Many writers use characters from existing works to add different dimensions to their writing. That being said, the characters in both pieces can be characterized in completely different ways creating a sense of humor throughout the new literary piece; as in the case of the comedy Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann-Marie MacDonald. In his play, MacDonald chooses to use the character of Desdemona from William Shakespeare's Othello, but chooses to characterize her in an opposite light to Shakespeare's version, creating an interesting plot full of humor and irony. In Shakespeare's play Othello, Desdemona is characterized as Othello's dutiful wife. She is innocent and pure and is the epitome of everything that is good in society. He sees the good in everyone and everything and takes joy in life's pleasures. Desdemona is so good and faithful to Othello that even though she is dying by his hands, she is faithful to him stating that “No one; Myself” (Shakespeare 5.2.124) when asked who did this to her. That said, by marrying Othello against her father's wishes and also by accompanying Othello to Cyprus, it is suggested that Desdemona must have a stronger, more adventurous side that is never fully developed throughout the play. It is this underdeveloped side of Desdemona that MacDonald takes advantage of when writing his play. In McDonald's play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), he plays on the underdeveloped strength and adventurousness of Shakespeare's Desdemona to fashion an almost entirely new version of her, one that resembles that of Othello himself. In McDonald's play, while still loving with all her heart, Desdemona is also strong and valiant. He's quick with... middle of the paper... swings swords and goes into fits of jealous rage. The juxtaposition of the two versions of the character creates a lot of humor and a lot of laughs. As you can see, while Macdonald draws inspiration from Shakespeare's play Othello while writing his play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), he does not characterize his characters in the same way, instead drawing on the underdeveloped characteristics of his characters and inserting the character from a character to another, an example is Desdemona. MacDonald not only plays on the sense of strength and adventurousness underdeveloped in Shakespeare's version of Desdemona, but he also fashioned his version in light of Shakespeare's character Othello, Desdemona's polar opposite. This is done to create humor and irony that makes the show impossible to put down until every last word is consumed.