Othello the Feminine Perspective Essay - 2729 Words

Othello, Shakespeare’s tragic drama, has much to say about women and the attitudes of social groups and individuals towards them. Let’s examine, from the top down, from the general to the lower ranks, these outlooks on women and other feminine considerations. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello, explains the Moor’s blind ignorance of his won wife: Iago begins his temptation on the following morning, and he is able to exploit Othello’s comparative ignorance of his wife. This ignorance is only partly due to the fact that they have had no opportunity of living together. It is due to a number of other factors. Othello comes of royal birth but he has won for himself a place of distinction in the†¦show more content†¦Once there the two awaken the senator with loud shouts about his daughter’s elopement with Othello. In response to the noise and Iago’s vulgar descriptions of Desdemona’s involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed. With Roderigo’s help, he gathers a search party to go and find Desdemona and bring her home. The father’s attitude is that life without his Desdemona will be much worse than before: It is too true an evil: gone she is; And whats to come of my despised time Is nought but bitterness. (1.1) Brabantio is the old father, and he hates to lose the comforting services of his Desdemona. The daughter’s husband Othello expresses his sentiments to Iago regarding his relationship with the senator’s daughter, saying that I love the gentle Desdemona, I would not my unhoused free condition Put into circumscription and confine For the seas worth. (1.2) Once that Brabantio has located Othello, the father presses charges publicly in order to have Desdemona returned: To prison, till fit time Of law and course of direct session Call thee to answer. (1.2) The proceedings which take place before the Duke of Venice enable the audience to hear the feminine point of view for theShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Effects of Femininity1571 Words   |  7 Pagesideas of femininity have on literary texts, we must first acknowledge what the term means. Clearly both terms derive from the original sex of the being, whether male or female, and can be similarly tied in with notions of gender, either masculine or feminine, which are said to be constructs, or labels, created by society. However `masculinity and `femininity become, on some levels, dislodged from the idea of the biological makeup and gender constructs, and instead tend to be described in terms ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Othello By William Shakespeare Essay1606 Words   |  7 PagesThe theme of power is explored in various ways throughout ‘Othello’, Shakespeare uses the vulnerability of characters’ flaws to allow power shifts to occur through manipulation. 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