In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the male characters perceive woman as property of their own who have to be submissive and they treat them as adulterous.
The male characters in Othello perceive women characters as promiscuous and adulterous. Iago being the character who strongly shows his perception that woman are promiscuous by concluding that his wife has deceive him with Othello and Cassio. Moreover, Iago creates and immoral image of Desdemona persuading Othello of this lie, ultimately, Othello convinces himself that Desdemona is a promiscuous. Although, Iago creates this immoral images of women to feed his revenge, while doing it by this mean he reveals his true perception of women. Iago perceives his wife as a promiscuous woman and without having any facts or proof convinces himself and takes as a fact the rumor that Emilia had an affair with Othello (1.3.324-27). Iago acknowledges his wife as an easy woman who has betrayed him more than once, murmuring: “For I fear Cassio with my
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Consequently, implies Emilia is promiscuous by directly saying to her, “A thing for me? It is a common thing” (3.3.311), referring to her as sexually “common” among men. Furthermore, Iago creates a false immoral image of Desdemona to Othello base on simple interpretation concluding Desdemona is adulterous, however, Othello ultimately convinces himself and perceives Desdemona as adulterous. At first, Iago distorts the reality to make Othello think his wife is deceiving him, but Othello is not fully convinced until he starts misinterpreting Desdemona actions, implying he perceives her as adulterous. Othello at first holds that “Desdemona’s honest” (3.3.230), but something as simple as a lost handkerchief makes him see his wife as an adulterous and called
The women in Othello and Chaucer's Wife of Bath differ, but in the end both want their husbands to love them. In Othello there are only three women displayed in the story, but the statements that were said about these three women were the belief that all women in that society were all the same- evil, whores who were temptress to the men. The three women; Desdemona, the wife of Othello, Emilia, the wife of Iago, and Bianca, perceived as a prostitute who is a “customer” (l. 138. 4.1) of Cassio. Iago is one of the main characters who degrades and slanders all women including his wife Emilia.
Iago then has Emilia, his wife, get Othello’s mother’s handkerchief and plants in Cassio’s room, then warns Othello to watch out for Cassio and Desdemona. Iago then sent Cassio to ask Desdemona and for his job back. Othello then suspects his wife of cheating. When she comes to him soon later vouching for him to give Cassio his job
Speaking of which, Iago only becomes Othello 's lieutenant solely due to the suspicion he plants in Othello 's mind, proving how even this friendship isn 't pure. Iago is at the center of all relationships pulling the strings. Moreover, the truth between Emilia and Iago 's so-called matrimony is seen as Emilia confides in Desdemona about men, "They [men] are all but stomachs, and we all but food; They eat us hungerly, and when they are full, They belch us" (3.4 121-123). Not only does this explain the root of the men 's wants in amorous relationships, but it demonstrates the true intentions of all the men in the play in relation to the women in the play. Although Othello does not have any examples of friendship, one must make affirm that life is filled with people unlike the characters in
"(IV.i.78-88). In these lines Iago tells Othello that he will question Cassio about Desdemona, he tells Othello to watch from afar and pay attention to Cassio's facial expressions when he speaks of her. The reader knows Iago is actually asking Cassio about Bianca, however, Othello is too far away to hear what is actually being said and thinks Cassio is talking about Desdemona. This added to Othello's jealousy, making him more certain that his wife was cheating on him with
However, Othello is not completely convinced about all the things Iago is making him go through its mind, his wife infidelity. Knowing now how Iago is, he will keep trying to convince Othello about his wife cheating on him; he will
Iago uses very clever methods of persuasion and manipulation aimed to use Othello’s hamartia against him, pointing out that “ “She (Desdemona) did deceive her father, marrying you,” so much so that Brabantio “thought ’twas witchcraft”. Through this, Iago is subtly raising the issues of Othello’s cultural differences with Desdemona; a root cause behind Othello’s insecurities with his wife – along with inadequacy due to race, degree of sophistication and age. As Iago prompts Othello to think the worst, his utterances are short and uneasy, revealing the beginning to his downfall, whilst Iago’s dialogue is at length highlighting his growing power of
A Modern View of Feminist Criticism William Shakespeare 's "Othello” can be analyzed from a feminist perspective. This criticism focuses on relationships between genders, like the patterns of thoughts, behavior, values, enfranchisement, and power in relations between and within sexes. A feminist examination of the play enables us to judge the distinctive social esteems and status of women and proposes that the male-female power connections that become an integral factor in scenes of Othello impact its comprehension. I believe that the critical lens that provides modern society with the most compelling view of literature is Feminist Criticism because it analyzes distrust and disloyalty among relationships, women being treated as possessions
In Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, women are portrayed as either pure angelic beings and jewels, or as whores who are impure. They are objectified and shown as something to be used. The only women in this play are Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca compared to the main 6 male characters, not to mention the minor characters, who are also all male. Their depicted purpose is to belong to a man; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca’s lives revolve around being wives to Othello, Iago and Cassio. This fits into the idea of a perfect Elizabethan woman, who’s lives are subject to their husband’s rule across all aspects, to be disposed of as men wish.
Othello starts to believe Iago’s lies about his friends and wife, leading Othello to change his behavior towards his closest allies. Iago instigates a fight between Cassio and Montano, and Othello must take charge of his soldiers, he says: Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter, Making it light to Cassio. Cassio, I love thee But never more be officer of mine. (2.3.210-213) Othello makes the decision to fire Cassio, and things get worse when Iago makes his wife, Emilia, steal Desdemona 's handkerchief.
Feminist point of view means the analysis of any literary works based on the feminist perception. Feminism has gradually become broad and noticeable in its attacks on male-dominated society. The Shakespearian era of the 16th century was a time when women were very inferior in the society. If we compare with other writers, Shakespeare was always careful of women and tried to give them respect in his different writings. If we look at his famous play named Othello we need to judge the equality of women in terms of political, social and economic perspective.
Modern day women do not endure the same amount of disrespect that the women of the Elizabethan era faced. In “Othello”, Shakespeare compellingly illustrates how women during the Elizabethan era were treated by male figures in Venetian society. For instance, Othello is a warrior who respects and loves his wife just as she loves and respects him. In contrast, Iago is outright disrespectful to his very own wife, and he makes it clear that he does not think too fondly of women in general. Depicted as the handsome bachelor of the play, Cassio is highly respectful and seemingly flirtatious to all women naturally, which serves as the fuel for Iago’s malicious scheme in the play.
After he kills Desdemona, Othello explains his reasoning to Iago’s wife, Emilia, justifying that “Cassio did top her, ask thy husband else” (Shakespeare 1360), meaning that he killed his wife because according to Iago, Cassio and
The repetition of the word ‘lust’, combined with the sexual associations of Desdemona’s bed, reflects and draws attention to Othello’s preoccupation with sensual matters. Othello even refers to his precious wife as ‘whore’ (III.iii.356), a ‘subtle whore’ (III.ii.20) and a ‘cunning whore’ (IV.ii.88), in a way to appreciate him. Shakespeare actually has indirectly revealed Othello’s fear of Desdemona’s sexuality. Even though Othello seems to be very confident in him and his control over Desdemona, he is actually tentative and afraid that Desdemona will cheat on him, proving his
For Shakespeare’s plays to contain enduring ideas, it must illustrate concepts that still remain relevant today, in modern society. Shakespeare utilises his tragic play Othello, to make an important social commentary on the common gender stereotypes. During early modern England, Shakespeare had to comply to the strict social expectations where women were viewed as tools, platonic and mellow, and where men were displayed as masculine, powerful, tempered, violent and manipulative. As distinct as this context is to the 21st century, the play exposes how women were victimised by the men who hold primary power in the community in which they compelled women to conform to the ideal world of a perfect wife or confront an appalling destiny for challenging the system. Moreover, Shakespeare utilises the main antagonist, Iago, to portray how men are desperate to achieve what they want and to indirectly fulfil the stereotype of masculinity and power through manipulation.
Also, each relationship in Othello provokes jealousy in one partner. In a typical Venetian society, a woman was considered to be a man’s property, so if a woman was disobedient, it negatively impacted the man, while also questioning his masculinity. The hyperbolic soliloquy as Othello expressed he would “rather be a toad” than “keep a corner of the thing I love” is Othello’s justification of killing his wife, as her untrustworthiness challenged his masculinity and reputation. Referring to Desdemona as a “thing” emphasises the idea of women being property. Iago’s jealousy of Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is emphasised through the degrading comment of Othello, “an old black ram” “tupping” Brabantio’s “white ewe”.