Throughout history, the place and role of women in society has changed. Women are often seen as having a lower status and need to be taken care of by men. There are conflicts with the idealization of women, as they are often overlooked and seen as secondary characters. This idealization is well ingrained in the characters of Desdemona in Othello and Daisy in The Great Gatsby. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby and Shakespeare's play Othello, Desdemona and Daisy are both responsible for their tragedies due to the manipulation and impact of outsiders, their loss of innocence and their vulnerability as women. The strangers, Tom and Iago become influential puppeteers, since Daisy and Desdemona are their puppets. Their influences on each of the female protagonists results in inevitable tragedy. In Othello, the antagonist Iago has a strong bitter hatred towards Othello. He envies the fact that Cassio is chosen to be his lieutenant. In response, he resorts to manipulation and deception to make Othello regret his decision. Desdemona is extremely affected by Iago's plan as it leads to her tragic death. Iago manipulates Desdemona through other characters. An example of this can be seen through his wife, Emilia. Iago thinks that women “are images from without” (Shakespeare.2.1.121) and are more like workers than wives. Emilia is part of Iago's plan, as she is one of the closest people to Desdemona. Emilia has no idea what Iago is plotting until the very end. She ignores Iago's plan and this results in Desdemona's death. Like Desdemona and Emilia, Daisy is also heavily influenced by other characters. Tom uses other characters to impact Daisy and this can be seen through his altercation...... middle of paper...... perfect examples of how an ideal innocent woman can do facing undoubtedly tragic destinies. Despite the great strength of their characters, Daisy and Desdemona both exhibit the vulnerability of their innocence, the ability of others to take advantage of them, and glaring weaknesses. They are unaware of their surroundings, which leads to questionable actions. Their inevitable tragedies occur because of how each character handled the situations that came their way. Overall, Daisy and Desdemona are responsible for their tragedies because they are women placed in unfamiliar positions and unable to cope with the situations presented to them. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1925. Print. Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Printed