‘Typically, men control women.’
In light of this view, examine how Shakespeare presents male attitudes towards women in this
passage and elsewhere in the play. (23/25)
Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ arguably transcends the norm of a Jacobean play through what one might
perceive as proto-feminist depictions of women – dynamic and versatile. Circling a motif of
deceptive appearances, he conveys the foolery and misconceptions that construct derogative
stereotypes, proving in the final tragedy that in believe such base notions, we reduce ourselves to
mere primitive forms.
The idea that men control women is perhaps inherently linked to marriage and relationships.
Shakespeare’s period of Jacobean conventions prioritised the health and content of men, following a
strict and rigid patriarchy. Women of merit and will were lawfully wedded ‘to obey’ their husbands
and, as represented in the smothering of Desdemona by her husband Othello, suffocated and stifled
without freedom. Whilst Desdemona and Othello first demonstrate a kind of equality in their
marriage, Othello invites her to speak before the court, regarding her voice as valid as his own,
Othello soon descends into a caricature of the base, black savage that dominates the weak woman.
As foreshadowed in the animalistic imagery of Iago that is dominated by the binary colours of racial
and religious prejudice, ‘an old black ram is tupping your white ewe’, ‘your daughter is covered in a
barbary horse’, ‘the devil will make a grandsire out of you’, these predictions of dominance
supplanting passivity are realised.
Jacobean convention certainly supported inequitable relationships between men and women –Iago’s
cold and pragmatic mind, although in a jovial, social setting, describes the common attitude of a man
towards his wife. not seeing the martial union as a powerful promise before God, he describes the
nature of this ‘frail vow’ as two beings existing separately – far from the ‘one flesh’ and ‘marriage of
true mindes’ which Desdemona first shared with Othello. In his speech he repeats the possessive
pronoun ‘your’, placing wives in rigid positions, far from their husbands. ‘Bells’, ‘portraits’, and ‘wild-
cats’, unfavourable presents the typical woman, from a male perspective, as an empty vessel
capable only of producing irritable and repetitive noise that is of no value, expected to be silent and
composed, attractive and silent as a ‘portrait’, and her opinions and grievances as petty and
insignificant as the fights of ‘wild-cats’. Shakespeare therefore uses Iago to comment on the
restrictive nature of a woman’s existence. This is further compounded in the play by other
patriarchs, namely Brabantio, who declares the impossibility of Desdemona’s individuality and
sexual choices, and cannot fathom why she has ‘run from her guardage to the sooty bosom of such a
thing as thou’. Additional lexis of imprisonment may also be found in Othello’s metaphor of a female
hawk, ‘haggard’, who is leashed to his heart be ‘jesses’. Perhaps Shakespeare’s deliberate portrayal
of vivid women serves to emphasise the terrible nature of their control by men, and exacerbate their
suffering.
However, women such as Desdemona and Emilia are able to radically exert some control. The
freedom that Desdemona first enjoys, when Othello’s mind is not yet ‘poisoned’ by the ‘medicine’
and ‘pestilence’ of Iago, he elevates her to a higher position, ‘O, my fair warrior!’. Whilst the
possessive ‘my’ might indicate a lack of freedom, it is in fact equal, as she also declares to also
possess Othello – ‘my dear’. An imbalance may be perceived in their addresses – Othello promotes
her beauty and strength; whilst she bestows on him a smaller compliment. Holding Desdemona with
this reverence, she certainly influences him to such insanity as ‘goats and monkeys!’. The control he
suffers is of a jealous nature derived from his own acts of idolatry, worship, and insecurity. Driven by
an uncertainty, internalised racial prejudice, he himself becomes confused at the notions of a
In light of this view, examine how Shakespeare presents male attitudes towards women in this
passage and elsewhere in the play. (23/25)
Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ arguably transcends the norm of a Jacobean play through what one might
perceive as proto-feminist depictions of women – dynamic and versatile. Circling a motif of
deceptive appearances, he conveys the foolery and misconceptions that construct derogative
stereotypes, proving in the final tragedy that in believe such base notions, we reduce ourselves to
mere primitive forms.
The idea that men control women is perhaps inherently linked to marriage and relationships.
Shakespeare’s period of Jacobean conventions prioritised the health and content of men, following a
strict and rigid patriarchy. Women of merit and will were lawfully wedded ‘to obey’ their husbands
and, as represented in the smothering of Desdemona by her husband Othello, suffocated and stifled
without freedom. Whilst Desdemona and Othello first demonstrate a kind of equality in their
marriage, Othello invites her to speak before the court, regarding her voice as valid as his own,
Othello soon descends into a caricature of the base, black savage that dominates the weak woman.
As foreshadowed in the animalistic imagery of Iago that is dominated by the binary colours of racial
and religious prejudice, ‘an old black ram is tupping your white ewe’, ‘your daughter is covered in a
barbary horse’, ‘the devil will make a grandsire out of you’, these predictions of dominance
supplanting passivity are realised.
Jacobean convention certainly supported inequitable relationships between men and women –Iago’s
cold and pragmatic mind, although in a jovial, social setting, describes the common attitude of a man
towards his wife. not seeing the martial union as a powerful promise before God, he describes the
nature of this ‘frail vow’ as two beings existing separately – far from the ‘one flesh’ and ‘marriage of
true mindes’ which Desdemona first shared with Othello. In his speech he repeats the possessive
pronoun ‘your’, placing wives in rigid positions, far from their husbands. ‘Bells’, ‘portraits’, and ‘wild-
cats’, unfavourable presents the typical woman, from a male perspective, as an empty vessel
capable only of producing irritable and repetitive noise that is of no value, expected to be silent and
composed, attractive and silent as a ‘portrait’, and her opinions and grievances as petty and
insignificant as the fights of ‘wild-cats’. Shakespeare therefore uses Iago to comment on the
restrictive nature of a woman’s existence. This is further compounded in the play by other
patriarchs, namely Brabantio, who declares the impossibility of Desdemona’s individuality and
sexual choices, and cannot fathom why she has ‘run from her guardage to the sooty bosom of such a
thing as thou’. Additional lexis of imprisonment may also be found in Othello’s metaphor of a female
hawk, ‘haggard’, who is leashed to his heart be ‘jesses’. Perhaps Shakespeare’s deliberate portrayal
of vivid women serves to emphasise the terrible nature of their control by men, and exacerbate their
suffering.
However, women such as Desdemona and Emilia are able to radically exert some control. The
freedom that Desdemona first enjoys, when Othello’s mind is not yet ‘poisoned’ by the ‘medicine’
and ‘pestilence’ of Iago, he elevates her to a higher position, ‘O, my fair warrior!’. Whilst the
possessive ‘my’ might indicate a lack of freedom, it is in fact equal, as she also declares to also
possess Othello – ‘my dear’. An imbalance may be perceived in their addresses – Othello promotes
her beauty and strength; whilst she bestows on him a smaller compliment. Holding Desdemona with
this reverence, she certainly influences him to such insanity as ‘goats and monkeys!’. The control he
suffers is of a jealous nature derived from his own acts of idolatry, worship, and insecurity. Driven by
an uncertainty, internalised racial prejudice, he himself becomes confused at the notions of a
