In “Othello” the Feminist perspective is very clear and appears a lot, one of
The feminist lens provide modern society with the most compelling view of literature because men don’t trust women, men think women are cheaters and whores, and women don 't have a voice. First and foremost, men don’t trust women. Illustrates how the feminist perspective is the best lens to new modern literature in his play “Othello”, when shakespeare articulates through brabantio in Act 1, as he speaks to duke that “She has been fooled, stolen from me, and corrupted by spells and medicines bought from cheating salesmen. She is not mentally impaired, blind or
William Shakespeare is considered by many to be the most famous English poet and playwright. During Shakespeare’s time, there was a patriarchal society with a strong feeling that women were inferior to men. Shakespeare incorporated this societal misogynistic view of sexist manifestation in many of his works. In many of Shakespeare’s works, we see examples of sexism and stereotypical gender roles.
In 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.
An Unjust Portrayal of Women The Elizabethan Era has an extremely prejudiced approach when representing the societal roles of women. In William Shakespeare’s renowned play, Othello, sexism is frequently demonstrated. The female characters of the play; Emilia, Bianca, and Desdemona, each play an impactful role in showing the hidden problem of sexism. These women live primarily through the lives of their male partners; Iago, Cassio, and Othello, who think little of women.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Othello are similar in how women are viewed by other characters. By examining other characters objectifying women, men disrespecting women, and the social stigma around women’s actions it proves that women are treated fairly similar and poorly. First, other characters are seen objectifying women in these plays. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing portrays Hero as a prize to be won.
William Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous and prestigious writer in English literature and through his works has provided extensive insight into women of his time period. These masterpieces have provided the modern audience knowledge of the gender stereotypes and roles of that time. At times, Shakespeare’s representation of women in his plays are conventional and have hidden messages pointed towards women to restore the qualities and attractive attributes of a lady. Despite this Shakespeare is also radical, writing about women as powerful and influential people, opposing the gender stereotypes and values at the time. This constant contradicting of his plays challenges the both his Elizabethan era audience and the 21st-century audience.
A 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
The feminist perspective challenges sexism and other beliefs and practices that result in the domination of women. When we look at Othello from feminist point of view it is important to note how the women of this play are treated and stereotyped.
For 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.
Shakespeare'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.
Othello shows a much harsher view of women in society and even justifies a husband murdering his wife he assumes to be cheating. Trifles shows how women are not regarded as helpful to society and how men do not think they can be concerned with important things. Both plays views of women help to add to the author’s theme and make the plot more interesting to the
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.
In his play “Othello,” Shakespeare is very compassionate towards the women of his era. He treats Desdemona with special sympathy. She is the victim of two crossed male aspirations — the devilry of villain Iago and the jealousy of her husband. The main cause of Desdemona’s tragedy is the total absence of women’s personal liberty. The lack of self-development without restrictions of society and family constricts the mind.
This source explains the difference between the portrayal of women and men in Shakespeare's plays. She discusses the stereotypes between the different genders and how characters reflect those roles in societies. This article is opinionated and only shows one
