Evaluation of “‘Proper’ Men and ‘Fallen’ Women: The Unprotectedness of the Wives in ‘Othello’”

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Recommended: Masculinity and domestic violence

Ruth Vanita is an English professor at Delhi University who wrote this essay, “‘Proper’ Men and ‘Fallen’ Women: The Unprotectedness of the Wives in ‘Othello’,” as part of her work on the representation of wife-murder in Renaissance drama. The article was published in 1994 in the journal, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Vanita’s thesis is that the deaths of Desdemona and Emilia were a reflection of societal acceptance of violent behavior against women and in particular within the husband-wife relationship during the Renaissance.

The article helped a great deal to enlighten me on the cultural and social norms during the time when Shakespeare wrote the play. Understanding the social environment of the Renaissance helps to improve our appreciation of the thoughts that Shakespeare must have had when he devised the plots and the reaction of his actors and the final outcome. Though the major focus of the play, which is a “domestic tragedy” (Vanita), involves love, intrigue, betrayal, and murder which make it interesting, the fact that it includes willful women who are treated abusively and ultimately killed by their husbands not only makes it popular, but very acceptable to the audience of that time.

Vanita makes two basic points. One is that Renaissance society saw women as subservient to men and they, married or not, are equally subject to violence by men. The other point is that husbands may subject their wives to brutality because the husband-wife relationship is governed by an ownership mentality.

Vanita’s contention that the deaths of Desdemona and Emilia are “made possible by the collusion of a number of others who act on the assumption that husband-wife relations are governed by different norms…” (Vanita) is w...

... middle of paper ...

...ulling together the rationale for the core plot of the play. It makes the justification for the murders of two innocent women, though not morally acceptable, at least understandable. Vanita’s arguments and explanations are clear and to the point and because the concept of violence against women and the treatment of husband-wife relationships with a “hands-off” attitude is so pervasive not just in society at that time, but even in our own helps us identify with her reasoning.

Works Cited
Vanita, Ruth. “‘Proper’ Men and ‘Fallen’ Women: The Unprotectedness of the Wives in

‘Othello.’” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900.34 (1994): 3411-3421

Othello. Dir. Olive Parker. Perf. Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh and Irène Jacob. 1995. DVD.Castle Rock Entertainment, 1995.

Shakespeare, William. Kenneth Muir, ed. Othello, Harmondsworth:Penguin Books, 1968

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