Preview

Shakespeare's Treatment Of Women In Othello

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
660 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Shakespeare's Treatment Of Women In Othello
William Shakespeare’s Othello tells the story of the title character’s tragic end. However, there are many other pivotal roles in the story that contribute and reveal much about the other characters and even Shakespeare himself. In Othello, the audience is introduced to three women, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. All three are from different backgrounds and have different experiences with relationships, however, they all share one thing: they are all whores. At least that is what is conveyed throughout the tragedy. Despite the main female roles’ class, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca are all viewed as whores which in turn reveals Shakespeare’s views on women.
Bianca seems to receive most of the strumpet slander out of the three women. This
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Plays
    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Plays

    There are many reasons why boys would play the female roles throughout the 1800s during Shakespeare's influence over the theatre. Young boys would often play the parts of women in Shakespeare plays and an entrance into an acting career. Often there would be only around 4 actors performing in one production at a time therefore multi rolling was common and each actor had to be versatile. Audience members gave positive impressions of the quality of the acting of boy players.…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender in Shakespeare's Othello, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night Essay Example
    • 3250 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Gender in Shakespeare's Othello, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night Essay Example

    When a person thinks of a devoted female character, Desdemona from Othello is the first that should pop into mind. While Desdemona is perceived as a one of Shakespeare’s brightest and most loyal female characters, she is also a clear victim of the gender stereotypes of the time. One of the first things that we know about Desdemona and Othello’s relationship was that they were not brought together necessarily her sexuality, but by Othello’s interest in her mind. In fact, the first time that Desdemona is introduced in Act 1, scene 3, she is presented as strong, independent, and capable of making her own decisions. In her first lines of the play, she says;…

    • 3250 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    A Midsummer Night's Dream Misogynist Analysis
    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A Midsummer Night's Dream Misogynist Analysis

    “There is not one word apt”- to what extent is this a fitting description of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”? Does Shakespeare’s comedy have a purpose beyond simply making us laugh?…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Elizabethan Attitudes to Women, Race and Transgression in Othello
    • 1113 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Elizabethan Attitudes to Women, Race and Transgression in Othello

    Shakespeare first explores Elizabethan attitudes towards women when Desdemona is first mentioned in scene one. Iago calls to Brabantio to ‘look to your house, your daughter, and your bags’ claiming ‘you’re robbed’ by ‘thieves’. This immediately implies Desdemona is her father’s physical possession, much the same as Brabantio owns his ‘bags’ or his ‘house’. This identification is supported by Brabantio’s exclamation ‘how got she out?’, suggesting that women are objects that belong and are controlled by men. Similarly, Iago states to Cassio that ‘[Othello] hath boarded a land carrack’, stressing the sexual connotations associated with Desdemona being presented as an object that Othello can just ‘board’. However, Desdemona then contradicts this classification when her true self is revealed later in the play through Othello’s account of their initial meetings and the beginning of their courtship, whereby Desdemona would listen to Othello’s tales ‘with a…

    • 1113 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gender Differences In Othello
    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gender Differences In Othello

    First, a reader must understand the way gender was understood in Shakespeare’s time. “If we are going to insist in understanding the Elizabethan dramatic artifice, let us also insist in examining Othello according to the traditional values which Shakespeare has injected implicitly and explicitly into the play (Kirschbaum, 284).” This quote given by another author shows the importance of understanding the original texts. The original text, while maybe outdated, is still vital in understanding the culture and history behind the play. A student must understand the implications that Shakespeare originally intended to be understood by the audience. There are three main characters in the play. These women are Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. These women all show true, strong affection to the main men in their lives.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain the way relationships effect the outcokme of the play Othello by William Shakespear
    • 1229 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Explain the way relationships effect the outcokme of the play Othello by William Shakespear

    One of the first relationships seen during the play Othello is that which runs between Desdemona and Brabantio of a father to his daughter. As was the attitude of the time Brabantio considered Desdemona as a procession and a prize rather then a person. This stemmed from the patriarchal society of the time. The way women are treated as possessions can clearly be seen in the way Roderigo and Iago refer to Desdemona in Act one - 'Thieves, thieves! Look to your house, your daughter and your bags! Thieves, thieves!' Act 1, Scene 1, 80-3. Brabantio loves his daughter but considerers her as a piece of property to shelter and own. From this attitude of possessing women Brabantio becomes utterly infuriated when he discovers that Desdemona has eloped with Othello and thus deceived him which was unheard of at the time. Brabantio's possessive nature of Desdemona reveals itself clearly when he stands before the Duke, 'She is abused, stolen from me and corrupted.' Act 1, Scene 3, 60. Upon leaving the Dukes chambers Brabantio says to Othello - 'If she can deceive once she can deceive again.' Act 1, Scene 3, 190, - this is the key line which plays an immense part in the final outcome of this play for it runs through…

    • 1229 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Infidelity In Othello
    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Examples Of Infidelity In Othello

    In Act IV, scene III of Shakespeare’s Othello, Emilia explains reasons for unfaithfulness. Emilia conveys her ideology about infidelity to Desdemona, a character that has not yet been exposed to the idea, through the use of rhetorical strategies such as appeals, imagery and diction to further reinforce her point that infidelity is caused by the husband. There is a plethora of appeals in Emilia’s monologue, many of which involve Emilia’s personal encounters with the idea of unfaithfulness. In Act VI, scene III, Emilia states, “Yes, a dozen, and as many to th' vantage as would store the world they played for. But I do think it is their husbands' faults if wives do fall.”.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Grst 209
    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Grst 209

    In William Shakespeare’s drama “Othello” the vast differences in gender perception is highlighted in the characters of Othello and Desdemona. Being a moor Othello should be part of the lowest social class yet because of his position in the military his men need to show him respect while inwardly they despise him, this two faced behaviour can be seen in Iago. Desdemona on the other hand has been naturally born to high society but when she chooses to marry Othello she is ostracized and marked as a social outcast. Because of Desdemona’s gender she is abandoned by those in her own class while because he is a man Othello is given respect…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Stereotypes In Othello
    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Examples Of Stereotypes In Othello

    Women are to be pretty and looked at. Women are flirts. Women are never in charge. These are just a few, but common stereotypes that females encounter. As much as females try to stray away from this discrimination, some become embodied by them. Shakespeare creates three unique women in his play Othello. Their desire to avoid labels overtakes their rational thought of how a woman should act. By looking at the dialogue and behaviors of the women in Act four of Othello, one understands that they embraced their stereotypical roles; this is important because as much as they want to break away from the norm, they cannot.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Treatment Of Women In Lady Macbeth
    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Treatment Of Women In Lady Macbeth

    Lady Macbeth is projected as a frightening woman, who is wounded in her psyche by the supernatural powers she has summoned upon herself. Lady Macbeth's actions for the "madness" are justified through Macbeth's weak character who has allowed evil to posses him so quickly, proving his lack of dominance in the relationship and Lady Macbeth's involuntary role. Her aspiration for becoming royal only increases when the opportunity is presented, forcing herself to become more violent in order to attain her dreams.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Women In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    The idea of a female protector standing in for men is apparent in Much Ado About Nothing, where Beatrice takes on a similar role to Paulina. How ever emphatic her words are in defence of Hero, Beatrice understands that as a women she is severely limited in her influence. ‘If I were a man’, she says, ‘I would eat his [Claudio’s] heart in the marketplace’, but as it is, she can ultimately do little directly in support of her cousin except ‘die a woman grieving’ (4.1.321). Once again, the heroine is saved by her physical response, in the face of slander, and Hero blushes before she faints. In Renaissance literature, blushing is seen as a non-verbal indicator – like fainting – of a women’s honesty. In Bentley’s instructions to ladies, he associates ‘blush’ with the ‘steadfastnesse of… women’ (11). Moreover, Shakespeare’s poem, ‘A Lover’s Complaint’, features a weeping ‘pure…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Iago's Treatment Of Women In Othello
    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Iago's Treatment Of Women In Othello

    To begin, the men and women have strongly implemented values; the men believe in patriarchal dominance and the women are taught to be submissive to the men in their lives. Throughout the book, Iago undervalues his wife, Emilia; he sees her as inferior and consistently belittles her. His perception is skewed by his belief that men are superior to women, and he generalizes women stating “ You are pictures out of the door, bells in your parlors, wildcats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries, devils being offended, players in your huswifery, and huswives in your beds.” (II.I.123-125) Iago believes that women are just pawns and a burden to a man, although he has a wife his enforced morals prevent him from treating her and viewing her as an…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Unjust Standards Of Women In Othello
    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Unjust Standards Of Women In Othello

    Shakespeare, along with his audience, understand the unjust roles of women at this time. This theme throughout the book is hinting at feminism, which is a major topic of our current society. In modern society, we know that men and women are equals and they deserve the same rights and freedoms, but this was an absurd thought in Shakespeare’s time. The role of women has come a long way since Shakespeare’s time, but it will always be a topic of…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Othello Gender Roles Essay
    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Othello Gender Roles Essay

    “Look at her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: She has deceived her father, and may thee.” Othello is a play written by Shakespeare that presents a gendered society in which women are inferior to men. Unmarried women are regarded as their fathers’ property, while when married, continuously have allegations made towards them due to the jealousy of their husbands. The women in Othello end up betraying their husbands, without actually being at fault. In Othello, women are always assumed as promiscuous while the men are shown as heroic, but are both victims in this gendered society. Gender roles and the way the gendered society is set up is a prominent issue displayed throughout Othello.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet's View and Treatment of Women
    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Hamlet's View and Treatment of Women

    In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet Hamlet's treatment and ideas of women are influenced greatly by his mother, Gertrude. His jealously causes him to become infatuated with his mother and she becomes the main symbol of women for Hamlet throughout the play. When she betrays him it forces Hamlet to have a negative opinion towards all women. Hamlet is obsessed with the betrayal by his mother, which causes him to mistreat woman in general and leads to his eventual tragedy.…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics