Othello

A detailed Summary of Othello

Othello and the Depiction of Women

Desdemona is a bad portrayal of a women's role in society. She is depicted as the adulterous lover. Othello believes Iago, when he says that Desdemona was caught with Cassio. Desdemona tries to tell Othello that Iago has been lying to him. Othello never gives her the chance to explain. So, Othello kills her and soon learns the truth. He feels awful after the killing but can do nothing.

Shakespeare is proving that women are mere objects. That when the act inappropriately, they need to be put in their place. Shakespeare proves that women are incapable of being faithful. Shakespeare wrote like this because of the Elizabethan Era. In the Elizabethan Era, women were despised as humans. Typically they were thought of as less than human. Animals were usually a step above women. Othello confirms this stereotype. Often Desdemona is referred as the devil and there are several derogatory terms.

If we are to assume, as Richard Levin speculates, that women were in the audiences of many Renaissance plays, it is then highly possible that feminine stage images were affected by their presence(Levin 165). Likewise, the issues represented by these images would have been constructed to tak

She that was fair and never proud, Had tongue at will, and yet was never loud

Fled from her wish, and yet said 'now I may', She that being angered, her

Iago's testimony is satirical, yet accurate in describing Desdemona's meekness. But, does Othello fulfill the masculine role as defined in the "Homily?" The roles appear to be reversed somewhat when Othello's "vanity," due to his "fantasies" of being cuckolded, and Iago's misogynist "opinions" are revealed. Both men are driven by the same mental dispositions naturally assigned to women.

The anonymous author of the homily carefully notes that if certain grievances arise in a marriage that the devil and his vices cause them. The couple, acknowledging such, is advised to pray for one another, whomever the vice is perpetuated, so that God may intervene henceforth restoring the "lawful friendly fellowship" between them. Though Desdemona is never actually aware that Iago is the evil incarnate, she constantly prays when she realizes her marriage is in jeopardy. When Emila suggests jealousy as a motive for her marital problems, Desdemona exclaims, " Heaven keep that monster from Othello's mind!" (III.iv.163) In the brothel scene, she cries, "O heaven, forgive us!" (IV.ii.89) because of Othello's blasphemous accusations of infidelity. Afterwards, she even seeks redemption for whomever has caused this strife lamenting, "If any such there be, heaven pardon him"(IV.ii.137).

The "Homily" advises, in addition to praying, that the "husband" should take further precautions in securing the marriage's solidarity: he should subtly overlook a women's temperament due to its frailty. His moderation is viewed more favorably than if he'd failed to recognize the woman's faults and respond violently. Unfortunately, Othello is driven by his

in wisdom never was so frail, To change the cod's head for the salmon's tail...(II.i.143-155)

revenge being nigh, Bade her wrong stay, and her displeasure fly, She that

e these women into account in order to satisfy them as paying customers. Considering that Shakespeare and his contemporaries produced in a period where doctrines such as "An Homily of the State of Matrimony" and Juan Luis Vives' _The Instruction of a Christian Woman_were used to define the nature of women, the chances of art imitating life was very likely.

Some common words found in the essay are:
IIIiii89 Desdemona's, Homily Matrimony, IVii89 Othello's, Othello Iago, Richard Levin, Elizabethan Era, Women Desdemona, Christian Woman_were, Considering Shakespeare, Cassio Desdemona, elizabethan era, homily matrimony,

Approximate Word count = 1755
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English