The Deception Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello

Great deceptions, elaborate schemes, and complex lies can create some the most engaging, maddening, and brilliant plots and Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello comes riddled with all three. Deception plays a key role, driving the entire play forwards, but as with any written text meant for viewing that contains significant amounts of deceit, the true mindsets and views of the deceiving become lost, hidden behind their spoken lies and the deceived lose their autonomy, becoming obscured in other’s plots. Without a way of seeing into the true beliefs of a character, no analysis can be completed, as no evidence hints at their genuine feelings. Shakespeare solves this issue by creating counterparts to reveal the minds of those who put forth a false shell

Even from the inaugural conflict, Brabantio and Othello battling claims to Desdemona, women do not belong to themselves, with Othello claiming “that I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter,” (1.3.93) as though she were an object and Brabantio stating how impossible it would be for Desdemona to have made the decision unaided, citing instead “-Some mixtures of powerful o’er the blood / Or with some dram conjured to this effect” (1.3.122-123) removing the idea of any sort of autonomy. At all times women face the expectation of total obedience to their husbands and fathers, the only clear act of defiance coming in the most extreme circumstance and even then with a disclaimer, Emilia begging, “Let me have leave to speak. ‘Tis proper I obey him, but not now.” (5.2.233) This at a time when her mistress and friend lays strangled in her bed and she is caught in a room with the murderer, an angry mass, and her threatening, moraless husband. The idea of women as objects imbeds itself so deeply that even before the most drastic of actions, murder, women are thought of first as bodies and secondly as people, with Othello thinking first to not “Scar that whiter skin of hers that snow,” (5.2.4) and

While neither deceives the other in any significant fashion, both fall victim to self deception. Othello, from the beginning, fears his wife, her upper class breeding and pity for his stories, not trusting that someone like her would fall for someone like him, so with a gentle push from Iago, his worst fears are confirmed. Sometimes it is easier to believe the worst, because the doubt becomes even more painful. Certainty brings relief, so Othello is quick to buy into Iago’s shaky evidence, deceiving himself to avoid the painful purgatory of doubt. Desdemona lies to herself as well, thinking she can fix the situation and learn a quality she already possesses, chastity, saying “Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend” (4.3.117). In addition, Desdemona offers a foreshadowing of Othello’s actions. Before he has fully confirmed his plans to kill her, she condemns herself, singing the haunting Willow Song (4.3.42-62) and making several broad statements about her commitment and purity. Somehow, she is aware of her impending doom and in the following scenes, her end comes, exactly as her song predicts. Both her and Othello live and die by Othello’s urges and fears, slaves to a force they do not hold sovereignty over. Desdemona mirrors Othello’s moods, going from confidence and love, to obsession, to