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Male-Female Relationships In Othello

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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.

Considering Iago and Emilia, their relationship are forced and detached. They lack mutual devotion towards each other, and the love seem one sided. lago treats Emilia as a tool and only approaches her when he can make use of her. He shows his inability of desiring or loving her by constantly mocking, affronting and neglecting Emila. However, she seems to love lago kindly with a passionate devotion, thus she is desperate to gratify him and accommodate his wishes. Her sole aspiration is to impress and please him. "Heaven knows, not I; I nothing but to please his fantasy." she said as she theif on Desdemona’s handkerchief. This great love, which is a redeeming trait in her personality and morality. Despite of her affection, she eventually recognizes Iago’s disinterest towards her and inequality in their marriage. “But I do think it is their husbands ' faults, If wives do fall. Say that they slack their duties.” She addressed. Considering the orientation of the …show more content…

She is bounded to him emotionally and inwardly, thus she invariably believes the best of him. Her utmost loyalty to him is a result of her naive, obedient and passive nature. Her love for him is unconditional, and her senses are dimmed due to her absolute devotion to Othello. Consequently, she approaches and analyzes his anger, and their arguments emotionally rather than logically. She was loyal to Othello even after he committed murder to her, which is utterly against the moral values . When Emilia ask Desdemona about the cause of her death, she replied with “Nobody. I did it myself. Farewell! Greet my husband for me. Farewell!” It is evident that she is entirely loyal to Othello regardless of rights or

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He tells him that she is having an affair with Cassio so that she is having intercourse with Othello. Iago shows signs of fixed mindset. His mind is fixed on getting revenge on Othello so he comes up with a “evil” plan to destroy Othello’s life. Iago is motivated by hate because he didn't move on from the thought that Othello is doing wrong by Desdemona. “ I hate the moor” ( Act 1 Scene 1 Line 171-174) .

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To see Iago simply a liar and fraud, while viewing Desdemona as simply pure and fair would flatten Shakespeare’s depiction of this human reality. Often when characters feel “real”, they are stereotyped illusion based on an audience’s feelings. The reader does not want to realize unpleasant flaws in an “honorable” character; just

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Iago wanted to feel like a better man in life, he wanted to have a good reputation, a wife that obeyed him, and the perfect

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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.

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Her final words, when Emilia asks who has done this to her, then she said - Nobody; I myself.

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Iago uses very clever methods of persuasion and manipulation aimed to use Othello’s hamartia against him, pointing out that “ “She (Desdemona) did deceive her father, marrying you,” so much so that Brabantio “thought ’twas witchcraft”. Through this, Iago is subtly raising the issues of Othello’s cultural differences with Desdemona; a root cause behind Othello’s insecurities with his wife – along with inadequacy due to race, degree of sophistication and age. As Iago prompts Othello to think the worst, his utterances are short and uneasy, revealing the beginning to his downfall, whilst Iago’s dialogue is at length highlighting his growing power of

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