Empowerment In Othello

In Shakespeare's Othello, men don’t view women as equals. Men, like Iago make degrading comments to women face to face comparing them to prostitutes, and say the only thing they are good for is raising children. Iago also has a master plan to ruin Othello’s marriage, and he thinks it will be easy because women are viewed as lose and they sleep around. When women try to speak their mind to stand up for themselves, the men won’t listen. The play Othello displays the theme of fear of female empowerment through Shakespeare’s use of the characterization of Iago and the symbolism of the red strawberries. Iago is one of the main characters in Othello, and Shakespeare uses his characterization to show us what men thought about women in this time period. He shares his opinion first at the beginning of Act II when

It was passed down in his family and it was the last thing his mother gave him before she died. “She dying gave it me/And bid me, when by fate would have me wived,/To give it her. (III.iiii.55-57) And Othello tells how important it is to him because it symbolizes them consummating their marriage. “And it was dyed in mummy which the skillful/Conserved of maidens’ hearts.” (III.iiii.65-66) This detail about the strawberries gives readers the impression that in this time period married women were seen as impure. This example shows how when a couple consummates their marriage, the man is still considered no different than before, but the woman isi now considered impure.

In the play Othello Shakespeare shows us the fear of female empowerment through the way Iago sees and talks about women, and how the strawberries on the handkerchief symbolizes women being impure. I chose this topic because sexism still happens today and I think it is very important to teach people that comments and actions, like the ones in this play are not acceptable and they never should’ve