The Manipulation of Gender Roles in Shakespeare’s Othello 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.

Feminist critical lens examines certain texts with a primary focus on both gender’s relationship with each other and how such relationships demonstrate effects towards beliefs, behaviors, and values. This critical lens also examines a patriarchal-centered society and how such society define and interact with women with an emphasis on stereotypes of both genders that are present and evident in the text being analyzed. William Shakespeare’s Othello can be scrutinized through the feminist critical lens. A deep analysis focused on feminism of the play Othello paves way for the judgement of different societal status of women in the period when the play took place, the Elizabethan society. Othello is a best fit that demonstrates how men were

Iago plants ideas in Othello’s head, uses the innocent actions of others as his proof; and Othello, who is not practiced in worldly matters, believes his the misnomer of the “honest Iago”, and eventually is consumed by the lie.

In Shakespeare’s Othello, the role of women is greatly emphasized. The important characters of the play, Othello, Iago, and Cassio, each have a women that stands behind him. These women each have an obligation to remain loyal and respect their husband's wishes, especially Desdemona and Emilia.

Iago's manipulative nature has a profound effect on the decisions made by other characters in Shakespeare's ‘Othello’. Through his relations with those around him Shakespear characterizes him as a man full of malice, vengeance and dishonesty that is wholly inspired by jealousy. Furthermore it would appear that Iago has an exceptional ability to scheme, a talent which he uses to snake his way into the lives of others and exploit them through their weaknesses. Whether he does this for profit or for pleasure is a separate issue.

Iago is the antagonist of the play, and one of the most evil Shakespearean villains. Iago is extremely clever in the way he uses unsuspecting power- especially psychological power. He gets into people’s heads in many dishonest ways- by spreading false rumours, telling lies and psychologically tricking people and secretly controlling certain situations. His power to manipulate is a key point in the play, as it results in major consequences and the deaths of some main characters. Iago’s schemes are multi-levelled- he conspires with roderigo, and makes him believe that Desdemona will take him back. On another level, he leads Othello to believe his wife is having an affair with Cassio. He uses his wife Emilia (unknown to her), to bring back the handkerchief he uses to deceive Othello. Iago is an extremely resourceful and talented man, but he uses these resources and talents in detrimental ways. Iago is constantly referred to by numerous characters as ‘honest’. He himself also refers to honesty. Numerous characters believe that they know and trust Iago and that he would not lie, nor deceive them. Iago’s soliloquies also provide invaluable insight into his wicked mind and evil schemes and plans.

    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)

Iago is one of the most misunderstood villains in Shakespeare literature. We side with Othello from the start because his name is on the cover of our paperback, we read Othello when learning about heroes, so we expect Iago to be a villain, a ruthless manipulator. We don’t know why, he doesn’t state it plainly or in simple English, so we assume that he’s evil, that he’s just a disgruntled sociopath out to exact his exaggerated revenge on good and noble Othello. Iago’s misunderstood reputation is a result of not truly examining his character, and answering the “why” factor behind his actions. After all, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. His goal in the play was not just to destroy Othello for the fun of it. His objective,

   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.

different point of view. To effectively manipulate one must know the weakness of the targeted person. Therefore, using their emotions to enable the manipulation easily. Othello is a tragedy, written by William Shakespeare in the seventeenth century. The play by William Shakespeare includes the character of Iago. Iago is the antagonist in Othello, who cleverly plans out his tactics. Viewing the character of Iago from an analytical point of view shows Iago exposing himself to be a psychopath. Iago can use the weakness of the characters to set up scenes, and earns himself the title “The Honest Iago.” Consequently, psychopaths act as pleasurable people, but in reality, they are different in private. A psychopath sees themselves as preferable and worthy of the respect of others. The complex character of Iago sees himself as being superior to Cassio and is inclined to seek vengeance on Cassio and Othello. The character of Cassio is similar to Othello since they both appear to be impeccable. In Othello, the complex character of “Honest Iago” creates a psychotropic weapon by using the vulnerability of the character’s emotional state to create the perfect tactics.

In the book “Gender Trouble” (1990), feminist theorist Judith Butler explains “gender is not only a social construct, but also a kind of performance such as a show we put on, a costume or disguise we wear” (Butler). In other words, gender is a performance, an act, and costumes, not the main aspect of essential identity. By understanding this theory of gender as an act, performance, we can see how gender has greatly impacted the outcome of the play in William Shakespeare’s Othello. From a careful analysis of the story, tragedy in Othello is result of violating expected gender roles, gender performance by Desdemona and Othello, and the result of Iago’s inability to tolerate these violations.

Shakespeare's play Othello is one of the most famous plays of all time that is still extolled after 400 years. This is due to the values that are explored in the play and how they are more pertinent than ever. Davies adaptation of Othello (2001) adopts the values for the modern era of western society. The values are explored in both texts through characters, language techniques in the scripts and themes such as race and the role of gender. The film also makes use of film techniques to enhance its message to the modern audience by comparing both texts we can see how certain values in society like gender, have changed to an extent over the centuries.

Hypothesis: Shakespeare’s portrayal of women was ahead of his time. William Shakespeare’s tragic classic, Othello, brings about many discussions on its many themes, from racism to a man’s reputation. A standout feature about this tale, is how forward thinking Shakespeare was when crafting the women in a lot of his plays. Many of the women in Shakespeare’s works were independent, intelligent and were ‘in-click’ with themselves as women. From the two following critics over two different time periods, there is a difference in the way women were viewed.

In the play Othello , Othello strongly represents feminist criticism because he cares so much about their relationship that he couldn’t handle the thought of her cheating on him. He played a big role in the play from being a powerful governor along with being a deep lover. Othello and Desdemona, the daughter of A senator from Venice, fell for each other and are married behind her father’s back. The father, Brabantio, finds out and says that Othello used his magic on her, but yet he still sent the two to Cyprus together. Othello captured Desdemona with his stories about his past and Desdemona quickly falls in love with him. Even though the love of the two is strong Othello lets his ensign Iago draw him into his lies about his woman showing

Women have been thought as negatively or given negative attributes throughout historical pieces of literature. Within the writings of Shakespeare women are given a substantial amount of fatalistic qualities, that ultimately give women a negative view about them. In Othello, the cynical portrayal of women is just as present as in any of his other stories from beginning to end. Many of the women, like Desdemona and Emilia, are shown as the victim. They are put into a world where man are in charge and they must be play the submissive role. Shakespeare has made these women play a passive and negative role within Othello. Although Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca had moments where they were portrayed as strong characters, it is seen that women