, he turned to the audience. I think that's a pretty interesting dynamic because not only did it help viewers/readers understand the plot more, but it develops the devious character of Iago.
DeleteI definitely think that Desdemona acts as a confidante in this play, not only to Othello but also to Emilia. In my eyes, Emilia was the heroine in this story. She turned to Desdemona to confide in with her unique thoughts, such as when she admits that she would cheat on her husband for him and all of the other thoughts and actions that made her unique from the other alienated characters (the ones discussed in the alienation prompt). But also the idea of the angel and devil on Othello's shoulder is extremely clever and it does make sense.
ReplyDeleteExpanding on this, I think that Emilia and Desdemona are each others' confidantes. In all of their scenes together, it is clear how much they trust and respect one another (and for good reason--Emilia was loyal to Desdemona right until the end, choosing to die beside "her mistress".) For example, Emilia was the one that listened to Desdemona's worries about Othello's increasingly stressed demeanor, just as Desdemona was the one who listened to Emilia's subtle wisecracks about Iago and men in general. Having these two be such a strong duo is so full of, for lack of a better term, girl power. After all, Desdemona and Emilia were more loyal to each other than either of their husbands were to them. Their relationship kind of makes them confidantes (in the sense that, like the prompt points out, they can be friends to the reader) to me as well, as a female reader, since together they bring empowerment along with their own individual strengths.
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