In Your Opinion Does Shakespeare Marginalise Women, or Praise Their Strengths?

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Do you believe that Shakespeare victimises and marginalises women or praises their independence and strength?

        Shakespeare’s Othello contains only three female characters, Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. There are many ways of interpreting these three antagonistic characters and their roles in the play. However, before we can undertake this task we have to assess the reasons behind Shakespeare’s inclusion of such females. Depending on whether we take a modern reading of the play or a periodic one can change our feelings towards these three women.  For example, a modern day reading of Emilia standing up to Iago, means she did the right thing and therefore Shakespeare is praising her, but a periodic reading would show her as immoral and he is therefore victimising her, and pushing her to the edges of society.

Despite the connection of women to Iago's schemes, they are neither the targets nor the stimulus for his revenge. Instead, they are relegated to tertiary roles. Nevertheless, the women still suffer the most from Iago's plans. Beyond Desdemona's obvious objectification, the women in the play are defined in sexual terms, for example Bianca is portrayed as a prostitute as Cassio refers to her as ‘A customer’. Consequently, because women's roles are socially constructed as either the good woman and wife or the evil seductress, the male figures in their lives often suspect women of infidelity. They are not seen as adjustable human beings. If women prove not to be the loyal wives and mothers, they are whores capable of deceit and manipulation, emphasising society’s views of females at this time and how they were victimised according to their sexuality.

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Furthermore, throughout the play there is only three female characters, even the servants and clowns are males. This echo’s ‘The Tempest’ where Shakespeare victimises Miranda, as she is the only female character in the play. It is argued that Shakespeare likes to have few females involved so that he can closely analyse their characters and roles in society, which is why they are so closely gender-stereotyped. The three women symbolise the three aspects of womanhood; Desdemona, the innocent and pure ‘jewel’, ‘a maiden never bold,/ of spirit’ who is moral and feminine; Emilia, a loyal wife who also defends herself ...

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