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Negative female stereotypes in media
Negative female stereotypes in media
Gender roles and gender stereotypes
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Due to these insecurities, the men commit actions that make the female characters the victims. Miriam is in love with Paul and committed to him, despite this, she ends up heartbroken. “He felt, in leaving her, he was defrauding her of life. But he knew that, in staying, stifling the inner, desperate man, he was denying his own life. And he did not hope to give life to her by denying his own.” (Lawrence, 136). Paul has to decide between his happiness and Miriam’s. In the end, Paul chooses to ruin her life rather than his own. This decision is driven by his need to feel masculine as he thinks that Miriam is depriving him of this. Feeling emasculated is his insecurity and because Paul feels insecure he thinks that hurting Miriam is justified. …show more content…
He believes that by killing Desdemona he is saving other men from being emasculated. In this way, he believes that what he is doing is right. Just as Paul felt justified in breaking Miriam’s heart, Othello feels justified in killing Desdemona and they both feel this way due to their own insecurities about masculinity. Paul feared he would be less of a man due to Miriam’s control and Othello believes that he is less of a man because his wife allegedly has an affair. In this way, both Miriam and Desdemona fall victim to their male counterpart’s insecurities. However, in Othello Desdemona is not the only victim in the hands of an insecure man because Emilia also falls victim to the same cause. “ 'Twill out, ’twill out.—I peace? No, I will speak as liberal as the north. Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, All, all cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak.” (V.ii.231-234). Emilia speaks out against Iago and attempts to expose his wrongdoings. “Ay, ay. Oh, lay me by my mistress ' side” (V.ii.251). Iago ends up stabbing and killing Emilia when she starts speaking about what he’s done. This is Iago’s attempt at not having all his crimes exposed. Emilia knows what sort of man Iago is and just how guilty he truly is. Therefore, Emilia falls victim to the crimes Iago has committed in the past as he kills her in an attempt to hide them all just as Mrs. Morel falls victim to what Mr. Morel had done in the past as it haunts her. Iago is unable to confront his guilt about hurting Othello and Mr. Morel is unable to confront his guilt about being an alcoholic. Thus, Miriam gets heartbroken and Desdemona killed because of Paul’s and Othello’s fear of being emasculated. Mrs. Morel suffers and wishes for death and Emilia dies because of Mr. Morel’s and Iago’s guilt and their inability to confront that insecurity. Hence the female character’s demise is at the hands of the male character’s
While Othello murdered his wife Desdemona, he did it purely from misunderstanding and jealousy. Iago made Othello believe Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio even though she never did such actions. Iago’s persistence and villainous intentions made Othello become jealous of Cassio and break down his emotions towards Desdemona and want to kill her with fierce rage. Othello would not do such a crime if he have known it is was a
Iago wanted Othello’s position and used others to shame Othello and gain stature. Iago dressed himself up a trustworthy man and worked his way into Othello’s trust with tricks and lies. He wore a very convincing mask; often temporarily defending the person he was trying to ruin to further his honest visage. He says to Othello, “Men should be what they seem…” (3.3.127) through these methods, Iago convinces Othello that Cassio, an officer, was having an affair with Othello’s beautiful wife Desdemona. As a vicious result, Othello is driven mad with anger and sadness and throttles Desdemona in their bed. The death and want left by Iago’s deception is vast hurting everyone involved most frequently on a mortal level. When the truth finally comes out, Othello, in his grief and remorse, ends up stabbing himself with a dagger. In the end, many die due to Iago’s deception, through villainy or despair, and none gain what they truly want because of it. This just goes to show that the mask of deception that a man wears can cause an unbelievable amount of harm, bodily and worse,
In a passage from William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago dramatizes a subsequent conflict between Othello and Desdemona when he warns the former of a green-eyed monster, the manifestation of jealousy. As the play progresses, Othello becomes more like this beast that Iago told him about. Instead of being the honorable and respectable character he was, Othello now displays a more questionable personality, one that causes him to doubt his wife of infidelity. Even though Iago does play a role, it is mostly due to Othello’s insecurity that transforms him into a monstrous person.
“Insecurity kills all that is beautiful” in Shakespeare’s Othellothe tragedy clearly testifies to this theme as it tells the story of marriage of beauty and passion that turns to ashes all due to insecurity. More specifically, the story of Othello, a successful Black Mauritanian general of the Venetian army, tells of an interracial marriage to a White upper middle class Venetian wife, Desdemona, who is determined to make their love eternal. However, due to Othello’s decision to appoint Michael Cassio over his trusted ensign Iago, Iago tells Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with the newly appointed white lieutenant, Cassio. In response, Othello kills Desdemona by smothering her with a pillow. Once finding out that Iago made the whole story up, Othello kills himself out of guilt and honor. Many may wonder what was the cause of Othello’s core problems that commenced his demise to kill his love and then take his own life. Jealousy, such as a man losing a lover to another man, can originate from deep insecurities about maintaining honor and a sense of manhood. For example, Othello’s conflict
Othello is a Moor, and outsider who earns acceptance by being a brave soldier. He also is a great commander and this leads to his nobility. There are many underlying themes in “Othello” such as envy and betrayal; all of which can be attributed to pride. Othello loves Desdemona very deeply, but he soon lets his pride get in the way and causes him to lose all self-control and reason. Once the seed of doubt is planted by Iago that Desdemona might be involved with Cassio his world begins to fall apart. Othello is too prideful to see that Iago is deceiving him. As Iago is pushing the doubt and fear into Othello in Act 3 he says this: "My name, that was as fresh / As Dian 's visage, is now begrimed and black (1059 384-385).” This gives us thought that perhaps his biggest fear is not whether Desdemona loves him, but that his pride is more concerned with what other men think of him, concern that his name will be tarnished. Othello has had to work very hard as an outsider to be respected and honored and he can’t bear to lose the good name he has earned. When Othello goes to Desdemona and confronts her she denies ever being unfaithful, but Othello is too prideful to listen to the women he loves and hear her side of the story. His mind is made up before he even gives her a chance as we see in Act 5, scene 2: “Therefore confess thee feely of they sin/For to deny each article with oath/Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception/That I do groan withal. Thou art to die.” (1088). So, Othello proceeds with killing his loving wife who defended herself until her last breath. Othello then finally learns the truth about Desdemona’s innocence. He accepts full responsibility for the crime, but the cost is too high. He then takes his own life. Pride is
Shakespearian tales always leave us with a plethora to ponder about the Elizabethan age and Shakespeare himself. “Othello” is no break in this mold, leaving us to ponder the roll of Iago within the harsh tale of love and murder. Iago is the one to tell Othello of his wife’s betrayal with Cassio, hence making up a story that will work to his favor yet betray those around him. Iago betrays his wife, Emilia, but not only her as he drags Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio into the mix of lies and the hatred he is spreading to improve his rank with Othello. But were Iago’s acts unjust and done for the sake of it? Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged.
...ce and comes to a more complete self-knowledge before death. He realizes that she was blameless, but has difficulty dismissing the idea that she was unfaithful until Emilia discloses Iago's wicked scheme. He justifies that he kills her out of "duty" and not out of revenge. In his words, he kills her "else she'll betray more men." 3 In the end Othello destroys his reputation, his happiness, himself and what he loves best, his wife.
Her confession then confirms that Desdemona was faithful and did not deserve to die and as a result she shows one that love can be foolish and naïve. Her love and loyalty to Iago causes her to deceive her friend and this ends with both women being killed because the love they possessed for too foolish men. Othello is responsible for murdering Desdemona; Iago is
Implicitly targeting Othello’s doubts about marrying Desdemona and insecurities about her actions with infidelity, Iago eventually impacts Othello enough that the General himself confides in Iago about his own wife. Earlier in the play, ‘honest Iago’ needs to first gain Othello’s confidence and he does so by expressing his loyalty to Cassio, “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth/ Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio”, while Othello is present in a conflict (2.3. 203-204). Then, later in the play Iago baits Othello by suggesting that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Immediately, Othello wants more information; however, Iago nervously responds with, “…vicious in my guess-/ As I confess…” and tries to calm Othello by saying, “My noble lord-” (3.3 46-47, 93). When voicing his devotion to Cassio, Iago immediately begins to play on his false reputation as ‘honest Iago’. He enables Othello, and his fellow characters, to think highly of him and to respect that even when his partner, Cassio, has not been following orders, Iago would even endure physical pain and have his “tongue cut from [his] mouth” and proves his locality (2.3. 203). This leads to when Iago responds to Othello’s queries, about
In order to get what he wants, Iago will do anything. This includes insulting Desdemona, an innocent young woman who does not intend to harm anyone. Her sorrow at her divided loyalties shows this. Like her husband, Desdemona deals with situations carefully. Othello is the opposite of Iago in that he does not pride himself on killing people.
...other man; let alone with Cassio who is Othello's lieutenant. Iago's anger towards Othello leads him to play with the Moor's emotions and manipulates what he sees by using language as his weapon. Iago also uses Othello's trust in his ensign to further put his revenge into reality. He uses trustful language to make Othello have faith in him, also Iago talks about things he does not care about, but knows that Othello finds them important. When Othello “sees” that Iago has hurt Cassio, he feels the urge to get his own revenge on Desdemona by killing her. By this point, Iago has convinced Othello that his wife is guilty of infidelity and he no longer needs that ocular proof he has been seeking throughout the play. All because of Iago's sighting of Desdemona's handkerchief, Othello begins to doubt his marriage and in turn puts more faith in his “friend” than in his wife.
...her murdered mistress, resuscitates morality in this play. Emilia refutes the untrue notions which Othello says motivated him to kill; she counters Iago’s lies (“She give it Cassio? No, alas, I found it, / And I did give’t my husband.”) and lays the guilt for Desdemona’s murder on his shoulders. And she sacrifices her very life for the truth; she dies a martyr, stabbed by evil Iago. Othello also is a martyr in a sense, paying in full for the crime that he committed.
Iago controls Emilia and treats her as less when she does not act as a submissive wife. Therefore, Emilia follows to keep Iago satisfy. Further, Iago tells Emilia to steal the handkerchief; which she follows without knowing his intentions, to then be insulted by Iago calling her a “foolish wife” (3.3.313), and demanding her, “Go, leave me” (3.3.330). Apparently, Iago makes Emilia lesser, and she accepts her role as a submissive wife. Moreover, although Othello proclaims loving Desdemona, he perceives her as inferior as a result of jealousy. As in Act 5, Scene 2 where Othello says to Desdemona, “Down, strumpet!” (89), suggesting that he puts her in an inferior position to kill her reflecting his true perception of Desdemona. And likewise Emilia, Desdemona accepts the role of an obedient wife by using her last breath to take the fault off Othello
Othello’s own problems lead him to murder Desdemona. He has insecurity issues with himself. In the beginning of the play, Othello is confident. Iago speaks of Othello in a lowly manner oftentimes. He even calls him an “old black ram” and describes him as “tupping your white ewe” (1.1.9) when he wakens Brabantio with news of Desdemona’s marriage to Othello. Othello starts to degrade himself by saying “rude am I in speech” (1.3.96). This loss of confidence puts a dent in his relationship with Desdemona, laying the pavement for her later death. He is gullible for allowing Iago’s remarks to affect him. Therefore, Othello’s own personal conflicts lead to Desdemona’s demise.
"I follow him to serve my turn upon him," said Iago (9:45). From the beginning of the story Iago has a cruel intent bent on destroying Othello merely because the job that he sought after was given to young Cassio. Exactly why his hatred burns so bright is unclear because it was not uncommon to lose a position to another soldier. With or without reasonable justification for revenge, Iago immediately starts to tear Othello apart by informing Brabantio (Desdemon's father, Othello;s wife) that she is out with a black ram and committing unjust acts. As time progresses Iago becomes more wrapped up in his lies that he even begins to believe that Othello has slept with his own wife, Emelia, and now he has even more reason to hate "the Moor", "I hate the Moor and it is thought abroad that `twixt my sheets `has done my office"( 55:429-431). Iago is so obsessed with his revenge on Othello that he does not care what happens to anyone else so long as he is happy. In the process of hurting Othello he manages to have Roderigo killed, Cassio severely injured, his own wife Emelia is slain by his own hands, Desdemona dies at the hands of her husband Othello, and after everything Othello kills himself. Sadly Iago accomplishes his revenge but with so many casualties and then he himself is tortured and killed for his part in the great conspiracy, but before he is punished he has to see that Cassio will be the one to take Othello's place (a strange irony since it was Cassio that Iago was jealous of).