Was Desdemona imagined weaving moonbeams?

May 21, 2022 11:42 AM

In the Moon and six pence, Maugham writes." I expect that Shakespeare devised Iago with a gusto which he never new when, weaving moonbeams with his fancy, he imagined Desdemona." Why did he write so? Do you know that she was imagined weaving moonbeams by Shakespeare ? In Othello, if I checked it correctly, there are only two points?.. that are related to the moon. " Dians visage "and "this heavenly right" Please don't say that it was only with his fancy. Thank you for helping my reading English.
posted by mizukko to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but my reading of that sentence is that Maugham was positing that Shakespeare was "weaving moonbeams" when he invented Dedemona, not that he invented her doing so. Maugham is contrasting the way he imagines Shakespeare's approaches to inventing Iago (with gusto) vs inventing Desdemona (with fancy).
posted by dobbs at 11:56 AM on May 21, 2022 [11 favorites]

Best answer: I agree with dobbs. I don't believe Maugham is saying that Shakespeare imagined Desdemona weaving moonbeams. I believe he's saying that Shakespeare was weaving moonbeams when he imagined Desdemona. A simplified version of the sentence would be: "I expect Shakespeare made up Iago with more gusto than he felt when he imagined Desdemona." "Weaving moonbeams with his fancy" is a phrase that poetically describes what Shakespeare was doing when he imagined Desdemona. The location of that phrase in the sentence means it has to refer to Shakespeare when he imagined Desdemona. It's grammatically similar to "I met Shakespeare when, dripping with water, he was stepping out of the pool" or "Shakespeare broke his nose when, waving his spear like a madman, he hit himself in the face."
posted by Redstart at 12:09 PM on May 21, 2022 [4 favorites]

Here's more context that helped me:

"Until long habit has blunted the sensibility, there is something disconcerting to the writer in the instinct which causes him to take an interest in the singularities of human nature so absorbing that his moral sense is powerless against it. He recognises in himself an artistic satisfaction in the contemplation of evil which a little startles him; but sincerity forces him to confess that the disapproval he feels for certain actions is not nearly so strong as his curiosity in their reasons. The character of a scoundrel, logical and complete, has a fascination for his creator which is an outrage to law and order. I expect that Shakespeare devised Iago with a gusto which he never knew when, weaving moonbeams with his fancy, he imagined Desdemona. It may be that in his rogues the writer gratifies instincts deep-rooted in him, which the manners and customs of a civilised world have forced back to the mysterious recesses of the subconscious. In giving to the character of his invention flesh and bones he is giving life to that part of himself which finds no other means of expression. His satisfaction is a sense of liberation."

"weaving moonbeams with his fancy" is a simile for Shakespeare's act of imagination in the literary creation of Desdemona. Maugham seems to be saying that the creation of Desdemona is somehow less interesting for Shakespeare than the creation of Iago, because of the thrill of expressing for Iago the things in Shakespeare's heart that he himself represses and discourages.
posted by the Real Dan at 12:12 PM on May 21, 2022 [8 favorites]

When you read the whole paragraph the Real Dan quotes, you can see why Maugham would use "weaving moonbeams" to describe the act of imagining Desdemona. She's not an evil character like Iago. She's beautiful and loving, so imagining her was like making something pretty out of moonbeams. Shakespeare wasn't weaving moonbeams when he imagined Iago. He was building that character out of something much uglier.
posted by Redstart at 12:20 PM on May 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Yeah. I think Maugham means that (as he thinks) Iago comes from things that are forbidden to think about and therefore fascinating, and Desdemona comes from things that are idealised and (to Maugham) desirable, but not often to be found on this Earth. Hence "weaving moonbeams with his fancy".

Gusto is Italian and literally means taste as in food, but in English it has come to mean an earthy, bodily enthusiasm.

In Maugham's day, Desdemona was most often seen and played onstage as an idealised, submissive, virtuous, almost angelic woman-- the ideal wife, an innocent who suffers tragically.

In the 21st century, Desdemona has plenty of gusto. Directors have realised that this is someone who fell passionately in love, rebelled against her father, and ran away from the life of a Venetian aristocrat to become the wife of a mercenary soldier. (A general and a good man, but still, a harder life than she'd have had if she'd stayed home.) So Desdemona is now seen as spirited and passionate and self-determined, and very much in romantic and sexual love: a person, not a creature woven of moonbeams.
posted by Pallas Athena at 12:42 PM on May 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

ran away from the life of a Venetian aristocrat to become the wife of a mercenary soldier. (A general and a good man, but still, a harder life than she'd have had if she'd stayed home.)

This is completely overlooking her father's real complaint against Othello, which is that he is a Moor and thus Black.
posted by FencingGal at 1:46 PM on May 21, 2022

The phrase set off by commas refers to "he" rather than to Desdemona. It means that Shakespeare was weaving moonbeams with his fancy (imagining her as gentle and mild, but luminous) when he came up with this character Desdemona.
posted by Francolin at 2:57 PM on May 21, 2022

Response by poster: Oh, I am sorry for the wrong English.I couldn't express the point of my
question well. What I'd like to know is ..if all native speakers including Maugham think naturally that waving moonbeams Shakespeare imagined Desdemona. In Othello is there any basis written for that? Thank you for helping my poor English.
posted by mizukko at 7:43 PM on May 21, 2022

Best answer: I'm not sure I understand your question but I think maybe you're asking if "weaving moonbeams" seems like a natural and obvious way to describe what Shakespeare did when he imagined Desdemona. I think the answer is no. People who have read Othello would not automatically see a connection between Desdemona and moonbeams. I don't think there is anything in Othello that connects her to moonbeams. Maugham probably thought "weaving moonbeams" was a good way to describe what Shakespeare was doing when he created that character because she was pretty and pleasing, like something made out of moonbeams. Most native English speakers have good feelings about the word "moonbeams," so Maugham's comparison would make sense to them. But it's not something they would have thought of saying themselves or something they would have read before about Desdemona.
posted by Redstart at 8:40 PM on May 21, 2022 [2 favorites]