ipl-logo

Sexism In Othello

868 Words4 Pages

In Othello, Iago’s wife Emilia says a lot about the sexes that makes you think of the way women were treated in the Elizabethan era compared to today’s society. In my opinion, I agree that Emilia’s views about betrayal express a contemporary view of the relationship between the sexes. Women were known as property and worthless if they slept with a man before marriage. If a woman were to disobey her husband she would be punished and mistreated. They didn’t have much freedom to be or chose on their own. No matter what kind of life they had, if it was living with her father or husband, they were being told what to do, how to behave and what’s not right by men. Comparing the Elizabethan times to today’s society, it has changed for the better. Women today are …show more content…

“I durst, my lord, to wager she is honest, Lay down my soul at stake. If you think other Remove your thought, it doth abuse your bosom. If any wretch have put this in your head Let heaven requite it with the serpent’s curse For if she be not honest, chaste, and true There’s no man happy. The purest of their wives Is foul as slander.” (4.2.13-20) This quote said by Emilia is her telling Othello that Desdemona a true and faithful wife to him. In this part of the play Othello now believes that Desdemona really is cheating on him with Cassio. My interpretation of the play I felt like women weren’t taken serious and known as people don’t tell the truth. Othello described Desdemona as a whore for “cheating” on him. In today’s society there’s not much of a difference. Even though it is ridiculous women are still called whores if either they saw or heard of them sleeping with a man that wasn’t her boyfriend or husband. If a women was seen kissing someone that wasn’t their partner they would be known as “whores” or other nasty name. But if a guy is caught doing the same thing then he is known as “a player” which people don’t find the name so

Show More
Related

  • 10 Things I Hate About You And Taming Of The Shrew

    894 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper” This repetition exposed that as a woman in thet Elizabethan era must conform to her gender’s expectations, obliging to anything that men do, as she as a woman does not have the right to be in charge of herself and must need a man to guide her as a woman couldn’t do it

    Read More

  • Women In Othello And Chaucer's Wife Of Bath

    975 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Women In Othello And A Streetcar Named Desire

    1737 Words  | 7 Pages

    Although being written centuries apart, the limited expectations of women presented in ‘Othello’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ differ little from each other. The female characters are confined by society’s expectations of male dominance, female purity and virginity, and the many passive roles of women. Despite the differing legalities surrounding the position of women between the centuries in which the plays were written, both plays explore the impact of how societal conventions confine women and the ways they must comply to be safe in a patriarchal society. The behaviours and treatments of Desdemona, Blanche and Stella illustrate the attitudes enforced on and the behaviours of women throughout both periods in time and it is these attitudes and behaviours that impact the plays to the greatest extent. When characters in either plays defy their norms, or demonstrate a lack of compliance they induce negative consequences, such as the murder of Desdemona and the institutionalisation of Blanche.

    Read More

  • Gender And Gender Stereotypes In Shakespeare's Macbeth

    1514 Words  | 7 Pages

    Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, focuses on the tumultuous events that surround a regicide. Despite being the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays, in his critical study of the play A. C. Bradley concludes that due to its vehement nature the audience is left with an impression “not of brevity but of speed” . The principal female character of Lady Macbeth is arguably one of his most contentious. Consumed with intense passion, ambition and greed she challenges the subservient role of the traditional Elizabethan woman. She has disturbed, horrified and intrigued both contemporary and modern audiences alike through her powerful diction.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Misogyny In Romeo And Juliet

    778 Words  | 4 Pages

    Their 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).

    Read More

  • Much Ado About Nothing Feminist Analysis

    678 Words  | 3 Pages

    Equal treatment of the sexes is a cause many have been fighting for, for decades, and in this case, centuries. Slight rebellious acts of women bending gender norms can be seen as far back as Shakespearean plays, in particular, Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing. Olivia from Twelfth Night, and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing showcase characteristics of being opinionated, assertive, and strong-willed; qualities that were rarely seen during that time period. Much Ado About Nothing was written around 1598 and Twelfth Night was written around 1601, which was the Elizabethan era. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to think that they were inferior to men.

    Read More

  • Feminist Criticism In Othello

    1360 Words  | 6 Pages

    Although Emilia does not ever say these powerful words out loud, she is still willing to not follow her husbands commands despite his strong character. Emilia proves again that she has powerful thoughts when she stated that,”Let husbands know, Their wives have sense like them; they see and smell, And have their palates both for sweet and sour As husbands have’ (Othello IV.3.92-5) Emilia contends that women are physically the same to men,they both get distraught and have issues that trouble each other, they should treat each other similarly. Women can still analyze literature about the inequality and rights for women through many of the injustices that are modern today.

    Read More

  • Thesis Statement For Othello

    494 Words  | 2 Pages

    As humans we all have been where rumors have been spread about us or where we do the opposite. They, however, all tend to do some harm to us and it can cause certain conflicts to occur during the process. Death can be the outcome of something like this because this did happen to three innocent people. They were all wrapped up in a bed of lies that ended their lives sooner than expected. Thesis statement: Othello Desdemona and Emilia ended up with unfortunate deaths because of Othello 's integrity towards Iago.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello

    1592 Words  | 7 Pages

    While Desdemona is a remarkably strong character, Emilia also displays independence unmatched by any other female in Othello, and there are multiple details of Shakespeare and his time that may have prompted such a portrayal. In Elizabethan England, many women worked behind the scenes of productions, like Shakespeare’s, as uncredited authors and editors (Crowley). Due to their anonymity, nobody can be sure that women were involved in Shakespeare’s plays nor Othello in particular, but there is a genuine possibility that female writers did have leverage. This may have had to do with how Emilia was portrayed as resilient from the time of Desdemona’s death all the way until her own, standing up for herself regardless of the ridicule it caused her (Iyasere). In fact, it even killed her in the end.

    Read More

  • Example Of Mistrust In Othello

    773 Words  | 4 Pages

    The men in Othello mistrust the women and always quick to associate them with being deceptive and unfaithful. Even in the beginning of the play there are hints of mistrust in women. For an example, when Brabantio discovers that Desdemona married Othello he says, “Fathers, never trust your daughters just because they act obedient and innocent” (1.1.15-17). Brabantio implies that women put on an act and pretend to be trustworthy.

    Read More

  • Misogyny In Hamlet And Ophelia

    651 Words  | 3 Pages

    Misogyny, by definition, is the dislike towards women for a particular motive. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Shakespeare elucidates his misogynistic tendencies through the characters in the play—particularly Hamlet. The role of women in Hamlet is little short of misogynistic as Hamlet consistently displays throughout the play evidence of misogynistic behavior through his views of women being cruel, adulterous, and frail. Fundamentally, there are merely two female characters in Hamlet; Ophelia and Gertrude. Though Ophelia does not intend on wounding Hamlet emotionally, she does so for being submissive to her father which conforms to the misogynistic attitude of women being powerless and pathetic as Ophelia is under control by

    Read More

  • Iago's Perception Of Women In Othello

    395 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Female Sexuality In Othello

    966 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Othello

    1010 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the play we observe Emilia’s character change, and how she suffered the consequence of challenging the system. Shakespeare’s Othello, utilises a range of dramatic techniques to showcase how women where portrayed during early modern England, as tools, chaste and naive. The antagonist, Iago takes this to advantage to manipulate his wife to unintentionally take a part in the moral dissembling of Othello. The idea where women were being victimised is presented when Iago utilises his power and authority to

    Read More

  • Male-Female Relationships In Othello

    1025 Words  | 5 Pages

    1. Consider one of the male-female relationships in Othello (Othello and Desdemona; Iago and Emilia; and Cassio and Bianca). Do they love or hate one another, or, is it both? How are the women treated in each relationship? Explain.

    Read More

More about Sexism In Othello

Open Document