William Shakespeare’s classic drama tragedy Othello centers around the two conflicting characters of the scheming, manipulative Iago and the honorable but some times faithless Othello. But the main issue in this tragedy is the role of woman. The women in Othello are synonymous with Venetian societal standards. Only three women are characters in Othello: Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca but the roles these women play give the reader an idea of how women were portrayed, not only in Shakespeare 's Othello but in society in general. In Othello, Shakespeare presents the audience with a male dominated society where woman are inferior. Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca are all rejected by their not so “better” half, but love them completely and unselfishly.
…show more content…
The Elizabethan society was very patriarchal, meaning that women were very inferior and men were considered the leaders. Women always needed someone to look after her, and that she was not just physically weak but also emotionally too. If a women was single, their father, brother another male was expected to look after her, but if she was married her husband was supposed to look after her. The women were expected to obey any male during this era. Women were not allowed to have any kind of job unless it was a job being a cook, maid, etc. Women were not allowed to appear on stage, and in fact the roles of women were often played by young boys in Shakespeare’s plays. The protestant leader John Knox wrote, “Women in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey men” The portrayal of women in the book Othello were viewed as very sexist, because Shakespeare gave very little respect to the women characters. The women were always treated as objects and not humans as if they were owned by the men. Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca were all see as whore one way or another. Iago convinces himself and Othello that Desdemona is a whore by creating lies about her and Cassio. Emilia, the wife of Iago, is seen as a whore because Iago convinces himself alone that Othello took her to bed. Bianca is directly known as a whore or
The Elizabethan society was very patriarchal, meaning that women were very inferior and men were considered the leaders. Women always needed someone to look after her, and that she was not just physically weak but also emotionally too. If a women was single, their father, brother another male was expected to look after her, but if she was married her husband was supposed to look after her. The women were expected to obey any male during this era. Women were not allowed to have any kind of job unless it was a job being a cook, maid, etc. Women were not allowed to appear on stage, and in fact the roles of women were often played by young boys in Shakespeare’s plays. The protestant leader John Knox wrote, “Women in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey men” The portrayal of women in the book Othello were viewed as very sexist, because Shakespeare gave very little respect to the women characters. The women were always treated as objects and not humans as if they were owned by the men. Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca were all see as whore one way or another. Iago convinces himself and Othello that Desdemona is a whore by creating lies about her and Cassio. Emilia, the wife of Iago, is seen as a whore because Iago convinces himself alone that Othello took her to bed. Bianca is directly known as a whore or