Oppression Of Women In Othello And My Last Duchess

Throughout history, patriarchies have plagued society and stripped women of necessary freedoms. This is evident in many literary works, such as Shakespeare’s Othello and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as “Pygmalion” by John Updike, and Robert Browning’s “My last Duchess.” In all of these pieces, the men view themselves as superior, and try to control every aspect of their female counterparts’ life. Also, they feel entitled to any women they want, and they hold women to unrealistic standards, which objectifies women and leads to them being treated as property.

To begin, in Elizabethan times women were extremely inferior to men; this is exhibited in Othello through the relationships between father and daughter as well as husband and wife. Typically,

He introduces the artwork by saying, “since none puts by/ The curtain I have drawn for you, but I” (ll 9-10). Basically, he keeps the painting behind a curtain, so that only he has the ability to control who can look at it. In a strange and twisted manner, he views the portrait not only as a painting, but as his wife. He indirectly mentions that he killed her because he was unable to control her, “[he] gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together” (45-46). By manipulating the painting, he has complete power over his wife, as she is literally his property. This can be compared to the treatment of women in Othello; the men micro manage the women in order to build themselves up and assert their dominance. Subsequently, the duke talks about how “her looks went everywhere” when she was alive (ll 24). He is so obsessed with being able to oversee every little detail, that she could not even have freedom of expression. He seems to have many complaints, and he rambles on about how “She had/ A heart—how shall [he] say?— too soon made glad,/ Too easily impressed” (ll 22-24). One may wonder why he agreed to marrying her is he had so many grouses towards her personality. Ultimately, he only speaks highly of her physical beauty, “Paint/ Must never hope to reproduce the faint/ Half-flush that dies along her throat” (ll 17-19). He never mentions any positives about her personality, and by only speaking highly of her physical features, he is treating her as a prize that he possesses, rather than a woman. Undoubtedly, this reaffirms female subordinance, and male superficiality and