The Role of Women in Othello
At the beginning of Othello two men stand and discuss the fate of a woman. One contested for her and lost and the other willingly admits to her beauty, charm and worth. Both men wish to bring down the man who has won her, Desdemona, and slander her name nonetheless. This man, their rival and superior is none other than Othello. Othello has managed to obtain something they could not; Desdemona. Throughout the play Desdemona is rarely viewed as a human being, she is merely a prize, and from the very beginning Desdemona is an object of lust. Emilia and Bianca are also mistreated in this way.
The three women in the play; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca contrast in class. Desdemona is born from a high-class Venetian family, Emilia is from a servant class and Bianca is a prostitute or "whore", a word that Desdemona refuses to use. Despite this they are all abused by men and are objects of men's sexuality, and they all suffer under the cruel hands of those whom they love. Each one is shown in relation to a particular man, (Othello, Iago and Cassio) and is contrasted with the other women, which reveal how the stereotypical version of womanhood impacts their lives, (in Desdemona and Emilia's case, their deaths). The three women's eventual destinies are interlinked with the plays central symbol: the handkerchief.
Women are major characters in Shakespeare's plays. In "Othello" women are ...
... middle of paper ...
...e: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.
Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.
Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 68-90)
Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.
Wayne, Valerie. “Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.” The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.