Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello concerns the issues of racial inequality, but at its core, it also explores society's enforcement of gender roles on women and the way they are treated and act despite being forced into these roles by their male counterparts – they are forced to function in their appropriate gender roles in a society conditioned by war in order to survive. The portrayal of women divided into the categories of virgin and whore, consequently leading the two to be confused with
A feminist analysis of William Shakespeare's play Othello allows us to judge the different marital relationships and the treatment of women in Elizabethan England. The notions of the Elizabethan patriarchal society, the practice of privileges in these marriages, and the suppression and restriction of femininity are all exhibited through Othello’s Venetian society. According to the Elizabethan Era, women were expected only to marry and keep responsibilities of the household, justified and acceptable
William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy. The story tends to focus more on the male characters, Othello and Iago. However, the two main female characters, Desdemona and Emilia, played an active role but are often overlooked as just supporting characters. This is probably due to the time period that the writing occurred. This was the Elizabethan era. Elizabethan Women were subservient to men. They were dependent on their male family members. They were even used to merge alliances with other powerful
Throughout the course of the play Othello, Desdemona's character evolves and develops. In the beginning of the play, Desdemona was a strong woman who challenged traditional Venetian beliefs, but as the story goes on, her strength is weakened and her relationship with her husband diminishes. Desdemona starts off in a period of naïve, happy love of Othello, progresses to a phase of bitterness at his treatment of her, and ends with a final, powerful adoration for her husband that survives even through