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Impact and role of gender in Othello

Abstract

This purpose of this research paper is to determine the role of gender in the Shakespeare's play ‘Othello'. The play is surmounted across male and female characters and determines how the females in the play became victims in the hand of the men determining social organization. This paper discusses the characters of the three female characters in the play and those of the men's whom they trust and how they later get betrayed by them, without https://www.51lunwen.org/euroliterature/ being at fault. Also, the men in the play are fortified by their fellows to gain fame and status in the society, which displays another trait of social environment. Thus, we determined here how gender shapes the character's action and how the male and females are treated by the means of the play ‘Othello'.

Introduction

Shakespeare's ‘Othello' presents us a male dominant world where women have to face a tough time. The three female characters in the play Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca all shown true love and affection to their mates but still were rejected and became the symbol of suspicion in the society (enotes.com). The play contains many complex issues but one of the most important issues is how the female become victims in the men dominant society, and this 英语论文网 conception is supported throughout the play.

There is a phrase in the play as said by Emilia of men and women: “They are all but stomachs, and we all but food, They eat us hungerly, and when they are full / They belch us” (Act 3, Sc 4,.106-108). This phrase shows that for the men, women are the source of sexuality and not more than that. They just use them for their sexual satisfaction and do not give any other authority or decision making liberty to them. In this scene of the play, Othello did not listened to any of the words of Desdemona on her innocence https://www.51lunwen.org/euroliterature/ about the misplacement of the handkerchief and simply made strong beliefs of her dishonesty towards him. We will see further examples from the play of how the women became the victim of the cruelty and distrust in the male dominant society in this research paper.

Plight of women in the play

The play displays two sections: one is Venice which is a land of order and other is Cyprus the land of disorder and anarchy. Both set an example of demeaning the women position in the men's society. Venice was a land of trade where along with other things the trade of women was famous at that time. Also women are treated as a ‘commodity' or prize to her husband as we can see from the following lines in the play where Lago said about Othello “'Faith, he to-night hath boarded a land carack: If it prove lawful prize, he's made for ever “(Act 1,Sc 2, 60). This statement demonstrates that Lago thinks that Othello has acquired a treasure in the form of his wife Desdemona and love is a secondary thing (Brett).

Another incident happened in the court of Duke of Venice where Desdemona was treated as an object in the case, of her possession by her husband or father which shows the ‘marginalization of women' in the society. Both Brabantio and Othello were 英语论文网 doing trading of Desdemona when Othello said “For such proceeding I am charged withal, I won his daughter” (Act 1, Sc 3, 93-94), which shows Othello treated Desdemona as a commodity he won. Also her father Brabantio said “She is abused, s本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。