More handpicked essays just for you.
Changes during the Renaissance
William shakespeare othello summary theme plot and settings
Changes brought by the renaissance
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Throughout history the way women’s roles are viewed have on growingly changed. There are many types of women that exist within this world and beyond that, literature. Often women were expected to be chaste, passive, supportive, confined but never dominant. Many think that it is a women’s natural habitat to be less of value to men due to the fact that they don’t exhibit domination physically neither mentally. Back in the early ages when social class was strongly enforced women were submissive and treated as possession. Marriage is thought to be act of love, to be with someone until death does them apart simply because they believed in pure love but back then marriage was an exhibition of a purchase. Women married men because they loved them but men did not. Their intention was to also marry a woman as a favor to them, to obey men as they pleased in return a thought of privilege. In the play Othello, Shakespeare portrays women as inferior to all men.
In the playwright Othello society places men in positions both political and military dominant as a thought that women were definitely inferior to men. First and for most both Desdemona and Emilia encounter being treated and seen as submissive. On one hand Desdemona is new to the whole marriage idea. She loves Othello unconditionally and Othello the same . . . as so it seemed to be in the beginning of their “love” story. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, Othello was asked to go to war and Desdemona followed being away from her homeland Venice for the first time. With this in hand Desdemona had to learn how to be a submissive and evidently obedient wife very quickly. She became submissive. Desdemona herself states “I am obedient” (III. 3.89) at the happy beginning of their mar...
... middle of paper ...
...edient to him. Shakespeare portrays women inferior to all men.
In conclusion, throughout Othello Shakespeare proves women to be unequal to men. Women were to be submissive and treated as possessions instead of having an equal value of life. Othellos works as an example to prove the way of life of Elizabethan patriarchal society, the suppression and limitations of women. Women were expected to be silent, chaste, confined simply because it was their nature. Another thing woman can be powerful. Emilia states how women are no different to men regarding the physical matter. “let husbands know. Their wives have sense like them, hey see and smell, and her palates both for sweet and sour as husbands have” (IV.3.92-5). Emilia does imply that men are mentally weaker than women. It is “frailty that thus errs”(IV.3.98) Lastly Shakespeare portrays women as less inferior to men.
In the novel Othello, written by William Shakespeare, there are a variety of ways in which women are portrayed. There are strong willed women such as Emilia, who stands up to the men, especially to her husband. If he is wrong she would openly admit that he is incorrect. There are also women who are thought to be a possession as well as extremely submissive to their husbands such as Desdemona. She is the type of woman that will obey her husband to the day she dies. Desdemona believes that her husband is always right and he will never do anything that will lead her into the wrong direction. Many of the women in this time thought the same way. They are viewed as house workers, cooks, and teachers to the children. In addition to those qualities women obtain, having no authority in marriages is also added to the list. In this novel, there is judgment against women because they are “unequal” to men. They are not allowed to do the same as men for the reason that they do not possess the same qualities as men. Men were considered to be superior to women. Women were treated as their “slaves.” In contrast, today’s time women now have power. They have the right to vote, run for office, and even work outside their homes. Women now play the part as the male and female figure in the households. They are considered independent women, not relying on a male figure. Even if they are married now, they do not listen to everything that their husbands tell them to do. It states in the Bible that a male figure is the head of the households; however women today have strayed away from that view that they had back then. They want to be the dominate figure. Times have really changed from the past to the present. W...
The Shakespearean drama Othello renders less to the female gender than it does to the male gender. All the women characters are victims – unjustly so. Let’s talk about the obvious sexism throughout the play.
During this time period, the men would work to support their family. Additionally, the woman would stay at home and care for her husband and children. This society thought of women as weaker than men. They were often treated as possessions of their husbands, “This concurs with Othello 's own insight when he describes murderous jealousy as innate in the husband-wife relationship which posits the wife as the exclusive possession of the husband and is thus at odds with the human condition wherein one can never know another person 's inmost thoughts and desires” (Vanita 342).The language Shakespeare uses in the play supports that men seemed freer than women. When Brabantio speaks of his daughter he describes her as obedient. Likewise, Desdemona obeyed Othello’s orders and stated she is indeed obedient to him. When Othello was convinced Desdemona was cheating on him he proceeded to murder
In Shakespeare’s “Othello”, the role of women is deeply emphasized; the significant characters of the play Othello, Iago, and Casio, each have a lady that stands behind him. These women each have commitment to remain faithful and respect their husband's needs, especially Desdemona and Emilia.
In Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice, there are several strong, predominate female characters. Emilia, Desdemona, and Bianca have to defend themselves from the vicious men in the play. However, despite being victimized by the domineering men, their individual strengths set them apart from their abusers.
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello is an unfortunate example of gender bias, of sexism which takes advantage of women. The three women characters in the drama are all, in their own ways, victims of men’s skewed attitudes regarding women. Let us delve into this topic in this essay.
Throughout the length of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello there is a steady undercurrent of sexism. It is originating from not one, but rather various male characters in the play, who manifest prejudicial, discriminatory attitudes toward women.
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the male characters perceive women as adulterous and property, treating them as inferior that need to be submissive and obey. Iago creates a false perception of his wife thinking she is promiscuous. Also, Othello sees his wife as promiscuous, an impression created by his jealousy and one he has convinced himself of it. Furthermore, Iago and Othello perceive their wives as inferior, and by his words, the reader can see that they are both their wife and subordinate. At last, the male characters refer to Desdemona’s marriage as a “steal” and “purchase” of property, then, Iago and Othello end their wives’ lives because they see them as possessions of no good.
...ps their characters to function with adjusted roles in culture. In his novel Othello, William Shakespeare reveals Desdemona and Emilia’s courage through situations involving conflict to portray the ability for women to stand up for themselves as he exhibits his idea of feminism through their actions. The courageous attitudes of these women and their passionate voice grew stronger throughout the play as they eventually died staying true to their beliefs. This transformation parallels the rights of women over history, as the female population progressed very slowly towards a more equal position in society. With Shakespeare being an advocate for women’s unheard voices during the Elizabethan period of time, he is able to use Desdemona and Emilia’s characteristics to contrast what the world was like during that era, and how he viewed and wished the world would function.
Othello is a play that only contains three female characters. Their roles vary and it would be an exaggeration to categorize them all as victims. However, there are similarities between the three women. [1]
...of Elizabethan England and put women in their place. Men view women as possessions, who are to remain obedient and submissive all the time. The only power over men women have is their sexuality, which is seen as evil and is to be resisted my men. Men are free to call women whores and accuse them of lewd acts with no substantial evidence. However there is a suggestion that women are starting to question the male authority society has set, this is evident when Desdemona is conversing with Emilia: 'Nay, we must think men are not gods" (III.4.144). This suggests that Desdemona had viewed men as god like in the past, but perhaps her experiences with Othello have changed her mind. The language and actions of the three women in Othello, while they seem to follow the expectations and standards of society, also seems to take a big step towards a more egalitarian society.
In Othello, the lead female character, Desdemona, starts off with a strong desire for independence. The marriage of Desdemona to Othello “is contracted despite the wishes of her father” (Gruber 100). By not informing her father of her recent marriage, Desdemona renounces traditional practices. It was very contradictory that she shunned “the institution of the fixed marriage” (Calderwood 353). Even beyond that, she marries outside her race which took the whole thing one step further. Her father feels very displeased and believes such a ...
During the Shakespearean time women were treated as inferiors. The three women in Othello, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca encountered many degrading and unfortunate situations. They were to be obedient. The women had to comply with the commands, orders, and the instructions of the men. Women were made to believe that they had no rights. The men would publicly humiliate the three women. It was difficult for the women to stand up for themselves due to that time in society. In Shakespeare’s play Othello, he portrayed the three women to be viewed as obedient, loyal, and submissive to their husbands.
The play Othello is presented as a male-dominated society where women are only recognized as property; objects to own and to bear children. Women in the Elizabethan society and in Shakespeare society were not seen as equal to men and were expected to be loyal to their husbands, be respectful, and to not go against their husbands judgements or actions. Shakespeare presents Desdemona, Emilia , and Bianca as women in the Elizabethan time where they were judged based on their class, mortality, and intelligence. Shakespeare makes his female characters act the way they would be expected to act in an Elizabethan society. The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society.