Iago's Perception Of Women In Othello

During the summer, I was tasked with the job of reading three books and acknowledging the external and internal conflicts of the main characters and how they affect their decisions throughout the novel. The three books were A Painted House, by John Grisham, Farewell to Manzanar, by James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, and Othello (drama), by William Shakespeare.

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. Regardless of how these men are interpreted on the surface, Shakespeare distinctly outlines how the Venetians view the roles of women in their time, which is that men are to be ultimately superior to women, and women are basically idle objects for men (Iyasere, 2009).

In William Shakespeare’s Othello the two main characters are Iago and Othello. The entire story centers around Iago 's plan to achieve revenge on Othello for not promoting him to lieutenant. Throughout the story Iago tries to convince Othello that his wife Desdemona has cheated on him with his lieutenant Cassio. Iago’s plan is successfully and easily executed. Othello is tricked into believing that desdemona has been unfaithful and in the end he kills her. The men in Othello mistrust the women and always quick to associate them with being deceptive and unfaithful.

Shakespeare's Othello is set during the Renaissance period and therefore the roles of the women in Othello are supposedly bounded by the period when women are considered to be of low intellect. In Othello, most male characters assume that women are inherently promiscuous, which explains why all three women characters in the play are accused of sexual infidelity. Yet Shakespeare develops the women to speak the most sense throughout the play and able to trust other characters in the play. To the men in Othello, female sexuality is a threatening force more than it is an attractive one.

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. Each female character is treated by men as a possession. However, there are also moments when they are presented as confident and challenge a male authority. This would have been exiting for Shakespeare’s female Elizabethan audience as women

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

Shakespeare’s play, Othello, deeply explores the effects of jealousy on a person. Shakespeare also portrays the different types of jealousy and alludes to the causes of them. Othello is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare around 1603, about a man, Iago, who plots to take revenge on a Moorish soldier, Othello, for he has “done my (Iago’s) office”. The deaths of several people, including Othello’s wife Desdemona, Iago’s wife Emilia, Othello and Iago’s companion Roderigo, were all directly linked to Iago’s actions. Othello illustrates that jealousy often leads to revenge, jealousy can prevent a successful relationship, and jealousy leading to one’s downfall.

The women in Othello and Chaucer's Wife of Bath differ, but in the end both want their husbands to love them.

Another good example was when Iago started convincing Othello that Desdemona might be being unfaithful to him, “Watch your wife. Watch how she is with Cassio. Just watch—don’t be either completely suspicious or completely trustful. I wouldn’t want to see you taken advantage of because you’re such an open and trusting guy” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 3, Line 200). Iago is making Othello doubt about his own wife making him believe that she is sleeping with Cassio or that she might start having a relationship with him. 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

The way these women act and conduct themselves is unquestionably related to the ideological expectations of Elizabethan and patriarchal society. Desdemona, Othello 's wife and Brabantio 's daughter, is represented as the ideal woman. So she would never be disloyal to her husband. On many occasions, Desdemona obeys her husband firmly and calls herself obedient even after Othello hits her. She was loving and loyal to Othello and wishes a long marriage of prosperity and commitment that would lead to her ultimate happiness. She is an independent character because, she confidently defends her love marriage to a man her father hasn’t accepted who is many years older than her. She was interested in adventure when she heard the stories of Othello’s great battles and travels. Then she expresses her own desire to go with him on his journey to Cyprus. Othello thought that she could be unfaithful to him so he felt that murder and violence was the only way answer to his dilemma. The most important argument is that she takes the blame for her own murder. Her final words, when Emilia asks who has done this to her, then she said - Nobody; I myself.

Psychopaths have attributes of detachment, insincere speech, selfishness, and violence. In the tragedy, Othello, the playwright William Shakespeare constructs an antagonist with such traits. This evil character, Iago, is known for being one of the most sinister villains Shakespeare has even written. Through Iago’s psychopathic manipulations and detached persona, Shakespeare shows that psychopaths are not redeemable in the play.

The following passage is significant to the play ‘Othello’ in retrospect to the plot progression, as it reiterates themes and introduces important facets to the plot development. Through Iago’s cunning manipulation and Shakespeare’s crafting of language, this passage is constructed as a pivotal point of the play, marking the transition of Othello’s personality and revealing his deepest insecurities that eventually lead to his downfall and tragic ending.

The most influential, important, and critical relationship amongst humanity is a trusting and attentive friend. A friend is anyone who is supportive of one 's best and compassionate at one 's worst. A friend is an absolutely essential connection to maintain throughout a lifetime. According to the Huffington Post, lack of friendship has been associated with higher chances of a premature death than obesity. Consequently, friendships are required not only for mental health but for longevity. Thus, friendships must be considered a crucial relationship among people. Moreover, one of the interviewees went as far to say, "They become outcasts and incredibly depressed to the point of suicide making it necessary to make close friends." This means

In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, the title character is a valiant hero who is in love with his beautiful bride, Desdemona. The play’s villain, Iago, destroys this love by feeding Othello vicious lies about Desdemona, causing Othello to slowly go mad. By the end of the play, Othello, in a fit of jealous rage, murders his wife. This significant change in Othello’s character is not sudden; rather, it is a gradual transformation that takes place after a series of events that occur throughout the play. Othello’s character undergoes a significant change due to a series of events at the hands of Iago, the play’s antagonist to enhance the fact that even a valiant heroes can become corrupt.

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. Throughout the play we observe Emilia’s character change, and how she suffered the consequence of challenging the system.