Gender Equality In Othello Essay

The women in Othello and Chaucer's Wife of Bath differ, but in the end both want their husbands to love them. In Othello there are only three women displayed in the story, but the statements that were said about these three women were the belief that all women in that society were all the same- evil, whores who were temptress to the men. The three women; Desdemona, the wife of Othello, Emilia, the wife of Iago, and Bianca, perceived as a prostitute who is a “customer” (l. 138. 4.1) of Cassio. Iago is one of the main characters who degrades and slanders all women including his wife Emilia.

Although being written centuries apart, the limited expectations of women presented in ‘Othello’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ differ little from each other. The female characters are confined by society’s expectations of male dominance, female purity and virginity, and the many passive roles of women. Despite the differing legalities surrounding the position of women between the centuries in which the plays were written, both plays explore the impact of how societal conventions confine women and the ways they must comply to be safe in a patriarchal society. The behaviours and treatments of Desdemona, Blanche and Stella illustrate the attitudes enforced on and the behaviours of women throughout both periods in time and it is these attitudes and behaviours that impact the plays to the greatest extent. When characters in either plays defy their norms, or demonstrate a lack of compliance they induce negative consequences, such as the murder of Desdemona and the institutionalisation of Blanche.

Feminine roles in William Shakespeare’s Othello have been discussed to depict the traditional female figures who follow the expectations of the Elizabethan patriarchal society; however, the figures of Desdemona, Bianca and Emilia, also present some characteristics which endorse the modern gender norms of women behavior. To start with, the figure of Desdemona is depicted by her father as passive, innocent and obedient. However, when she rejects her house duties to listen Othello’s histories, she becomes an active figure, rejecting her duties entails also rejecting the women’s role of that moment. What is more, like Sinfield states “a woman should obey the male head of her family, who should be first her father (…) then her husband”, hence

My creative response to Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" has been inspired by the complex themes explored through its characters and symbols, such as gender roles, love, and marriage. I found myself particularly drawn to how the issues of gender roles, societal expectations, love, and marriage were perceived differently in the Jacobean era. I focused on the characters of Beatrice and Benedick and contrasted them with the characters of Claudio and Hero. Through the characterization of Beatrice, Shakespeare challenges traditional gender roles by presenting a woman who is witty, independent, and unafraid to challenge the men in her life. Beatrice's verbal sparring with Benedick is a prime example of this, as she belittles his self-importance and challenges his masculinity.

It’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect than their kitchen tables.

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

Emilia: Reinventing Traditional Women’s Roles What constitutes the perfect woman? From childhood, preconceived gender roles have been hammered into my mind, with women being presented as delicate, submissive and sweet. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello,” Emilia acts as a force to challenge women’s conventional roles; accenting the play’s overall emphasis on prejudice and society’s overbearing stigmas. Her contribution to evoking change within women’s attitudes is clearly shown through her loyalty, views on equality, and heroism which fuels Othello’s themes regarding gender roles. Emilia plays a fascinating character in terms of loyalty and being true to the mold of the ideal Shakespearean woman.

Women’s Rights In Romeo and Juliet Juliet being forced into marriage, showed how little input women had during the Renaissance period. Renaissance is a period in which the ancient writing of Greece and Rome, “Rebirthed”, or came back into practice. During the Renaissance period, women had limited, to no rights. They were required to follow orders made by their husband’s or superior male figure. This is presented in the play Romeo and Juliet made by William Shakespeare.

Moreover, women may have surreptitiously helped formulate Emilia’s self-sufficiency and valor in order to either live vicariously through her, in frustration with their misogynist society, or at the very least, to comment on it. Additionally, it is likely that Emilia’s independence was inspired by Shakespeare’s own wife and mother, whose atypical authority can both be confidently assumed. Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden, very possibly had more sway in her relationship with Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, because before their marriage, Mary was in a higher social class than John, as her father was a gentleman farmer (Andrews). Thus she was not entirely reliant on her husband. As

"But I do think it is their husbands' faults If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties, and pour our treasures into foreign laps, Or else break out in peevish jealousies, Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us, Or scant our former having in despite;"(4.3.90-102). The conversation between Emilia and Desdemona reveals that Emilia is beginning to see how men perceive women. Desdemona could play a role in changing Emilia view on reality, even if Desdemona doesn't realize it. Desdemona's inexperience in her relationship with Othello opens Emilia eyes when Othello goes from loving his wife to cursing her. Emilia realizes that she's in a similar position.

In today’s world, gender expectations and roles of men and women are a highly debated topic. However, the reconsidering of these expectations is not a new phenomenon. Set in Verona, Italy, the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare explores the reversal and fluidity of characteristics usually assigned to a specific gender. In this play, two young people fall in love and end up tragically taking their lives as a result of their forbidden love. Shakespeare suggests that men are not necessarily masculine, women are not necessarily feminine, and that when people are forced by society to act the way their gender is “supposed” to, problems will arise.

Throughout the play we observe Emilia’s character change, and how she suffered the consequence of challenging the system. Shakespeare’s Othello, utilises a range of dramatic techniques to showcase how women where portrayed during early modern England, as tools, chaste and naive. The antagonist, Iago takes this to advantage to manipulate his wife to unintentionally take a part in the moral dissembling of Othello. The idea where women were being victimised is presented when Iago utilises his power and authority to

“And though she be but little, she is fierce” -William Shakespeare. In today’s day and age, one of the greatest topics of debate is gender roles. It is evident everywhere, from cyberspace to the streets of home, from online petitions to marches across the country such as the Women’s March. Shakespeare lived in the Elizabethan Era of England, where Queen Elizabeth I, the virgin queen ruled.

In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, masculinity is the gauge of Roman worthiness. The significance of the roles of women in the play can be incited from the two female characters namely, Calpurnia and Portia, who are instrumental and inferior in the world of men they have to live in. Despite their minor appearance in the play, the substantial presence of these women coerces as bearers of foreshadowing to intensify the calamities of the events their placidity shall succumb to, to capture the mediocre stereotypical perceptions of women, as well as to provide lucid insight on the personas of their celebrity husbands in their private lives. Shakespeare shows that subjectivity towards gender roles results in a flawed understanding of human emotion.

Othello was written by Willaim Shakespeare in approximately 1603, and is a tragedy based on the Italian short story 'Un Capitano Moro' ('A Moorish Captain') by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. A prominent theme and motivator for character behaviour throughout the play is misogyny - a dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. Looking at the play through a feminist lens, we can see how this misogyny manifests in characters like Iago and Othello against the female characters, like Desdemona and Emilia, and therefore the play may be described as a misogynistic text. Throughout Othello, Iago is arguably the most misogynistic character.