Othello – Role of Women. Othello Themes – Good/Evil, Heaven/Hell, Light/Dark September 4, 2019. This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged emilia , evil iago , iago , othello , role of women in othello , Shakespeare , Shakespearean women by Katie Gantley . In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello, women are portrayed as the weaker sex through their characteristics and by the murderous ending of the tragedy. Shakespeare Final: Othello Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. From this depiction we can portray the characters of the three ladies in the play as follows: Othello shows us how a woman’s character, reputation and power can be manipulated and distorted by men, most notably Iago who orchestrated he demise and fall of Othello the protagonist. Shakespeare's View of Women In Shakespeare, however, emphasized lack of character as a grace for his female characters (Pechter 372). Emilia: But I do think it is their husbands’ faults If wives do fall. The women were always treated as objects and not humans as if they were owned by the men. A crucial role they take on is as a dramatic device. Othello’s tragedy stems from ‘men’s misunderstandings of women and women’s inability to protect themselves from society’s conception of them’, according to Gayle Greene (Lewis). The obedience of women to men, along with the one-sided love and Desdemona’s actions prove that women in Othello are submissive. Othello is a play that asks us to examine the position of women in society, since it explores issues such as: clandestine marriage, accusations of adultery, and it includes three different social classes of women. All females play similar roles in terms of social status. Alexander Pope said, “Most women have no character at all,” (Pechter 372). In act 4, scene 3, Emilia delivers an impassioned monologue about the expectations and perceptions of women prevalent in Jacobean England. Say that they slack their duties And pour our treasures into foreign laps: ... othello quotes on gender/marriage/control September 12, 2019. Othello and most of the other men tend to portray all three women as inferior to the opposite sex, acquiescent to full extent. Start studying Key Quotes: Women in Othello. While the other Venetians are shocked that Desdemona could love a man from a different race and background, Othello’s explanation shows that he and Desdemona fell in love out of mutual admiration and respect. These points show that women are weak compared to men and are therefore submissive to them. Jealousy in Othello: Examples & Quotes ... All three play a pivotal role in the plot, but the women of Othello also reveal some of Shakespeare's views on women and marriage. Role of the women in the play. It is as if the women, as is the entirety of the story, are fulfilling the role that Iago seemingly assigns to all women when he tells Desdemona and Emilia how he perceives women. Background The portrayal of women in the book Othello were viewed as very sexist, because Shakespeare gave very little respect to the women characters. All Elizabethan women would be expected to marry, and would be dependent on her male relatives throughout their life. “(Alchin, L. K. Elizabethan Era, 2005) Iago sets the tone for the view of women in “Othello” also by stating how he feels women should act and … Othello speaks these lines while explaining how Desdemona came to fall in love with him. Women in Othello fulfil various roles in the play. The actions of all these women establish the theme that women are weaker than men in the play. To men and are therefore submissive to them to portray all three women as inferior to the sex. 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