Oppression Of Women In Othello And My Last Duchess
Throughout history, patriarchies have plagued society and stripped women of necessary freedoms. This is evident in many literary works, such as Shakespeare’s Othello and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as “Pygmalion” by John Updike, and Robert Browning’s “My last Duchess.” In all of these pieces, the men view themselves as superior, and try to control every aspect of their female counterparts’ life. Also, they feel entitled to any women they want, and they hold women to unrealistic standards, which objectifies women and leads to them being treated as property.
To begin, in Elizabethan times women were extremely inferior to men; this is exhibited in Othello through the relationships between father and daughter as well as husband and wife. Typically,
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He introduces the artwork by saying, “since none puts by/ The curtain I have drawn for you, but I” (ll 9-10). Basically, he keeps the painting behind a curtain, so that only he has the ability to control who can look at it. In a strange and twisted manner, he views the portrait not only as a painting, but as his wife. He indirectly mentions that he killed her because he was unable to control her, “[he] gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together” (45-46). By manipulating the painting, he has complete power over his wife, as she is literally his property. This can be compared to the treatment of women in Othello; the men micro manage the women in order to build themselves up and assert their dominance. Subsequently, the duke talks about how “her looks went everywhere” when she was alive (ll 24). He is so obsessed with being able to oversee every little detail, that she could not even have freedom of expression. He seems to have many complaints, and he rambles on about how “She had/ A heart—how shall [he] say?— too soon made glad,/ Too easily impressed” (ll 22-24). One may wonder why he agreed to marrying her is he had so many grouses towards her personality. Ultimately, he only speaks highly of her physical beauty, “Paint/ Must never hope to reproduce the faint/ Half-flush that dies along her throat” (ll 17-19). He never mentions any positives about her personality, and by only speaking highly of her physical features, he is treating her as a prize that he possesses, rather than a woman. Undoubtedly, this reaffirms female subordinance, and male superficiality and
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845 Words | 4 PagesGender roles are timeless stereotypes that belong in the 1950s, yet sixty years later they still exist. Even today, gender roles are still prevalent and simply change to fit new adaptations of society, but have become less stressed over time. In the two literary pieces, In the Time of the Butterflies and Othello, men control women in some way whether it be as their father, husband, or a man of acquaintance. Both pieces illustrate that a woman's place in society is thought of as being subordinate to a man’s, which causes women to feel inferior to men, and also to seek their approval.
Examples Of Misogyny In Romeo And Juliet
778 Words | 4 PagesTheir tough archetypes were always present in many plays and reinforced the idea of male superiority. This fact held true, especially for a certain tragic classic by William Shakespeare. There was a misogynistic mentality towards women in Romeo and Juliet, evident through the way women were shown as objects, portrayed as weak, and made to seem unable to dictate their own lives. Men in Romeo and Juliet could be seen acting like owners towards women. Women were seen as nothing more than possessions, as illustrated when Romeo first described Juliet as, “My lady…/my love” (II.ii.10).
Comparing Power In Othello And The Merchant's
180 Words | 1 PagesShakespeare, Chaucer and Barnes present elements of power and control through unexpected power shifts that occur regardless of the protagonists’ representation within society. Power shifts within society can be presented within gender roles as patriarchal societies within Othello and The Merchant’s Tale viewed women to be possessions, submissive and meek to manipulate and mould them into their desired representations of spouses. This, therefore, presents the power that husbands demand over their wives and once this control is lost, feelings of helplessness and obsession irrupt, due to the fear of their reputation. Seemingly this could also be explored through the disturbing and dark tone of Before She Met Me as the reader receives a deep insight into the levels of obsession from which the protagonist suffers after believing that he is receiving ocular proof of his wife’s affairs.
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831 Words | 4 Pages“I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.” ― Mary Wollstonecraft The position of women in society has been touched by many authors. This is also the case for George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, a play originally published in 1913. It’s not a coincidence that this work was written in the Edwardian era.
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1360 Words | 6 PagesA 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
Gender Norms In Antigone And The Awakening, By Kate Chopin
738 Words | 3 PagesIn many classical novels, short stories, and scripts, there is an overarching theme of creating work that displays typical “gender norms.” In these great works, the woman is typically seen conforming to her societal role of the inferior mother and wife. At the same time, men are generally superior to their wives and hold significant amounts of power in their families. However, in many of these stories, characters are seen breaking free from these gender stereotypes and breaking down the typical gender roles of both men and women. Examples of this are seen in both Antigone, by Sophocles, and The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, through their main characters, Antigone and Edna Pontellier.
Examples Of Discrimination In Othello
654 Words | 3 PagesOver the course of the play, multiple characters make an issue with Othello's race. These characters share a common theme of hatred and resentment against Othello. Their hatred is fueled for various reasons, but these characters have no qualms of using Othello's African descent as a cause for concern. Right from the beginning, Iago shows hatred towards Othello for not getting the job he wanted. Instead of making his hate for Othello public, he elects to hurt Othello over time.
Women Being Objectified In Shakespeare's Othello
542 Words | 3 PagesIn 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.
Sexism In A Midsummer Night's Dream
1910 Words | 8 PagesNot only did men see women as unintelligent, they also saw them as weak and compliant. What made this worse was that women of higher status would have a lot of free time since they had servants to do everything. They would spend their time strolling around or doing ‘feminine hobbies’; this affirmed mens’ notion that that women were idle and did not do much, so they treated them this way. To see how dire their situation was, one must must only have to read A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While fictitious, this story does show one bit of truth, the way women were being treated during this era.
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Female Sexuality In Othello
966 Words | 4 PagesShakespeare'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.
Masculinity In Othello
1010 Words | 5 PagesFor 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.
Men And Women In A Midsummer Night's Dream
1205 Words | 5 PagesThis piece of literature demonstrates the roles for men as the dominant gender and women as submissive, which are obsolete stereotypes. Shakespeare portrays the roles of the dominant males when Egeus tells, “as she is mine, I may dispose of her, which shall be either to this gentleman or to her death, according to our law immediately provided in that case” (1. 1. 42-45). He states this to let readers know that Hermia will not marry Lysander, and he gets the final decision. He gives her options, which are to marry him or die.
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