India Humphreys

How does Shakespeare use representations of speech and other dramatic

techniques to describe the role of women in Othello?
The common prejudice aainst women is one that appears often in the works of
Shakespeare! females are presented as weak creatures inclined to adultery" #o more it
this true than in Othello where the oriinally respectable perception of Othellos wife$
%esdemona$ is transformed in the duration of the play$ for she too has been lampooned
with this &li'abethan prejudice" Therefore$ this conception by society at the time has
influenced the relationship between men and women in the play$ a factor demonstrated by
Shakespeares use of lanuae and the eneral presentation of women" Such presentation
is also dependant upon a womans status! the contrasts in characters such as %esdemona
and &milia$ two parallel opposites$ reflect this and are thus the core of feminine
representation" This essay e(plores Shakespeares use of lanuae and dramatisation in
describin feminine roles$ linkin to ones social status and reputation"
The position of women in relation to their fathers is made clear with the metaphor of
)your white ewe*" +i,en the connotations of white$ it can be inferred that women were
e(pected to be chaste before marriae! purity and ,irinity were aspects of a woman that
were to be treasured and made her more reputable" The reliious symbolism of ewe
further connotes oodness and purity$ showin %esdemonas own chastity$ but could
also infer that she is obedient to her father$ or the shepherd$ reflecti,e of the
stereotypical subser,ience of women" This is supported by the use of the possessi,e
pronoun your- %esdemona is not independent but property of her father$ just as the
reference to her as an animal o,er a human suests her lack of authority"
In contrast to this$ .ct II re,eals %esdemona to ha,e ained authority$ plausibly due to
her marriae to Othello- his reputation as a #oble warrior callin for a more prestiious
wife" Therefore$ she is called )/our reat 0aptains 0aptain$* Here$ the attribute
adjecti,e reat could suest that %esdemona is bein described as a power and
authority$ supported by the repetition and capitalisation of 0aptain$ where it is inferred
that %esdemona is the more solid role in her and Othellos marriae" .lternati,ely$ this
adjecti,e could describe Othello as reat$ fulfillin his reputation as a fearless warrior"
In this circumstance howe,er$ the repetition re,eals him to be controlled by a superior
bein! another 0aptain which$ for an &li'abethan audience would be shock tactics as
this hiher authority is inferred to be %esdemona$ a woman who contro,ersially has
control o,er her husband" 1urthermore$ this latter interpretation connotes that 0assio$ the
speaker of this e(tract$ is a weak character in declarin that a women potentially has
authority- he could be seen as lettin women control him$ as seen in his relationship with
2ianca! he abides her because he is fearful of her reaction 34"56"
This sense of authority that is inferred to surround %esdemona is continued throuh the
character of Othello where his reference to her with the epithet )%i,ine %esdemona*
re,eals his lo,e! the fact that he is willin to call her such in public suestin his ease in
their equality" +i,en the connotations of %i,ine suestin beauty$ it could be
interpreted that women were only souht after based upon their aesthetic$ %esdemona a
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mere e(ample of a trophy beheld by her husband" There are also reliious connotations$
inferrin a hiher and hea,enly presence of one +odly and pure" In relatin to the 0hain
of 2ein$ anels and reliious personas were deemed the most important and respected
factors of society and thus$ %esdemona is rearded as the hihest authority! more so than
her husband or indeed any part of the social hierarchy$ contrary to the opinion of society"
.s reliion was an important aspect of &li'abethan culture$ this e(tract could suest that
Othello worships %esdemona with an intensity associated with practicin reliion$ aain
contrastin society" .lternati,ely$ it could represent %esdemonas ,irinity as anelic
and aain$ portrays women as bein juded solely by their chastity before marriae" The
use of alliteration also in this quote creates the sense of unity and identity and therefore
the adjecti,e %i,ine is to be associated with the character of %esdemona"
2earin this is mind$ Othellos use of the abstract noun )%e,il7* in .ct 1our ju(taposes
%esdemonas initial epithet" Here$ he presents her as a character to be feared due to her
supposed affair- no loner is she deemed as a hiher bein but as one to be publicly
condemned" Shakespeares maintainin of the alliteration works to enforce the unity
between %esdemona and %e,il and thus the audience is encouraed by Othello to see
past %esdemonas beauty and to percei,e her as a darker character"
Similarly$ the relationship between 0assio and his mistress$ 2ianca$ shares the deree of
equality that Othello initially percei,ed between he and %esdemona" 0assio asks-
)2ianca/Take me this work out"
)O$ 0assio$ whence came this?*
%espite the initial imperati,e utterance commandin 2ianca to undertake the task of
copyin %esdemonas handkerchief$ showin the position of women to be at the beck
and call of men$ 2iancas use of the o,erlap opposes her stereotyped position" The
o,erlap suests that 2ianca is untrustin of 0assio$ belie,in him to be seein another
woman" .s a lower status than 0assio$ 2ianca is more outspoken and bawdy in her nature
and she thus attempts to ain dominance o,er their adjacency pairin to demonstrate her
own deree of authority within the relationship" 0onsiderin her role as a prostitute$ such
fihtin back may ha,e been deemed as socially unacceptable$ especially i,en
0assios nobility in comparison$ but it is her lack of formal reputation which allows such
disproportionate and discourteous reactions- she has no reputation to loose" 8nlike
%esdemonas relationship to Othello$ callin him my 9ord$ 2ianca refers to 0assio by
his name$ rather than an honorific" The use of this proper noun suests that their lo,e is
not o,erwhelmin$ but more of con,enience and lust" It also adds an equality to their
relationship as the use of proper nouns is mutual" 1urthermore$ the e(tract re,eals how
0assio has lost his reputation- he is equals now with a common harlot rather than the
nobility he once was accustomed to" :oreo,er$ it suests that the e(tent of which
women were conformed to their husbands was determined by their status- those such as
%esdemona were restricted by their reputations whereas the typical Shakespearean bawdy
characters were free to dispose of common prejudices"
This di,ision between women aain arises between the characters of %esdemona and
&milia" In .ct 1our$ %esdemona uses the le(is )babes*$ )entle*$ )faith* and )child*$
under the semantic field of innocence and purity$ reflecti,e of her sheltered childhood
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India Humphreys
and protected upbrinin" Her use of periphrasis in .m I that name$ Iao?* and
complicated e(pressi,e utterances seen in- )I cannot tell/" < I am a child/* infer her
insecurity with usin neati,e le(is$ re,ealin of her hiher status and the con,ention for
her$ as a lady$ to remain respectable" On the contrary$ &milias lanuae has neati,e
connotations- the semantic field in )whore*$ )bear* and ),illain* infers her poorer
upbrinin$ suestin po,erty and scandal" She therefore antithesiss with %esdemona-
like 2ianca$ &milia has no concerns for her reputation i,en her low status and bawdy
nature" This di,ide between %esdemona and &milia can be interpreted as the
personification of women- females ha,e the essence of both respectability and cruder
natures" It would e(plain the intimate relationship between &milia and her mistress! they
are so opposin in nature that they compliment the missin aspects of a full character"
Therefore$ despite the di,ide that Shakespeare presents between his female roles$ there
are underlyin similarities that bond women throuhout the play and make them a more
powerful force than the male characters- &milia is the briner of truth contrastin Iaos
deceit! %esdemona is respected by her husband and 2ianca is open in her speech$ all
contrary to society
Othello$ despite his perception of %esdemona transformin$ maintains a di,ided opinion
of women" He claims that %esdemona is )/protectress of her honour too" < :ay she i,e
that?*" The noun protectress infers that %esdemona still maintains authority o,er her
own bein" 8nlike with many &li'abethan marriaes$ Othello does not control her
physicality and character" .s well as re,ealin the importance of ones reputation to their
social status$ the abstract noun honour suests Othellos disreard for %esdemona- he
compares such a reputable aspect to her )handkerchief*$ a tri,ial and materialistic item"
In this$ Othellos opinion has chaned- no loner is she %i,ine but an ephemeral and
unimportant fiure" It could also infer that her reputation is lost due to her inferred
fidelity" The use of the rhetorical question presents a patronisin tone! considerin
Othellos hih status$ he asks Iao$ a mere foot soldier for his opinion" =erhaps Othello
knows of Iaos wife$ &milia and her boldness$ thus compares his pre,iously Sweet
wife with a bawdy and crude character$ showin his deroatory ,iew of her" The e(tract
also symbolises the loss of the lo,e between %esdemona and Othello- no loner are they
equals but$ shown throuh the use of dehumanisin pronouns$ Othello has taken the
con,entional role as the dominatin husband"
This more deroatory ,iew of women is acted upon by Othello at the clima( of his
jealousy and as a result of Iaos manipulation" 0ontrary to his fa,ourable epithet of
%i,ine %esdemona$ Othello retorts ):istress7""" < >hat would you do with her?* when
speakin with 9odo,io and %esdemona" Instead of respectin her$ the reference
:istress has se(ual connotations and is hyperbolic$ elaboratin %esdemonas inferred
fidelity in order to reduce her status" This is enhanced by the e(clamatory utterance$
con,eyin Othellos dominance o,er her and implyin that the equality first presented in
their marriae has dissol,ed 3as seen in .ct Two where %esdemona is compared to as a
)warrior*! a typically male occupation"6" 0ombined$ Othello not only mentally condemns
%esdemona$ but physically derades her and her status in front of her family" This cruelty
is reflecti,e of Othellos rowin relationship with Iao- instead of bein respectful to
maintain his reputation in the presence of nobility$ he resorts to a sa,ae and abusi,e
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nature$ similar to Iaos feminine hostility" The rhetorical question hihlihts such an
abusi,e nature as$ as the infinite ,erb do connotes$ Othello compares %esdemona to a
prostitute and therefore sees 9odo,io as a client$ patronisin him and condescendin
his hiher status" The e(tract furthermore portrays a bitter reister$ contrastin
dynamically to the lo,in epithets of .ct One and Two" Throuh usin such lanuae$
Shakespeare presents the marriae between %esdemona and Othello as almost fictional!
i,en the ,iews of society and the manipulation by Iao$ Othello was ine,itably bound to
conform to the dominatin discrimination aainst women$ showin that no matter how
noble a character is$ women are still treated subjecti,ely"
The stereotypical relationship between a man and his wife is also clearly presented
between Iao and &milia" >ithin the final scene$ Iao tells his wife to )+o to$ charm your
tonue* only to met with the response )I will not charm my tonue!* from &milia" The
initial imperati,e +o to represents the hierarchy in society of a husband commandin
his wife$ althouh it also shows his attempts to ain dominance o,er the whole situation-
by pre,entin &milia from talkin$ he is able to conceal the truth of his trickery" Iao uses
animal imaery of charm to also demonstrate his control o,er his wife- like a charmer
does a snake! Iao constrains and manipulates her actions" This is also rele,ant to the
0hain of 2ein in that animals were ,iewed as one of the lowest aspects of society$
mirrorin Iaos opinion of women and their status" The snake also has sinificant
symbolism- as either a symbol of se(ual desire or poison$ it indicates that women were
percei,ed as e,il and corrupti,e of men" This would pro,ide a stron reason for Iaos
imperati,e utterances- he is aware of &milias bawdy and outspoken nature and thus aims
to condescend and restrain her"
&milias forthriht character is also stronly presented and therefore links to the idea that
a womans role and ability to be outspoken is dependant upon her status" She uses the
modal ,erb will to show how she is adamant not to obey her husband and instead fulfil
the truth in re,ealin Iaos schemin" Such a powerful and forthriht personality does
&milia ha,e that she repeats Iaos command to charm @herA tonue and this becomes
almost patronisin$ decimatin the con,ention that women were subser,ient to their male
superiors" &milia presents a bitter reister when this repetition works with the modal
,erb! the e(tract is hea,y with a repressed aner at Iaos trickery and her sidelined
position$ subject to her husbands bullyin" This chainin$ and in particular the cited
adjacency pair$ between Iao and &milia represent how Iao attempts to maintain a
diplomacy between them for they are in the company of nobility and thus there is
pressure on Iao to maintain his epithet of honest and true" Hence$ his use of hedin
and euphemisms 3the weak and ineffecti,e +o to in order to restrain &milia replaces a
more abusi,e term that one would associate with Iao6 work to con,ey his sensiti,e
reputation seen by Othello" It is ju(taposed by &milia whose declaration and patronisin
puts her in the more dominant position$ takin control of the situation by brinin about
the truth" :oreo,er$ the stereotypical roles of a man and woman are re,ersed- instead of
bein sidelined because of her ender$ &milia is i,en the opportunity to present her
utility and power$ more so than any male character" The role of women then$ by the end
of the play is opposin to that demonstrated in the beinnin- instead of bein a mans
property$ she claims independence"
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India Humphreys
The role of women within Othello$ furthermore$ is subject to many interpretations" .s
this essay has shown$ women were rearded as the possession of their husbands and male
superiors" Howe,er$ this con,ention was not e(pressed by all characters- 0assio$ for
e(ample shows his own weakness in admittin %esdemonas potential authority o,er her
male companions and Othello himself demonstrates the uncon,entional equality between
he and his wife" 1or the character of Iao howe,er$ the position of women remains
deroatory- he maintains influence o,er &milia and persuades Othello to see %esdemona
in a darker liht$ and this is complimentary to the ,iews presented in &li'abethan society"
:ost sinificantly$ the status of a woman is to determine her freedom in relation to men-
as seen in the contrasts between &milia and 2ianca and %esdemona$ women who were of
a hih and fa,ourable reputation were conformed by respectability$ shapin their
lanuae and presentation" Those of lower status were thus liberated$ free to condemn$
speak crudely and be defensi,e aainst male prejudices" This liberation is permeated in
the end of Othello as women are i,en the space to share their opinions and stress the
truth$ contrary to the openin scenes$ which re,eals that the role of women has resol,ed
into independent capability from constrained respectability"
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