Essay on A Feminist Perspective of Othello - 2400 Words

A Feminist Perspective of Othello Throughout the length of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello there is a steady undercurrent of sexism. It is originating from not one, but rather various male characters in the play, who manifest prejudicial, discriminatory attitudes toward women. In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his hatred for the general Othello for his having chosen Michael Cassio for the lieutenancy, he contrives a plan to partially avenge himself (â€Å"I follow him to serve my turn upon him†), with Roderigo’s assistance, by alerting Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, to the fact of his daughter’s elopement with Othello: â€Å"Call up her father, / Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight [. . .] .† Implied in†¦show more content†¦How got she out? O treason of the blood! Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters minds By what you see them act. (1.1) Othello, the general and protagonist, seems initially to be totally lacking in sexism. He loves Desdemona as an equal and accepts her with no preconditions: As this that I have reachd: for know, Iago, But that I love the gentle Desdemona, I would not my unhoused free condition Put into circumscription and confine For the seas worth. (1.2) When Brabantio has finally located Othello, with torches on another street in the middle of the night, the senator exclaims loudly his right of ownership: â€Å"O thou foul thief, where hast thou stowd my daughter?† With the Turkish campaign against Cyprus in motion, the Duke of Venice scarcely has time for Brabantio’s protestations. Furthermore, the duke recognizes Desdemona’s right to marry whomever she prefers. In exasperation the senator disowns his Desdemona, not permitting her to stay at home while Othello is away at Cyprus. So she goes with the ancient and Emilia. The First Senator encourages the newly married general: â€Å"Adieu, brave Moor, use Desdemona well.† The word use conveys the sexist belief of the husband’s ownership of the wife. Later, when Roderigo confesses to Iago his depression and suicidal feelings over the loss of Desdemona, the ancient seeks to keep him alive byShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Effects of Femininity1571 Words   |  7 PagesShakespeares Othello. In order for us to deal with how a consideration of femininity can effect our understanding of a literary text, we must also be able to grasp the notion of `feminism and `Feminist Literary Theory. A dictionary definition of `feminism is: `the advocacy of womens rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes. Although this leans towards feminism in the historical sense of the word, it still provides the grounds, or foundations, from which feminist literary theoriesRead MoreA Relationship Between A White And A Black Mother1313 Words   |  6 Pageswhiteness makes a difference. â€Å"I had no more control over my life than you had. My prison was unlike yours but it was prison still† (48). Although race and class separates these two, their experience is the same. Vogel and Morrison seem to approve the feminist concept of the universality of female subjugation (Sisterhood is Global 1984). She goes further to exonerate and identify with Barbary by telling her that she mar ried a more, and also defy her father’s wish. The death of Barbary becomes a cautionaryRead MoreOthello Feminist Analysis1611 Words   |  7 PagesOthello, by William Shakespeare is well known for its richness in literary content and elements pertinent to societal ideas. Moreover, women are portrayed in Othello in ways that confirm, but also contradict their treatment in Shakespeare’s time. Both female action and language represent these ideas such as expectations for a wife and expectations for how a woman is to act. That said, there are many other lines spoken by these characters that defy the expectations placed on women at time. OverallRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Othello, The Moor Of Venice Essay1251 Words   |  6 PagesIn the play Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare, the women take on various roles in this Venetian society. The roles include committing fraud, playing the part of the victim, and playing the part of the hero. In this Venetian society in the 1600s, the women served major purposes an d were vital to keep the towns running. However, the women also faced being victimized and stereotyped in this man-run society. Women were inferior to men, treated unequally, and women were also viewed asRead MoreAnalysis Of Shakespeare s Othello 1567 Words   |  7 PagesWOMEN’S ROLE IN SOCIETY: DISECTING THE MISOGONY IN SHAKESPEARE’S OTHELLO Judging Othello from a self-proclaimed feminist Audre Lorde’s perspective allows the reader to see the double standards women faced in the Elizabethan society. Today our society assigns gender roles to children from birth. From the baby dolls needing care and EZ Bake Oven toys, little girls are encouraged at an early onset to lead domesticated lives. Boys on the other hand, are given cars and action figures that can take rough-housingRead More Goodnight Desdemona: a Feminist Introspection of Shakespeare2482 Words   |  10 PagesDesdemona to reveal the feminist narrative lurking between lines of Shakespeare’s plays. Only through the intertextual re-examination of the Shakespearean text itself via the interjection of genre and the reassigning of dialogue, within the metatheatre, is the true feminist representation of the female Shakespearian characters unveiled from behind the patriarchal preconceptions. From this understanding we may read Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morn ing Juliet) to be true feminist reworking of ShakespeareRead MoreEssay about A Feminist Analysis of Othello1741 Words   |  7 PagesA Feminist Analysis of Othello  Ã‚   In William Shakespeare’s tragic play Othello there are numerous instances of obvious sexism aimed at the three women in the drama -- Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca – and aimed at womankind generally. Let us delve into this subject in this paper. In the essay â€Å"Wit and Witchcraft: an Approach to Othello† Robert B. Heilman discusses a scene which occurs late in the play and which is sexist: When Othello summons Desdemona and dismisses Emilia, â€Å"Leave procreantsRead MoreComparison Between Othello And Emilia962 Words   |  4 PagesAsan Joseph COM 1102 08/3/2014 COMPARISON AND CONTRAST BETWEEN DESDEMONA AND EMILIA In the play by Shakespare, Othello, there are two noticeable women who were featured in the play. One of them was the wife of the tragic-hero in the play (Othello), while the other one was the wife of the greatest villain of all time (Lago). The comparison of women in a Shakespeare text cannot be done without understanding the situation of women in Shakespeare’s time, and the cultural and social context in whichRead MoreLiterary Er Othello By William Shakespeare1514 Words   |  7 Pages1. Literary Era Othello, by William Shakespeare was a play set in Venice, Italy in the Renaissance Era. This era brought forth an array of new and exciting types of art, plays, and etcetera dealing in entertainment. We also saw the introduction of Elizabethan staging and Shakespearean language which was new to the people in Europe because he wrote for the actors and not the readers and it was complex. You often had to listen to the way the actors performed it to understand the mood and meaning ofRead More Feminist Reading of Shakespeares The Winters Tale Essay1457 Words   |  6 PagesA Feminist Reading of The Winter’s Tale      Ã‚  Ã‚   In the Shakespearean tragedies we have studied, we have been exposed to tragic male protagonists who create their own downfall. Within these tragedies, Shakespeares female characters are vested with varying degrees of power in relation to the tragic heroes. In looking back at Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, The Winters Tale can be seen as an extension of the exploration into the nature of women and power broached in his earlier tragedies, as