Essay: Explore the Lack of Feminism in Shakespeare’s 'Othello' to Examine Gender Inequality

What is feminism? Feminism can mean different things to different people. Google defines feminism as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes”. To me feminism is the idea that all people should have equal rights and equal access no matter their sex. The lack of feminism in Othello is very prevalent. In Othello, Shakespeare shows us the imbalance of power between genders at this time. Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ presents us a male dominant world where women face a tough time. The three female characters in the play, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca all have shown true love and affection to their mates but still were rejected and became the symbol of suspicion in the society. In Othello, unmarried women are regarded as their fathers’ property and the play’s two marriages are marked by male jealousy and cruelty. Othello is easily convinced his wife is cheating on him and feels humiliated as a result. Othello believes that black men sexually contaminate white women, which may partially explain why Othello sees his wife as dirty.
Shakespeare’s “Othello” develops the dynamics within relationships between Desdemona and Othello, Emilia and Iago, and Cassio and Bianca through the means of gender stereotypes. Othello and Desdemona’s downfall, the promiscuity within Bianca and Cassio’s relationship, and Iago’s dislike-hatred towards Emilia due to her defiance reflect the breaking or portrayal of gender stereotypes in the Shakespearean era.
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” (III.iv., 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 about the misplacement of the handkerchief and simply made strong beliefs of her dishonesty towards him. 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.
Also women are treated as a ‘commodity’ or prize to her husband as we can see from the following lines in the play where Iago said about Othello “’Faith, he tonight hath boarded a land carrack: If it prove lawful prize, he’s made for ever “(I.ii., 60). This statement demonstrates that Iago thinks that Othello has acquired a treasure in the form of his wife Desdemona and love is a secondary thing. Another example of this is when the Duke calls Desdemona in to confirm Othello’s story that they are indeed in love in Act I, Scene iii. Both Brabantio and Othello were doing trading of Desdemona when Othello said “For such proceeding I am charged withal, I won his daughter” (I.iii., 93-94), which shows Othello treated Desdemona as a commodity he won. Also her father Brabantio said “She is abused, stol’n from me, and corrupted” (I.iii., 73), which shows the victimization of females as objects.
Desdemona is the wife of Othello and the daughter of Brabantio. As far as we know she doesn’t have a mother, which puts her in a very male-dominant society as a strong young women. Othello is clearly very possessive over Desdemona, as is Brabantio which puts Desdemona in somewhat of a powerless situation. Throughout the play she lost her strength and her confidence as Othello became more powerful and even more demanding. She was taught as a child, that women had their place in society and not to move up in society. She was in pressure of conventional pattern of behavior as wives and daughters which a women should follow in the society and thus retreats herself as a child even when Othello shown harsh behavior on her. The island of Cyprus demonstrates its misogynist behavior in the very first scene where Iago says to Desdemona and his wife Emilia “You rise to play, and go to bed to work.”(II.i., 114) which shows that Iago believes women are prostitutes or objects and reiterates these ideas throughout the play and adding angst to it. In the beginning of the play, Desdemona and Othello’s relationship is depicted as a somewhat “perfect” relationship. We see them respecting each other and their relationship is filled with passion. However, in her marriage to Othello, she provides a perfect image of what society expects a wife to be. Nonetheless, she is unaware of the problems that her devotion and virtue will stir up. At the same time it appears that Othello may have been trying to prove himself by obtaining such a women of beauty and stature.This idea could’ve also been thought about Emilia and Iago.
Emilia is the wife of Iago and Desdemona’s lady-in-waiting. She is constantly manipulated by Iago to help break up Othello and Desdemona, by defends Desdemona completely to Othello’s face. She’s constantly mistreated by her husband, who suspects her of infidelity, she is not the happiest of women. In order to please her husband, she picks up Desdemona’s handkerchief when she accidentally drops it, and gives it to Iago, who has been repeatedly pestering her to take it. She defends Desdemona’s honor the whole play, even to Othello’s face, and is convinced that someone has been poisoning his mind. She speaks loudly and passionately. She does not believe that men see women as genuine human beings, and blames husbands for most sins a woman commits including making them cuckolds. When she finds Desdemona murdered by Othello, she refuses to stay quiet and instead screams for help. She is desperate for her husband to deny what Othello claims he has done. She is murdered by her husband for refusing to obey him when he doesn’t deny that Othello killed his wife. Iago has a complete dislike against all women, including his wife and Desdemona. Iago’s distrust and of women is apparent in how he treats his wife, often calling her ‘foolish’ and a ‘wench.’
However, no matter how much Emilia fights for women and talks about how the things they do are influenced by their husbands, she looks down on courtesans like Bianca and doesn’t consider her as an equal. Bianca is in love with Cassio, but he doesn’t take matters with her seriously. Bianca is a courtesan from Venice who just wants Cassio to love her, but in turn is laughed at by him for this “silly” notion. Their relationship becomes complicated when Cassio asks Bianca, who has not seen her lover for a week, to copy a handkerchief. As she considers Cassio’s request, Bianca says, “To the felt absence I now feel a cause”(III.iv., 171). She suspects that the owner of the handkerchief is Cassio’s new lover.
The portrayal of gender roles in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, demonstrates the inferior treatment of women and the certain stereotypes of men placed on them by society. Both the male and female characters in the play have these certain gender expectations placed on them. In a society dominated by men, it is understood that the women are to be seen rather than heard. The women are referred to and treated much like property. If indeed they do speak up, they are quickly silenced. One woman’s attempt to be the perfect wife is what ultimately led to her demise. The expectations of men are equally stereotypical. Men are to be leaders and to be in control and dominant especially over the women.