Shakespeare 's Othello And The Winter 's Tale A Comparison

In the beginning of the play, Othello and Desdemona have a strong relationship. When others interfere with their marriage, Othello

The society in which Othello takes place is a patriarchal one, where men had complete control over women. They were seen as possessions rather than being just as equally human and capable of duties performed by men. All women of the Elizabethan were to obey all men, fathers, brothers, husbands, etc. Which leads me to the most reliable and trustworthy character of Desdemona, whom goes through many trials just to satisfy her love. Shakespeare brings the thought of Desdemona into the play by Barbantio, her father, “It is too true an evil. Gone she is.\...Oh, she deceives me\ Past thought! …” (1.1.163)(1.1.168-169), whom has just found she has taken off with Othello and firstly suspects they have been hitched. Shakespeare gives reader the

The basis of Shakespeare’s plays appears to focus mainly around the dominant male character and his conflicts, which tend to deal with a woman. There are only three women in the play Othello; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. The way in which these women behave and present themselves strongly reflects the ideological expectations of women within Shakespeare’s imagined Venetian society as well as the Elizabethan society in which he lived. This patriarchal Venetian society presented in the play depicts women as possessions of men who should remain submissive and meek at all times. The women are expected to unselfishly and unreservedly devote their lives to serve their fathers until they are of age to do so, their husbands. All three women love

The relationship between Desdemona and Othello in the play ‘Othello’ is used to express and observe the way that humans are selfish by nature. Although both Desdemona and Othello do sincerely love each other, both of them find great personal gain in their marriage, which clearly contributes to their feelings for one another. Othello, who is a black leader in an overwhelmingly white, Christian society, has come from a troubled and difficult background, being “sold to slavery” and working in the military all his life. In finding a good Christian wife in Desdemona, he finds someone to always support him in hard times, as evidenced in his summary of their romance, “she loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them”. This quote suggests that their love is more self-serving than he lets on; Desdemona loves Othello for the adventures he has been on and the stories he tells, and Othello loves Desdemona because she listens and devotes herself to what he has to say. When Desdemona gets a chance to explain their relationship herself, she is particularly proud of the fact that she “did love the Moor to live with him; my downright violence and storms of fortunes may trumpet to the world”. We note that she mentions her ‘violence’, the way she deliberately disobeyed her father and fled his company to secretly marry a man who is not one of her father’s approved suitors. This furthers the idea that Desdemona seems to be in love with Othello because of the adventures he has been on, and the excitement and liberty of her being with such a man; she is seeking her own freedom in a misogynistic society by defying her father to marry Othello. Their relationship is

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.

According to the general hierarchy when Shakespeare wrote his play, men were deemed to be more able than women. Instead in Othello, Shakespeare emphasizes the strength of Desdemona despite the stereotypical views about women. Desdemona is portrayed to be more able than the women and as able as the men in the Venetian society. Unlike other women in Othello, Desdemona proves to be very strong and relentless in her beliefs and love.

Shakespeare mocks society’s extreme measures by suggesting death as the sole option for Othello when he fails to understand that Desdemona may not fit female stereotypes. Without the ability to label her, Othello fails to “assert Desdemona’s chastity and corruptibility simultaneously” and “murders Desdemona to redeem her from degradation” (Neely). The characters, like many people, struggle to alter views that have been so firmly pressed into their minds. In this way, Shakespeare negatively comments on humans’ inabilities to see beyond what society tells them and to comprehend truths unique to a specific person rather than his gender roles. Shakespeare uses the characters Desdemona and Othello to display how people become accustomed to the gender identities that society defines for them. Therefore, both characters, as depicted by their deaths, fail to understand each other personally as individuals instead of as the stereotypical man or woman that is being presented.

Her death is therefore her punishment, furthermore making Emilia a tragic victim as she has died through no fault of her own. Like Emilia, Desdemona is also a tragic victim of the men in ‘Othello’. Her murder, like Emilia’s, is through no fault of her own is a result of Othello’s jealousy and Iago’s interference. What makes Desdemona even more tragic to the audience is the fact that even in death she tries to protect her husband, telling Emilia that she has killed herself, “nobody, I myself”, this further depicts to the audience that Desdemona is a good and pure character. Her devotion to her husband makes her a tragic victim in the play as she can not be blamed for her death.

Desdemona is portrayed as a very inquisitive women, whom loves to explore the things and people outside of her class. She fell in love with Othello because of her curious nature and being attracted to his acts of bravado. Her intentions are sincere; however her curiosity in this act is seen as folly. She asks her cousin Lodovico about his arrival and informs him of Cassio’s dismissal. This angers Othello as she is praising another man, taking a persona of being proactive about him. For Othello this concludes that she is disobedient and has dishonored him - to put her in place, he resorts to violence:

We see Desdemona as a young beautiful white female, madly in love with a powerful black man. She is strong inside but doesn't tend to show that side of her as much as she would want to. She tends to play the peace-maker in her marriage and is always trying to understand Othello. Throughout the play she struggles to prove her loyalty and respect to her husband, no matter what it takes she tries to be a

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello and Desdemona’s marriage was doomed from the start. They did not start well; their marriage was controversial because of their race and Othello’s failure to follow proper etiquette while he was courting her. However these issues could have been overcome with time. The biggest problem is Othello’s attitude to Desdemona. Othello’s model of Desdemona prevents him from considering her a person. He thinks of her instead as superior to himself in every way, to the point that she is a god. Her race, beauty, and status make her godly in his mind. She becomes untouchable in Othello’s mind, and he begins to distance himself from her. Because Othello thinks of Desdemona as “Alabaster”(5.2.5) he will never consider

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.

It is here that the audience begins seeing a different identity of Othello. Who was once regarded as so valiant and courageous, was now beginning to show signs of severe insecurities dealing with matters, most importantly, such as his lack of experience in love and marriage causing shadows of doubt over his confidence in himself and his ability to be loved by and worthy of someone like Desdemona. Desdemona, although not intentionally, seems to be the reason for all the unrest in Othello. This is an instance in the play when irony shines it's smiling face upon Shakespeare's most tragic characters. Othello feels truly happy with the presence of Desdemona in his life (Act II.1, 181-187):

There are a great deal of plays that end with the death of a wife, often due to rumors of cheating. While many of these plays serve to provide violence in the private, domestic sphere, Othello pushes this issue into the public eye. Although there are many opinions on whose fault the deaths may be, Vanita argues that Desdemona and Emilia are very similar in their deaths. She feels that these deaths are caused by a series of ever escalating male characters as well as those who refuse to

"The Tragedy of Othello Written by William Shakespeare" highlights a variety of ways in which males and females reacted to intense situations." The emotions of the characters changed from the start of Act 1, the end of Act 1, and continued as the story of Othello progressed. In Act 1, the main protagonist named Othello started off conveying the emotion of happiness because he and his wife Desdemona were newlyweds. Othello was the general of the army of Venice. Iago, who was a soldier desired the rank of lieutenant, but Othello skipped over him and chose Cassio as the lieutenant even though Cassio had no experience in war but was exceptionally knowledgeable. Iago feels envious towards Cassio gaining the rank he wanted, Iago decided to work with Roderigo, a man who loves Desdemona, to pressure Brabantio, Desdemonas’ father, into thinking Othello used a “magic charm” to build up Desdemonas’ love for him. ("The Tragedy of Othello Written by Shakespeare” Book) In addition to Iago’s actions, Brabantio conveying anger approached Othello by accusing him instead of talking to him calmly. Brabantio told Desdemona of the rumor and asked: “who do you choose?” Meaning, she had to pick either her husband or her father. Desdemona projecting love towards her husband chose Othello. In conclusion to Desdemona's actions, it appeals to the reader that the female character represents