The metaphor of womanhood
Desdemona is raised in a society that believes that a woman is a mediocre creature whose primary responsibility is to serve men. However, Desdemona disagrees with the assumption that girls are born to suffer under hands of men. However, she gives womanhood a new meaning when she says, “Womanhood never imagined itself as an obstacle.” Womanhood in this context is metaphorically used to mean that given equal opportunities, women can do better than men in society. Over the years, women have been considered inferior because they are denied opportunities to prove their worth. Desdemona concludes by stating that a girl is not lesser than a boy because they are both born to give meaning to life. Therefore, manliness is not advantageous in anyway.
The metaphor of slippers
The slippers are used metaphorically to represent Desdemona’s strength. After her mother realized that she had tossed her slippers off and wet her dress, she took the slippers away for ten days as a way of punishment. However, Desdemona remained strong despite the possible inconveniences and embarrassment she received from her friends. Desdemona says, “To emphasize the point, my slippers were taken away and I remained barefoot for ten days. It was a small thing, embarrassing, inconvenient, but clarifying. It meant my desires; my imagination must remain hidden.” When the slippers were taken away, Desdemona felt that she was enclosed by a dark curtain but it served to strengthen her.
The metaphor of time
Time is endless because it has no beginning or end. Desdemona equates time to conventional culture in her society. Male supremacy and female inferiority in Venice are passed from one generation to the other. Desdemona finds herself in this fix and realizes that her life has already been predetermined as misery because she is a female. Desdemona does not just hail from a poor family but well-off home in which parents can give her the best life and a sense of superiority. However, she says that her parents already knew that she is prone to misery because she is a woman. The mentality of Desdemona's parents regarding a girl child is as a result of endless demeaning culture that disregards the value of women. However, Desdemona is a different kind of woman who believes that despite her difficult situation, she can overcome. She says, "I exist between, now: between being killed and being un-dead; between life on earth and life beyond it; between all time, which has no beginning or end, and space which is both a seedling as well the sun it yearns for.”
Manhood in itself is not a plus (Metaphor)
Desdemona disputes the notion that manhood is associated to superiority. Her statement that manhood in itself is not a plus metaphorically means that that men are just advantaged by culture to rule over women. Desdemona implies that women have the same ability and capability of doing what men can do if they are given an equal opportunity. Men think that they are powerful because of mainlines something that is considered a fallacy by Desdemona. She further argues that women have been made to believe that womanhood is an obstacle to success.
The simile of Barbary
Desdemona compares Barbary to all other people that she knows and realizes that she is the best. Desdemona’s mother is largely irresponsible because she does not spend time with her daughter. Instead, she leaves Desdemona with the maid, Barbary. However, Barbary turns out to be the best nurse and mother to Desdemona. The narrator says, “Unlike the staid, unbending women of my country, she moved with the fluid grace I saw only in swans and the fronds of willow trees. She was more alive than anyone I knew and more loving.” Besides telling her stories, Barbary sings to Desdemona nice songs that keep her fears away.
