In Shakespeare’s time, being an independent and strong women was unthinkable. In this book Othello, Iago and Othello constantly dishonor their wives, Desdemona and Emilia, and also women in general. They speak of women rudely and claim ownership of their partners, and Iago goes a step further with this by imposing gender stereotypes on Emilia and Othello. Desdemona gives into this kind of thinking and her role in society over the course of the play, acting as a obedient and lesser than her husband. Sexism in Othello is exposed by the consistent degrading of women, the enforcement of gender stereotypes and the women’s acceptance of roles in society, all implying that women are inferior to men. Iago and Othello make harsh and degrading comments …show more content…
When Desdemona is first introduced, she is brought in to attest that she is married to Othello in front of her disapproving father. She tries to make peace with him by saying “So much duty as my mother showed to you...I may profess due to the Moor my lord,” (1:3, 186-188). She follows in the footsteps of obedient women such as her mother, continuing the cycle of passive females letting men control their thoughts and actions. She calls Othello “my lord”, letting him hold power and status over her as a husband and as a man. At the end of the play, Desdemona is on her deathbed after being wrongly accused of cheating on Othello who suffocated her after hearing about it. Desdemona says, as her final words, that the person who killed her was “Nobody-I myself...Commend me to my kind lord,” (5:2,126-126). Even though it was Othello who wrongly assumed that she cheated, she takes the blame on herself and assumes that she must have wronged him. She ignores the fact that her husband could have made a destructive and unfair choice, refusing to believe that he has a weakness as a man. She also calls him “my kind lord”, showing her complete obedience to her husband even after he wrongly accused, abused, and murdered her. Throughout the play as shown by Desdemona, women are degraded, stereotyped, and forced to fulfill gender
Othello is a play that asks us to examine the position of women in society. This play explores issues such as clandestine marriage, accusations of adultery, and it includes three different social classes of women. First, we have Desdemona, this is a woman from a noble family in Venice and has the least amount of freedom. Her behavior was watched very carefully. The perception of Desdemona is created by the language that other characters use to describe her. In Act 2, Scene 1, Cassio refers to Desdemona as ‘a maid/That paragons description and wild fame’; that she
In sixteenth century literature, women rarely were given substantial roles. Often women were depicted as having great folly or the source of the main character’s downfall. Even in the twenty-first century, many critics still believe that Shakespeare’s Desdemona in Othello has no other purpose than to be a puppet in Iago’s diabolical plan. However, to draw such a conclusion would be a mistake. Shakespeare used Desdemona to personify a Christ-like figure, a representation of good in the battle of good versus evil, and an independent warrior to prove that she is a round character in Othello.
During this time period, the men would work to support their family. Additionally, the woman would stay at home and care for her husband and children. This society thought of women as weaker than men. They were often treated as possessions of their husbands, “This concurs with Othello 's own insight when he describes murderous jealousy as innate in the husband-wife relationship which posits the wife as the exclusive possession of the husband and is thus at odds with the human condition wherein one can never know another person 's inmost thoughts and desires” (Vanita 342).The language Shakespeare uses in the play supports that men seemed freer than women. When Brabantio speaks of his daughter he describes her as obedient. Likewise, Desdemona obeyed Othello’s orders and stated she is indeed obedient to him. When Othello was convinced Desdemona was cheating on him he proceeded to murder
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
Desdemona is one of the few special characters. Desdemona is the daughter of Brabantio. She is a very defiant character when it comes to her fathers’ expectations and the society’s wishes on interracial marriage. Her father hopes that she marries a white man that he approves of, but she does not want that. Instead she chose to marry Othello, who is a black, older man. Despite public opinion, Desdemona does not let that stop her from marrying Othello. In the beginning of the play, Desdemona shows that she is all about excitement. She enjoys the adventurous stories that Othello shares with her about his past. When he is called to go on duty for the military, she tries her best to convince him to let her come along. She tried to go with him because she likes the action and she finds staying at home very boring. Desdemona also likes taking part in sexual activities with her husband. Another reason she wants to go with him when he goes on duty is because of her sexual attraction to him. She wants it so desperately that she asks Emilia is it okay for her to cheat. Desdemona also plays the role of a victim in the play. I say this because Othello abuses her in public ...
Within Shakespeare’s Othello there is an analysis into the context of the female. Brabantio’s rhyming couplet “Look to her, Moor, If thou hast eyes to see/ She has deceived her father, and may thee,” demonstrates his domineering and patronising attitude, as the Elizabethan era was a patriarchal society and the role of the female was to be ‘obedient’ to their father or husband. Brabantio also endeavours into placing a seed of doubt in Othello’s mind as a result of his jealousy. Consequentially Brabantio objectifies Desdemona when he states, “Where has thou stow’d my daughter?” exemplifying how he deems her as a possession, which can be stolen like any other. Othello prolongs this objectification through asserting that he “won his daughter” portraying Desdemona as a prize to be won, and a possession to be owned and argued over by husband and father. Desdemona is depicted early on in the play as the “angel” wi...
An analysis of women being victims in Othello: Othello is a play written by William Shakespeare in the 1600s, this essay is from a feminist perspective. The main ideas of Othello are jealousy and revenge. In this play there are only three women in the entire play. The three women are Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. Desdemona is the wife of Othello and the daughter of Brabantio; she is one of the main characters in the play. Emilia is the wife of Iago and Desdemona handmaiden. Bianca is a prostitute, Cassio visits her very often, and it is said that they have a relationship, but no one’s certain about it. All these women are used to help Iago get revenge.
In Othello men see women as objects to control, first by their father, and then by their husband. When Iago yells to Brabantio, telling him his daughter has gone off to marry Othello, he yells "Thieves, thieves! / Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags! / Thieves, thieves!" (Othello I.i.79-80). Othello has taken away Brabantio's property, his daughter, and is called a thief because of it. Desdemona refuses to be treated like property, however and makes "A gross revolt, / tying her duty, beauty, wit and fortunes" (Othello I.i.134-135) to Othello. Her marriage to Othello is not an act of a free woman, but a revolt by Brabantio's property. Desdemona is also incapable of independent feelings or thoughts. Othello must have "Enchanted her" (Othello I.ii.63), "In chains of magic" (Othello I.ii.65), because she could never make such a choice on her own. In Brabantio's mind, only he can know what is in Desdemona's best interest and then choose it for her. Brabantio tries to guard her, but Desdemona has "Run from her guardage" (Othello I.ii.70). In Othello the culture of the time treats women as objects to be guarded and watched over, too tender and gentle to fend for themselves in a dang...
Gender plays a considerable role between Othello and Desdemona. Bishop states, “He [Othello] is a dominating and powerful man. She [Desdemona] is a dutiful and passive wife” (¶2). Those characteristics come together as an understanding love for one another. Othello feels undeserving of his wife. She is a powerful aristocrat and his is a Moor. Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, disapproves of their marriage. Othello seems to apologize for his love to his daughter. In the time period of the play, a Moor had about the same amount of rights as a woman would have had. Shakespeare chose to write about an integrated marriage. The relationship between Desdemona and Othello is equal because of this. For once the man wasn 't the dominating figure. They married each other willingly without the approval of others.“My love doth so approved him that even his stubbornness, his cheeks, his frowns--have grace and favor in them” (4.3.18-21). Desdemona is blinded by love and remains loyal. The gender roles between Iago and Emilia are much different. They are mismatched. “Iago’s distrust and disdain towards women is apparent in how he treats his wife, calling her foolish and a wench” (Bishop ¶7). Emilia views men as scoundrels who treat their wives poorly. This may be the case for Iago and even her own father. She only knows cruel men, therefore she dislikes them all. Even though they have their
Masculinity and the male-dominated Venetian society play a major role in Othello's jealousy. During the sixteenth century, men typically ruled society, especially in Italy. Women were typically submissive. Desdemona and Emilia, the two main women in the play, are both benevolent figures. Desdemona must deal with Othello's jealousy and Emilia must deal with Iago and all of his hatred. The gender roles can be clearly noticed during the interactions between Desdemona and her father and between her and Othello. Desdemona is berated for going behind her father's back and marrying her love. She is scolded and branded as a whore by Othello despite doing anything wrong. This culture creates social tensions that "produce the masculine subject"
The play Othello, written by William Shakespeare, revolves around the actions of women. The three main women in the play are Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. Desdemona is portrayed as a perfect woman, because she is loyal to Othello, even when he believes she is cheating on him. Emilia is very protective over Desdemona, and Bianca is a prostitute who has fallen in love with Cassio, a lieutenant in Othello’s army. All the women in Othello are stereotyped. In the play, stereotypical traits of women are portrayed through the very different characters of Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca.
In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, he demonstrates the importance of being a male or female by indicating the different social status between men and women to reveal the effects of gender. Shakespeare illustrates the role of women during Elizabethan, and how they were ruled by man, their father and husband. At the beginning of the play, while Iago and Roderigo are trying to let Brabantio to notice that his daughter was stolen. The line “…Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags! Thieves, thieves!” revealed the uneven social status between male and female, and how women are seen as objects owned by men, by listing Desdemona, houses and bags together reflected the uneven position in the Elizabethan period - the female’s condition in society
During the Shakespearean time women were treated as inferiors. The three women in Othello, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca encountered many degrading and unfortunate situations. They were to be obedient. The women had to comply with the commands, orders, and the instructions of the men. Women were made to believe that they had no rights. The men would publicly humiliate the three women. It was difficult for the women to stand up for themselves due to that time in society. In Shakespeare’s play Othello, he portrayed the three women to be viewed as obedient, loyal, and submissive to their husbands.
Shakespeare's, “Othello” has been thoroughly studied and read. The majority of character analyses done over the play focus mainly on the two male figures, Othello and Iago. During the time of Shakespeare, females were often treated and viewed in society as second-rate to men. Desdemona, the bride of Othello, and Emilia, the wife of the villain Iago, are the two main female characters in Shakespeare’s Othello. Desdemona and Emilia, are over and over again ignored and regarded as inferior actors to the green-eyed, scheming antihero. Desdemona and Emilia are rejected by their partners, but love them wholly and selflessly. Both Desdemona and Emilia are in unstable
The play Othello is presented as a male-dominated society where women are only recognized as property; objects to own and to bear children. Women in the Elizabethan society and in Shakespeare society were not seen as equal to men and were expected to be loyal to their husbands, be respectful, and to not go against their husbands judgements or actions. Shakespeare presents Desdemona, Emilia , and Bianca as women in the Elizabethan time where they were judged based on their class, mortality, and intelligence. Shakespeare makes his female characters act the way they would be expected to act in an Elizabethan society. The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society.