Women In Othello Essay

The Women of Othello
All through history, the role of women and their place in the general public has tremendously changed. William Shakespeare’s Othello was established during a time period where the role of women and their collective value were downgraded in the Venetian and Elizabethan era. During the Venetian era women were dominated by their sexual orientation. The Venetian era had a patriarchal society. In a patriarchal society, the father is the head of the household and men have authority over women and children. During the Elizabethan era the conduct toward women was vicious. Women were considered second class citizens. Males only consider women as possession, who is obligated to remain submissive and meek. Additionally, women are expected to be quiet, obedient to male figures, and chaste. Women were either considered a good wife or a whore. There are only three women in Othello; Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. Desdemona is the passive wife of Othello who has a quite idealistic take on life and marriage. Emilia is the cynical, perceptive women who seem to have a bitter take on her marriage to Iago. Bianca is portrayed as the whore of the play, and she has relations with Cassio. Although, each woman varies in roles and personality, they all had a common trait; they lived in a patriarchal society and suffered together. Each of them live in a society where it was ideal to think women were psychologically and physiologically inferior to men, however in reality each of them knew their role in society.
At first Emilia's character is the ideal submissive wife. Iago treats Emilia rather badly during the first scenes of the play. He refers to her as a nagging housewife and Emilia is submissively unresponsive to his harsh allegation...

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...rentine, a fellow almost damned in a fair wife" (Shakespeare I.i, 21-22). This could be the reason why Bianca is portrayed as a whore, and why she and Cassio are in an uncommitted relationship. Women were not allowed to be educated; especially those of the lower class, and therefore Bianca probably did not receive an education and obviously did not marry. Bianca knows her role in society and was regrettable succumb to a life of prostitution. During the Renaissance if women did not wed and depend on a husband for support, they were left to defend for themselves and that typically only left them with the alternative of prostitution. Even though she is called a whore and prostitute, she is also considered a woman with a goal. Bianca is simply looking for love and affection, but is independent to be with whoever she pleases because she is not really devoted to anyone.