William Shakespeare 's ' Othello '

She is then disowned by Barbantio with no further words directed to her by him but is referenced as a liar and should be kept on watch for her conniving ways by him towards Othello. Which then begins Shakespeare’s in depth writing on Othello and Desdemona’s relationship where she is as “a child to chiding” (4.2.119-120). Not even a moment after her father leaves Othello commands Iago to tell his wife, Emilia, to tend to Desdemona as a babysitter. Irony occurs within (2.1.169-171) where Desdemona challenges Iago and stands as an independent woman for Emilia objecting to his conclusion, that women no matter how beautiful or intelligent play the same “foul pranks”. However, as Othello’s jealousy and rage arises throughout the play it seems as her character has to fight even harder to breathe under his control; symbolic for her death of suffocation. Desdemona is a gentle women living under her love’s control with no power to object even if she had opposed this type of controlling relationship. As a higher class woman she had more power and respect over other women characters such as Emilia or Bianca, but is this dominance enough to feel in control of oneself? It is believed that Shakespeare added the 2 other

Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’, set in early Venice, focuses on the key relationship between titular character Othello and his wife Desdemona, to comment on the human condition through the text. The relationship between the married couple allows us to understand Shakespeare’s commentary on human nature, particularly how humans are inherently selfish, prone to falling victim to jealousy, and are made both stronger and weaker by their emotions.

On the other hand, he sometimes made women seem vicious, spiteful, or malicious. It is believed that Shakespeare wrote about two types of women, virtuous subhuman or deceiving subhuman. He believed that a woman could go from virtuous to deceiving, but could never return to the virtuous status. Throughout the play, Desdemona is a very compliant and submissive wife to Othello. She believes that it is her duty to be a “good wife” and that it is her only role in life. When Othello abuses her, she blames herself, never thinking one negative thought about him. She thinks that she cannot exist without her husband, just as she did not exist without her father. Shakespeare’s diction describes Desdemona’s character when she says to Othello “And yet I fear you; for your fatal then when your eyes roll so. Why should I fear I know not, since guiltiness I know not, but yet I feel I fear” (5.2.37-38).She does not even know why she is afraid of him, as she did nothing to feel guilty about. She has nothing to be ashamed of, yet the sight of Othello, her husband, makes her scared of him. Desdemona was a strong, wealthy woman who was willing to stand up for what she wanted. The only thing she truly wanted, however, was Othello. In order to fight for him she would have hurt him, which she could not do. This creates a great internal conflict for Desdemona. When Othello finally confronts Desdemona about the so called affair with Cassio, Desdemona is shocked and tells Othello: “I never

In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama “Othello”, Shakespeare puts emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the male protagonists. Othello’s love and jealousy regarding his wife made this play a tragedy. 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. They lived in a society in which a woman was either a whore, or a good, angelic

Shakespeare’s Othello contains many interesting characters, that are often critiqued as being flat, or serving solely as a foil. One of these characters is Desdemona, interpreted by many as innocent and pure, someone who serves to contrast other characters in the play, most obviously Iago and his wickedness. However through diction, action, and open ended storylines, Shakespeare shapes Desdemona as complex and therefore creates a complex and intriguing work of literature.

A noticeable theme throughout Othello is that looks are not always what they appear to be. We see this right from the start and all the way to the end. The characters take what they hear and interpret and mold it so that what they see automatically fits into the mental mold they have already created, therefore confirming their suspicions. Iago makes use of a deadly weapon, his words, to mislead characters into misinterpreting what they see. The characters in Othello are unable to recognize the hidden meaning of words often missing the deeper meaning and accepting them at face value. This is evident in several passages, such as Cassio’s fight with Montano and when Iago and Cassio speak about Bianca. Othello believes everything to be true or false, black or white, and real or fake. According to Iago, “The Moor is of free and open nature that thinks men honest that but seem to be so; and will as tenderly be led by th’ nose.” (Othello 2.1.391-393) Just the very nature of Othello’s character makes him vulnerable to Iago’s poison. The combination of interpreting words at their surface meaning and believing what they hear leads to copious amounts of jealous.

Desdemona, son of a Venetian senator, grew up as any privileged young girl would in the seventeenth century: obedient and submissive. Her mother and father, both loyal to each other, were her only exemplars of marriage and love. Thus, when she is swept off her feet by the valiant Moor of Venice, Othello, she naively dreams of an immaculate matrimony in which quarrels, dominance, and violence are absent. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Desdemona’s imprisonment by her domestic life gives rise to damaging innocence, causing her to be blind to guilt and desire a perfectly requited yet unrealistic love; she submissively forgives Othello’s every insult until her dying breath as a result.

Iago is widely credited, in the words of Agatha Christie, as “the greatest villain of all time”. He is a manipulative character who “weaves a web of deceit” by exploiting even the tiniest faults in others. By maintaining a facade of comedy and boyishness he uses his honesty and twisted truth to play others “like a virtuoso” and “drive... them to madness”. In the play Othello, Act 2 Scene 1 is perhaps the most enlightening scene with regards to the truly manipulative character of Iago. Containing several soliloquies and interactions between all of the main characters, his manipulation is well encapsulated both in this scene in the play and in the 1965 Stuart Burge film adaptation.

Othello by William Shakespeare tells the tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venetia and how one of his most loyal subordinates Iago betrays him, by making Othello believe that his wife Desdemona was being unfaithful with Othello’s Lieutenant Casino. Iago’s deception not only causes Othello to distrust his wife Desdemona, but it ultimately leads to the deaths of most characters in the play including Othello, and Desdemona. The Fourth act Second scene is mainly about Desdemona and Emilia talking about unfaithful women and if either one of them had being unfaithful to their husband. This dialogue between Desdemona and Emilia is important because the audience can connect to early events in the play and to a small degree the audience can make connections to Iago’s plan for Othello and what can be the future of Othello and Desdemona.

Desdemona’s assertive qualities set her apart from the other chaste, voiceless, shame-filled, and obedient women of her time. She defies stereotypes while somehow still fitting into them. Her blatantly wild sexual desire and cunning ability to corrupt others are certainly surprising traits but they allow for a progressive and provocative play filled with jealousy and emotion. Shakespeare offers commentary on the way women were viewed in his time period and stabilizes the hierarchy of patriarchal social order through his portrayal of the three main female characters in Othello, and their actions throughout the play. Upon examination of Othello, it is obvious that the three female characters, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca, are presented according

At one point in our lives, we have all disguised our true identity and pretended to be someone we are not. We all have sat abaft a screen pretending to be the antithesis sex, or just someone innominate in order to get our true feelings and emotions out. Similarly, Shakespeare utilizes the theme of disguise in countless plays, specifically in As you like it and Twelfth Night. Although many may postulate that he has disguised certain characters as the opposite gender solely for comedic purposes, the reason behind it is significantly deeper and complex. By disguising the actors as the opposite gender, also known as cross-dressing, Shakespeare introduces incipient views on femininity and sexuality, views that were unmentionable in the Elizabethan times. It’s virtually as if Shakespeare is endeavoring to break the rules of society, break the rules of gender roles and sexuality roles. He represents women and sexuality in a way that was unacceptable in that time in society, but his purpose of doing this is to open up the minds of society to be more accepting of these gender and sexuality roles. He is accentuating to females, that you don 't have to pretend to be all lady like with your pinky out as you drink tea, and though there may not have been many known homosexuals back then, Shakespeare uses cross-dressing to show that society should start to get comfortable with same sex couples as well. Both, As you like it and Twelfth Night utilize disguises to portray these viewpoints,

Women, especially Desdemona but Emilia as well, are obviously targets of male violence in Othello. For some reason Shakespeare’s play often put the emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the main male characters. For instance, the result of the passionate love of Romeo for Juliet, the effect of Ophelia’s insanity had on hamlet, and so on. In Othello, Shakespeare made Desdemona and the other women in the play no different; Othello’s jalousie and love made the play a tragedy. Shakespeare made Desdemona the faithful wife of Othello. She was such a kindhearted and wished to make everything work even when the situation where she lost her handkerchief she tried to fix the situation and calming Othello. However, her innocent sympathy towards Cassio made lago’s lies more credible. Overall, one can say that her naïve nature causes her to become a target for the men in the play.

Shakespeare is known for many of his romantic works. But in his time, he also wrote romantic tragedies. One of the tragedies was the play Othello. The two characters that stuck out the most were Othello, the moor, and his beautiful wife Desdemona. The couple had certain mishaps but most readers did not expect a melodramatic plot twist. Othello had many downfalls, including insecurity. In the play Othello, the lack of communication between Desdemona and Othello was the cause for their deaths.

"Othello is set in a world and focuses on the passions and personalities of its major figures." (Thomas). Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, Othello's wife Desdemona, his lieutenant Cassio and advisor Iago. The play appeared in seven editors between 1622 and 1705. The themes of the story are racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal. Othello is a black soldier who is accused of stealing his wife Desdemona. Although Desdemona's father dislikes his daughter's choice, Desdemona loves Othello very much and the two are married. Othello’s right hand man is angered at the fact that Othello picked a man named Cassio to be more important than him and he also feels that he is messing with his wife. Iago plans to manipulate Othello but his plan eventually causes more hurt to most of the characters. Iago tries to use the meeting between Cassio and Desdemona as a way to make Othello believe she was cheating on him. Iago goes on with his manipulative plan by planting a handkerchief in Cassio's room, and goes and tell Othello about what he has seen Cassio do. Othello becomes jealous throughout the story and begins to believe that Cassio is talking to his wife. Iago persuades Othello to come up with a master plan to kill Cassio and Desdemona. As Othello tries to kill Desdemona, Emilia, Iago's wife, comes in to tell Othello the truth about Iago. Unfortunately it is too late. Othello had already suffocated her. When Othello

The tragic play Othello by William Shakespeare, discusses the relationship between Othello and Desdemona that begins as loving, but abruptly alters to a hateful relationship due to a lack of truth. Dishonesty and misunderstandings between Desdemona and Othello drive the collapse of their marriage as well as Iago’s deceitful words which force Othello to discredit Desdemona’s love. William Shakespeare portrays the fall of the relationship of Desdemona and Othello due to his ability of believing false delusions he hears about his wife and the reason for this is from his distrust for women, his jealousy and the fact that he truly lacks confidence in himself, leads him to doubt the love Desdemona has for him.