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Stereotypes And Women In Shakespeare's Othello

575 Words3 Pages

Othello shows how men and women aren’t treated as equals, but as individuals where one is better than the other. In the novel Othello, there are many stereotypes between man and woman. Men are considered to be much greater than women, who are contemplated as poor souls. Moreover, the women in Othello are portrayed as innocent beings who do anything to save their relationships with their husbands. Continuing on, society is controlled by men, and women are not equal to them because they are so used to what society is and thinks it’s normal. In the text, we see that men are powerful and more outspoken whereas women are introverted and slaves to their husbands. Society also creates different identities to characters such as Bianca. Bianca is a prostitute, who is often …show more content…

Men are premeditated as the heroes, whereas women are characterized as anemic souls. In Othello, we see that women are considered their father’s property until marriage. Desdemona’s marriage was filled with despotism and jealousy. “ Sir, you’re robbed. For shame, put on your gown! Your heart is burst. You have lost half your soul” (Shakespeare 1.1.94-95). This clearly demonstrates how in society, everyone was used to the father owning the daughter. In this case, Iago goes to Brabantio and feels sorrow for him because he lost his daughter to Othello. Othello seems persuaded by Iago that Desdemona is cheating on him because of female sexuality. “Iago inflames Othello with the idea of a sexual affair between Cassio and Desdemona” (Shumaker 1). This validates that in society, it was easy to manipulate others on women because of the way women were seen. Instead of trusting his wife, he believes that she is indeed cheating on him because of what Iago says to him about the way women behave. Women were known to only be obedient and submissive, and if they did something, then it would be a dishonor to the whole

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Iago had told Othello that his wife Desdemona cheated on him with Cassio. When all of it was just a lie so Iago can get a chance to kill Cassio. “Othello: It’s sad, but Iago knows she had sex with Cassio a thousand times. Cassio confessed it, and she pledged her love for him by giving him the handkerchief  I’d given to her. I saw it in his hand.

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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

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The play “Othello” by William Shakespeare. Can best be examined through a cultural, historical and feminist perspectives. Othello can be viewed by using all of these different lenses. By looking into the dominate beliefs of Shakespeare time. By seeing “Othello through a feminist perspective.

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542 Words | 3 Pages

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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1133 Words | 5 Pages

Patriarchy has been prevalent in both life and literature tracing back from the biblical texts to modern times. This masculine way of thinking is often seen as simply how things are, an unchangeable reality of society, which causes more harm than good. This is most certainly true for the female characters in Shakespeare's tragic play, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. Throughout the play, female characters choose to be submissive to the dominant male characters and allow themselves to be dehumanized by this. The culture of Othello creates an atmosphere where women lose self value due to being dehumanized and objectified by men.

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884 Words | 4 Pages

Women are portrayed as what most of society thinks they are. Society portrays women as weak and dependant. In the Elizabethan era and sometimes till this day, society sees women as people who cook, clean, maintain the house and have minimal education. In Hamlet, women are portrayed to be just that. Shakespeare wrote female roles for men because of that he tended to write his female characters as sweet, innocent and fragile.

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2038 Words | 9 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, the subject of gender roles is predominant throughout. The constant pressure of the patriarchy makes it impossible for women to possess any control over their lives or of the decisions they may make. This is reflected through abuse, adultery, and objectification as seen in the Shakespearean era. Domestic violence and abuse is prevalent throughout Othello. Men seemed to be more aggressive, controlling, and entitled to do whatever they please.

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1031 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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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,

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The female gender plays a major role in the development of the plot in William Shakespeare’s play Othello. Women are portrayed as inferior to men and are only meant to be obedient to their husbands. Likewise, they must follow social “laws” for women during the Elizabethan era. The role of women in the play helps create an interesting and dramatic situation for the audience to enjoy and comprehend accurate historical events pertaining to females. The inclusion of gender roles in Othello helps to achieve elements of tension between the couples and develop gender issues in the relationships within the play.

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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.

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966 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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Even down to her very last line, Bianca defends herself and her occupation as she makes sure to note her equality to any other woman. She stands tall against those who doubt her in regards to not only herself but her relationship with Cassio and thus, a reader can see a great difference in her and Desdemona’s characters. Though Bianca is of lower class, she continues to value herself individually more than Desdemona could do for herself. Shakespeare’s including this concept into his play goes to show the importance of not only social class in regards to peers but the importance of such in regards to one’s own

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854 Words | 4 Pages

In Shakespeare’s Othello and in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles women play an important role in the development of the plot. Shakespeare and Glaspell develop these women differently to enhance their message. In Othello, Emilia, Desdemona, and Bianca are all treated very poorly by their male counterparts.

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1360 Words | 6 Pages

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

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