Othello Gender Roles Essay

In the play ‘Othello’ written by William Shakespeare, we see not only the main male character leads. But we also see the female characters, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. These three women were portrayed in ways that showed them being inferior to the other male roles as well as society during the Elizabethan Era. But Shakespeare made each of these individual ladies characteristics quite unique to one another having the traits of a feminist. Even though in the play we read how the male characters did somewhat control them and made them look weak compared to them, there were moments where Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca stood up for themselves.

Stereotypes are commonly held generalized beliefs that most or all individuals sharing a given trait also should or do share other attributes assumed to be associated with aspects such as race, religion, and physical attribute. While stereotypes can erroneously shape people’s views of others, they can also influence the stereotyped individuals’ behavior as people often attempt to conform to these flawed images, especially in regards to gender stereotypes. Shakespeare’s great play Othello uses its main characters to embody the characteristics of the stereotypical females and males according to society’s liking. The stereotypical woman is loyal and faithful to her husband, while the male stereotype possesses strength, control, and dominance.

Othello is set during the Elizabethan era, where men were considered to be the leaders and women their inferiors. Women were often regarded as the ‘weaker sex’. This patriarchal society and theme of male superiority is portrayed throughout the play. These themes are depicted through the relationships between the characters. Brabantio and Desdemona’s relationship shows how he believed the traditional Elizabethan view, that men were to control and dominate their wife’s or daughters. He is furious at Othello for stealing his daughter from him. Also, Othello’s masculinity is destroyed through the poisoning of his mind against Desdemona, his wife. Iago also treats his wife

    In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello, the wife of the protagonist, Desdemona, is the main female character. Secondly, there is the ancient’s wife, Emilia, who is morally ambivalent. Thirdly, there is the girlfriend of Michael Cassio, Bianca, who makes her appearance later in the drama. This essay will analyze the roles of these three women.

    A variety of roles have women in them in William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello. Let us in this essay examine the female characters and their roles.

Othello, by William Shakespeare is well known for its richness in literary content and elements pertinent to societal ideas. Moreover, women are portrayed in Othello in ways that confirm, but also contradict their treatment in Shakespeare’s time. Both female action and language represent these ideas such as expectations for a wife and expectations for how a woman is to act. That said, there are many other lines spoken by these characters that defy the expectations placed on women at time. Overall, the feminist critical lens allows a reader to understand Othello and the manner in which it is slightly sexist and controversial. This lens allows the reader to observe both discrepancies of how women are treated, and common characteristics found

   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.

    Othello represents a prime example of Shakespeare's ability to develop relationships between the sexes so as to demonstrate those relationships' weaknesses. In Othello, the sexes are divided by misconceptions and ego- centric views of the opposite gender. The men of the play, in particular Othello, maintain a patriarchal, chivalric notion of the sexes, while the women of the play yearn for more involvement in their husbands' affairs. So it is that the thrust of the play emerges from "the opposition of attitudes, viewpoints, and sexes." (Neely 214)

   Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello features sexism as regular fare – initially from Brabantio and Iago, and finally from Othello. Let us in this essay explore the occurrences and severity of sexism in the drama.

Women in the sixteenth century were commonly dominated by a patriarchal society. Meaning their loyalty and respect lay amongst the men in their lives with little choice for opposition. In Othello by William Shakespeare, he portrays the role of women in a way typical to their representation in Elizabethan and Venetian society. While the women may be presented as mentally stronger than their male counterparts, the language given to these female characters suggest that they have internalized society 's expectation of them. Apart from moments of private conversation and Emilia 's reaction to Desdemona 's death, the women behave in a submission that is expected of them, believing it to be the natural way, as the men continue to downgrade and treat them as secondary citizens. Shakespeare represents this status of women through the traditional views of the male characters, moments of submission from the females, and how the women internalize this society.

In the play, Othello, there are many different representations of characters and archetypes. The women of the play are seen as symbolic representations of how the men in Shakespeare’s generation saw women. The women of the play are all individual characters with different personalities. They are seen as objects but stray from the average mold. Shakespeare converts these women into the play with roles that represent the strong stereotypes of women and how they are not what the rumors portray them as.

In creating our collage, we wanted to convey one of the central themes in Othello, and that is one of female inferiority. While we don’t know if Shakespeare was either mocking or reflecting the society he was living in, the theme is presented as one that was important to the lives of Othello and his men. We touched on many different aspects of how women were projected in the book, as well as throughout different time periods in our physical representation of the theme. With the use of color, words, and images we collectively explicated how both of us interpreted the book and how the class interpreted our theme, as discussed in class. Our collage had many graphic including one of a sculpture of a man and woman both naked and intertwined, cut-outs from various magazines dealing with topics ranging from women's’ menstrual cycles and sanitary products, to

The women in Othello are synonymous with Venetian societal standards. Only three women are characters in Othello: Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca but the roles these women play give the reader an idea of how women were portrayed, not only in Shakespeare's Othello but in society in general.

Typical of how women were treated was shown by Desdemona in Othello. Although people were shocked when she was slapped in the face by her husband, there was no legal action taken. She acted as Othello’s slave and was subservient to his wishes. If women were seen outside in public they were required to be in the company of an attendant or friend, while the men were free to roam as they pleased. In contrast, the male characters in the plays held important jobs like merchants and generals while women were typically housewives or servants. With the exception of Lady Macbeth, women were rarely seen playing the roles of villains in Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare reserved this role almost exclusively to males. We also never see women in careers, just in roles of serving or pleasing men. Portia in The Merchant of Venice had to dress up as a man to represent Bassanio as his attorney in court. The idea of a woman lawyer defending a man in court would have been laughable in Elizabethan times. Shakespeare may have tried to show his disagreement with this practice by creating the character of a woman who breaks the

In the play by Shakespare, Othello, there are two noticeable women who were featured in the play. One of them was the wife of the tragic-hero in the play (Othello), while the other one was the wife of the greatest villain of all time (Lago). The comparison of women in a Shakespeare text cannot be done without understanding the situation of women in Shakespeare’s time, and the cultural and social context in which he wrote women, especially nobles. In England, women were naturally subservient to men, as was customary and traditional. Despite being ruled by a woman, Elizabeth I, society did not take to the idea of women in careers, especially if they were married; it went against the natural order of the world, when men had dominion over their wives.