The Oppression Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello

Throughout history, women have been oppressed and silenced. The oppression of women began at the start of civilization when a need for a hierarchy arose. Since then, men have almost always landed at the top of that hierarchy. This oppression of women exists all around the world today with societal gender expectations and Middle Eastern women not being able to show any skin in public, among many other things. The oppression women face has become more complex and underhanded as society progresses. People did not begin to challenge the concept of a male dominated society, a patriarchy, until well after the seventeenth century, when Othello was written. In Othello, there are four main character, two of which are female. Both women, Desdemona and Emilia, are married and have lived in a patriarchal …show more content…
As the play progresses, the oppression of the two women increases, despite key differences between the two. In Othello, Shakespeare uses the contrast between Emilia and Desdemona to argue that despite their levels of awareness of their oppression and the ways that they consequently respond to injustice, men will continue to oppress them to different degrees.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare makes it clear that in a patriarchal society, some women are more aware of their oppression than others. Desdemona and Emilia live in a male dominated society, however, only Emilia is aware ofable to see the oppression they face. For example, Desdemona is restricted in choosing who to be loyal to, either her father or her husband. She tells her father “I do perceive here a divided duty,” (Shakespeare 1.3.209) and proceeds to explain why she feels she must choose her husband over her father. The society she lives in gives Desdemona lives in requires her to be loyal to one of them and a choice, but restricts her to only two options and does not give her the option to be loyal to neither. The requirement to be loyal to one of them does not appear to She does not