Othello Women Essay

Shakespeare's famous play “Othello” the women roles such as Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca were treated as possessions to their male counterparts, and the women are thought to be physically and psychologically weaker than them. Shakespeare’s use of women in his play “Othello” is not something to go unnoted. With that being said, Desdemona's loyalty to her husband, Emilia's defyance to her husband Iago and compassion for Desdemona, and Bianca's sorrowful life… Shakespeare’s strategic women characters allow for

patriarchal society of strict social hierarchies and rules about how women should behave at home and in public, with women being vastly deprived of the freedoms they have today. In the play Othello, the three female characters Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca conform to the ideological expectations of Shakespeare's Elizabethan Society and lack power and importance when compared to the men of the play. Throughout the play, women are seen as the possessions of men, passed along from their father to

Throughout Othello, Shakespeare gave each woman a different type of strength, which he developed through their relationships and interactions with the other characters to eventually show his overall message and opinion regarding women. Starting with Desdemona, one of her main displays of strength and courage was during her death scene. Although on the surface her begging and crying in response to Othello may seem like a weakness, it actually showed her intelligence and quick-thinking (therefore strength

Melvin Chelvanayagam Mrs. McDonald ENG3UO E April 29, 2017 Word Count:834 Society’s Depiction of Women If society is asked how they portray women, their answers would vary exponentially. Their speculations would depend on personal experience and how society portrays women in general. In the play, Othello, William Shakespeare portrays Desdemona and Emilia as confident and loyal, which causes them to be mistreated. Shakespeare demonstrates this through their speech and actions but also shows how

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, women were not portrayed as strong. The men in the play does not respect women as they should and in turn, the women see it, yet are powerless due to the high social standard. There are three women in Othello and each one is bound in a relationship with a man; only one survived. In Othello, Emilia and Desdemona are both victims of the men in their lives but they also contribute to their own fate. As the play proceed, Emilia is a victim of her husband’s deception;

Written over 400 years ago the society portrayed in Othello is substantially different than the society we live in today. Today women in our society have luxury’s that people in the past could only dream of having including: equal education, job opportunities, and the ability to choose who you love. In the 1600s women were only responsible for house management, childbearing, and pleasing their husbands. Women were seen as physically and mentally weaker than men making the inferior to the men in

In the play, the women are more often portrayed as objects instead of being equal to others in society. For example, the comment “use Desdemona well” (Shakespeare 1.3.292), said by the First Senator toward Othello, indicates that he may do with her what he wishes. The word ‘use’ implies he meant more than just take care of her or enjoy her company. Othello is being told to use Desdemona as an item in which he may choose when and what she does. Another instance in which Desdemona is manipulated by

In Othello, Shakespeare introduces us to many strong male figures such as Othello, Michael Cassio, Roderigo and Iago, but Shakespeare also created powerful women in this play as well. In fact, the women in the play tend to take front and centering in a lot of scene, stealing moments. The moments in particular would be the scenes towards the end of the play with Desdemona and Emili talking about a wife’s loyalty to her husband and how should she respond to him. Their beliefs in the play are put into

Othello features only three different women in the story, they are presented very passively throughout the story. At most points during the story they are displayed as submissive, such as Desdemona who constantly follows Othello’s orders throughout their relationship, however Desdemona can also show the stronger side of her when she speaks to her father about how she belongs to Othello. Emilia on the other hand, is seen as more submissive as she accepts her “role” her role in society. Bianca has

Cold, hard facts from pre-feminism history have shown us that women were always considered meek, subservient and secondary to men in society. In a patriarchal society such as the Elizabethan era, where most of Shakespeare’s works were written, the objectification and degradation of women are evident through the treatment of the female characters in the plays Othello and The Tempest. Desdemona, the tragic heroine of Othello, embodies what others would call the ‘perfect woman’. She fulfills all the