The Role Of Women In Utopia And — страница 2

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wealthy fathers of the time probably considered their precious daughter “perfect”. Her tainting after marriage with Othello is an example of the lack of distinction of wives from their husbands in Shakespearean times. Since a wife was almost only seen as an extension of her husband, it’s not surprising but slightly disturbing that she was labelled “black” after marrying a black man. Also, Desdemona is constructed in terms of Bianca and Emilia, because all women are the same in a misogynistic culture. Desdemona is not simply the opposite of Bianca. Symbols are regularly used in “Othello” to illustrate what a woman life was really like in the times of Othello, i.e. what their role in society was. The quote “They are all but stomachs, and we are all but food, To eat

us hungrily, and when they are full, They belch us”, pretty much sums up the sort of life a woman faced as she grew up and got married, they had a purpose and were expected to fulfil it. Also, the handkerchief in “Othello” is a symbol for female silence. Silent and obedient women in the 16th and 17th centuries were often into sewing. Othello laments her after deciding her death by saying “So delicate with her needle”. The needles Excellency (1631) cautioned women to “use their tongues lesse, and their tongues more”. I believe it was Iago who was in this case the snake fouling the Garden of Eden (an exaggeration perhaps, but with the exception of Othello’s paranoia, it appeared to be a loving and well-suited marriage). The theme’s (prejudice and unbridled

jealousy) are all characteristics of the males only. I also believe that Emilia was innocent in the whole matter. She was a good but a weak woman. She was unaware of her husband’s intent and when Othello questions her about her mistress’s (Desdemona) habits, she staunchly defends Desdemona’s virtue. It could be said that Othello’s and Desdemona’s love was a real and true one, although human frailty aside, if he loved her that much, he should probable have believed her word over a person he knew far less and one with a grudge against him. There is possibly a comment on how eager people were to dismiss women as being capable of adultery and how a man, even a potential enemy or rival’s word would be believed before a woman’s, even a wife. I feel that Othello contains a

reversal of roles from what was perceived as the norm in Shakespearean time. In fact, a boy often played Desdemona when the play is acted out in theatres. Desdemona acts independently in choosing a husband herself; a rare, daring and very shocking move for those involved, like Brabianto. Also, Desdemona regarded the mind more than the features of men, with a singularity rather to be admired than imitated. Neither is Desdemona to be altogether condemned for the unsuitableness of the person whom she selected for her lover, He was a soldier, and a brave one; and by his conduct in bloody wars against the Turks, had risen to the rank of general in the Venetian service, and was esteemed and trusted by the state. On the other hand, “It’s possible that Desdemona’s sole point in the

marriage was less a sexual relationship than a symbol that Othello is loved and accepted as a person, a brother in the Venetian community” (266). Paralleling Auden, Richard.S.Ide stated “Othello’s quest is for social acceptance, for entrance into the domestic circumscriptions of love and social intercourse”. So we have a woman marrying for love and a man marrying a powerful woman for her prestige, a reverse of roles, I feel. This is a typical role, in some ways though for a woman at the time, as they appear to be mere commodities at times, figures in a business transaction. There is also an attitude that females are naturally pure in the story, Brabianto believes Desdemona has been possessed by some evil spirit that caused her to leave it, in other words, Othello

enchanted her. This could be the only reason for her unusual behaviour. “How she got out? O treason of the blood! Fathers from hence trust not your daughters’ mind, By what you see them act” (I, I, 168-71). Brabianto had an idea (allusion perhaps) of what Desdemona was and her actions destroyed this illusion. Once she has been “possessed”, she must leave the house. However, if Desdemona is possessed, she may not mean her words of devotion to him and this increases his paranoia that she could be unfaithful to him. Othello: “Swear thou art honest”. Desdemona : “Heaven doth truly knows it”. Othello : “Heaven truly knows that thou art false as well”. He also accuses her of being a devil. “O devil, devil! If that earth could teem with woman’s tears, Each drop