William Shakespeare Quotes

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. After hitting Desdemona in the presence of Lodovico and Iago, Othello humiliates and hurls abuse at his crying wife. He shouts demented nonsense metaphorically comparing her to the devil and accusing her of crying false "crocodile" tears. An ancient belief was that crocodiles shed tears for the victims they ate. A passive and obedient Desdemona does what Othello commands her and leaves. She is perhaps suffering the trauma of battered woman syndrome, commonly found in victims of domestic physical and emotional abuse like her.