Treatment Of Women In Othello

1665 Words4 Pages

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.
The three women handled their situations differently. Some handled it stronger than others. It shows each women 's personality while dealing with their
Throw your vile guesses in the devil’s teeth, from whence you have them. You are jealous now that this is from some mistress, some remembrance: no, in good troth, Bianca.”(Shakespeare 3.4.184-187). The men would speak to the women in very demanding tones. Bianca was the prostitute that loved Cassio. She was used by both Iago and Cassio in different ways. Iago for his plan and Cassio for his own pleasure. Cassio was especially rude to Bianca since we would never marry her, but would like to sleep with her. Bianca, in a way was seen as unimportant and was only used when convenient. She had a true love for Cassio, but he gave her nothing in return. He was ashamed of being around her in
You’re able to see each women 's own personality and compare it with the other ones. Some women stayed the same while others evolved into new people. Bianca pretty much stayed the same and was mostly just used to make matters worse, but once she was not needed they could care less of what happened to her . Emilia changed the most because she had the most courage in the end. For example, Emilia ended up finally confronting Iago on his horrific plan and telling Othello in the process. Which basically ruined Iago’s entire plan. Sadly, the confrontation ended with her being killed by Iago for ruining his plan. Desdemona changed in a negative way. She let her husband overpower her more and more during the play. She was a very passive character and just went with everything he said because she believed that he was always right. She didn 't have the will power to stand up for herself which ended with a Othello suffocating her to death. Even after he tried to kill her she still was obedient towards

Open Document