It has been claimed that the women in Shakespeare(TM)s Othello lack power and importance; they are used purely as dramatic devices to offset the tragedy of the main character. Using this statement as a starting point, ex

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It has been claimed that “the women in Shakespeare’s Othello lack power and importance; they are used purely as dramatic devices to offset the tragedy of the main character.” Using this statement as a starting point, explore Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of Desdemona and Emilia.

In Shakespeare’s plays, many of the female characters are portrayed as being manipulated, by the men in their lives: fathers, uncles, suitors, husbands, all control women in different ways. Brabantio in The Taming of the Shrew control the marriage aspirations of his daughters, and in Much Ado about Nothing, Hero allows her father to dominate her. However, there are women inhabiting Shakespeare’s plays who display a significant degree of autonomy and power, more than one may expect to see portrayed in the contemporary patriarchal society. Lady Macbeth exerts power to influence Macbeth’s ambition, and Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothing, wages a “merry war” on Benedick, as she controls the terms of the marriage contract. In Othello, the female characters Emilia and Desdemona are partly used as dramatic devices for their male counterparts, Othello and Iago. However, Shakespeare uses Desdemona and Emilia to assert control over the direction of the plot independently of their male counterparts. gives female protagonists power and courage, which is displayed by Desdemona in Act 1 scene, the first scene she enters, when she defends Othello and her actions to the senate, thus disproving her Father’s statement that she is “a maiden never bold,” as she has stood up and delivered a clever speech in front of the most important men in all of Venice. Emilia also displays bravery and the courage of her convictions when she implicates Iago, her husband, in the final scene

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Shakespeare controls the audience’s perception of Desdemona by initially portraying her as an independent minded young woman. He depicts her as a very strong-willed and independent character. Her first speech is directed at the senate and at her father, when she is being questioned about the nature of her marriage to Othello. She defends her independence, and actions, by first pacifying her father, then reminding him of the “duty that my [her] mother showed you, preferring you before her Father.” She justifies her actions because her mother acted in a similar manner, leaving him unable to argue and merely accept her actions. Therefore, despite her Father’s previous assertions that she is a “meek” soul, her first entrance reveals none of the timorous character that he has described, but an independent woman, who is confident enough to defend her choice of husband, whom she has married without parental consent. Thus, asserting her independence, she accepts that the consequences of her actions are her own, as she has chosen Othello out of love, as opposed to a marriage that her father thrust upon her. Therefore, she is not just a dramatic device to offset Othello’s tragedy, because Shakespeare created a situation in which she actively chose to marry him, it was not passive and forced upon her.

In keeping with this, Shakespeare also allows Desdemona to display some manipulative qualities. Before the illicit marriage, Shakespeare portrays Desdemona as taking the dominant role in her and Othello’s courtship, as he states: she bade him that “If I ever had a friend who loved me [her], I should teach him my story and that alone would woo me [her].” In this sense she can not be considered merely a device, as she persuades Othello, not the other way around. Therefore, she is not there just as Othello’s wife, present only to be slain, in order to turn Othello into ...

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is a character with a past, and a part in their relationship in her own right. However,

once married, Shakespeare reverses Desdemona’s assertiveness and quickly depicts her in the role of a submissive wife, who is obedient to Othello’s every command. This is shown when after Othello dismisses them Desdemona warns Emilia;” we must not now displease him” even after he strikes her in public, she defends his actions by saying “my lord is not my lord.” This is perhaps, because, once married, she has less choice in the events which befall her. In the first act, after her announcement of her consensual marriage to Othello, and the Duke asking if he would look after her whilst Othello was at war, Brabantio states that he’ll “not have it so,” signifying that he will not have Desdemona in his house again. This is significant for the base fact that it now leaves Desdemona with no choice. Shakespeare has severed the ties between Desdemona and her father. He will not allow her into his home again. Therefore, Shakespeare has left in Desdemona a character that is powerless to halt the events which befall her. As she is powerless to stop the events which eventually culminate in her death, it creates a feeling of empathy in the audience, which creates a greater sense of tragedy when she is murdered, perhaps more so than when Othello dies, as she is so innocent of the plotting of Iago and Othello. Therefore, she not only offsets Othello’s tragedy but possibly detracts from it.

Shakespeare presents Desdemona throughout the play, by the characters within, as a “fair” and “noble” woman, who is kind, helpful and to her undoing naïve. This is proved by the fact that she is sympathetic, and deigns to help Cassio’s “suit,” when he beseeches her to do so. Considering the supposedly “worthy Othello” and the ironically dubbed “honest Iago” constantly surround her, Shakespeare creates in

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Desdemona the most ingenuous character throughout the play, lying only once about the loss of the handkerchief he places so much importance upon to escape Othello’s

displeasure, possibly in order to show to the audience that Othello has so unjustly

accused her of lying about having an affair. Therefore, she is yet again a character in her own right not just a dramatic device.

Desdemona’s dynamic character and her transition from the strong willed confident girl, speaking before the senate, to the submissive, passive wife she later becomes, serve to display the many facets of the character Shakespeare has created. She refuses to blame Othello for his cruelty towards her and instead of being merely subservient, I believe that Shakespeare creates a character that is too naïve, refusing to accept a bad opinion of the husband she chose over all the “suitors in Venice.” She states that “to his honour and valiant parts, did I my soul and fortunes consecrate” displaying that she is forsaking all her worldly goods and even her soul in order to be his wife. Her naivety is also evident because, although she seems to trust Emilia implicitly, Shakespeare makes her blind to the obvious jealousy that Emilia tries to indicate by saying “is this man not jealous?” to which her reply is that “the sun where he was born drew out all such humors from him.” By doing this, Shakespeare makes Othello seem even more debauched, as he is plotting to kill somebody so obviously naive of the situation she is in.

Because Shakespeare has created in Desdemona such a complex character, it seems unlikely that she is present merely to offset Othello’s personal tragedy. Shakespeare has given her a great deal of dramatic importance, as without her, there would be no wife for Othello to be jealous of, and consequently no play, and

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consequently no play. It is possibly because of her lack of flaws and her naivety and

trust, that Othello’s actions seem an even greater injustice and tragedy, because he was so astoundingly wrong. Shakespeare also grants Desdemona enough dominion

over Othello to make it difficult for him to eventually kill her, as he continually asserts. Indeed he is continually perplexed by the notion of a creature so perfect committing such wrongs, as he outlines in the phrase “if she be false, O, then Heaven mocks itself”

Shakespeare allows Desdemona to provide a great sense of drama in the last act as her belief in her love for Othello grants her a martyr-like determination. This is displayed in Act IV, when she says “his unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my love.” The use of the word “taint” is significant as it is used in the conjunction with Othello’s Idea that Desdemona has been sullied, and that he vilifies her, calling her a “whore,” “strumpet,” and a “public commoner” thus “tainting” her good name, but as she asserts not her love.

Little could provide more drama than when a character, whom the audience perceives to be deceased, sits up to defend her murderer. Desdemona avers, when asked by Emilia who was responsible for her death that it was “nobody, I, Myself” With this statement Desdemona provides the underpinning for Othello’s death as a Tragic hero, as she allows him to take the blame for her death, without forcing it upon him. By absolving him to Emilia, Shakespeare allowed Othello’s retribution. By accepting the guilt and subsequently committing suicide, as he cannot bear to live with the guilt of killing the woman he loved, he dies a tragic hero’s death.

Shakespeare created in Emilia a character that fulfills many purposes. She is a

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rather shrewd, intelligent woman who serves as an elegant contrast when juxtaposed with Desdemona. Emilia speaks disparagingly of men and husbands, when trying to comfort Desdemona. She states:

“’Tis not a year or two which shows us a man,

They are all but stomachs; we are all but food;

They eat us hungerly, and when they are full,

They belch us.”

Shakespeare supports this idea that women are disposable in the final scene, as when Emilia will not serve her basic function to Iago, to defend him, he kills her.

Shakespeare allows Emilia to be the centre of an exceptional incident in the final scene when she admits that she stole, and gave Iago the handkerchief, thus, implicating Iago in the act of manipulating Othello, and showing him the wrong that he has done unto Desdemona. It is possibly more gratifying to an audience the idea that by Shakespeare allowing Emilia implicating her husband moments after Desdemona has absolved hers emphasizes Emilia’s resolution to act with integrity. she speaks her mind despite being reminded to “hold her tongue” by Iago. She shows her bravery before Iago enters, by telling a General that he was “ignorant as Dirt” and that she pitied Desdemona’s devotion to her “most filthy bargain” and that “this deed of thine wast no more worthy of heaven than thou wast worthy her” these words: “dirt” filthy” “unworthy of heaven” are interesting because they were as Othello thought of Desdemona.

Shakespeare embodies the role of, contrasts and views of the two women in Act 4, scene 3, in which Emilia is unwittingly helping Desdemona get ready for her

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deathbed. This scene is noteworthy for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is set between two dolorous scenes, and therefore Shakespeare creates a lull to entice the audience to relax, but the harrowing nature of the scene creates tension in itself. Shakespeare is also asking the audience to ponder the two women and their contrasting natures. This is particularly evident in the conversation about adultery. Desdemona, the idealist

who cannot entertain the thought of committing adultery, and Emilia, the realist, who feels that any woman would to make her husband a “monarch” thus, Shakespeare has used the women to reinforce the idea that Desdemona is incapable of committing the charges brought against her, and an even greater sense of injustice is created with her death. This scene also allows the audience to think about the nature of infidelity, as the argument Emilia puts forth is very strong: “not for dresses or trinkets, but the whole world is a big thing.”

Shakespeare uses Emilia and Desdemona throughout the play as dramatic devices, as any character in a play is a dramatic device. They are present to move the story along and heighten the sense of drama. By Shakespeare allowing Desdemona to die and using her last breath to absolve Othello, she allows him to die a tragic hero’s death. By Shakespeare using Emilia to implicate Iago, then it allows justice to be served, and for Othello to see the atrocity which Iago has committed. Shakespeare uses the women as a contrast not only to each other but also to the men in the play, as they act with integrity and die nobly. Desdemona and Emilia are not just purely dramatic devices use3d to offset Othello’s personal tragedy, they are independent characters in their own right and this is shown by Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of them throughout the play.

Bibliography:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othello

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desdemona_%28othello%29

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilia_%28othello%29

Word Count:

Total: 2113

Quotes: 205

Total-quotes:1908