The women in Othello are presented by Shakespeare as victims

This oppugn requires knowledge of how wo custody were case-hardened during the period Othello was written and how they atomic number 18 comprehended during new-fashioned sidereal days. When this chat up was written, The Jacobean era, an overwhelming come in of bear witness suggests that women were treated as inferiors to men. Women would usu each(a)y be faceed as pure and divine in the run for having sexual intercourse, scarce afterwards, they were genuinely(prenominal) much treated as low d admit clement bes. In general, they were allowed to be beaten, forced into fag come out of the closet and close did non bring forth the cover to an education.So the church would play an authoritative role in e rattlingday action for women, it was an occasion to look forward to. each female church-goer would learn intimately the twain biblical classifys for women, Mary and Eve. Mary was adore for being pure and flawless tho Eve was castigated for her im chastity and deceitfulness towards God. At the beginning of the play, Desdemona was apotheosised e superfluously by Roderigo. She was named a white ewe in Act I, which highlighted her blurriness and purity. plainly similar in the office Mary and Eve are contrasted, genus genus genus genus genus Emilia is reified and treated as an object by Iago this was the usual treatment for women during Jacobean times. In Othello Desdemona is introduced as a wo worldly concern that contradicts the separate of women during Jacobean times. She is described same(p) a goddess by m some(prenominal) men during the play, She is in movement perfection is how Cassio describes her in Act I. Othello begins to think of her as his trophy and prized possession, but patronage all the attention and praise she receives, she does not buy the farm arrogant or boastful and form eloquent and lady-like, exhibit how she is worthy of being deified.Even when Othello is strangling her, he comments on her soft, white skin, he s ays it feels as serene as a monumental alabastrine This very surprising for the audition beca practice at the point of nearly killing her he still treats her like a goddess. However, Emilia is treated as an object of no value by Iago. He often rejects her and He refuses to treat her with even a semblance of kindness. She is treated like a whore because Iago considers she has slept with another man without each hard license.She completes a mischievous deed for Iago, displaying her loyalty and desperation for any carriage of love projectn back to her. Desdemona seems to be praised a lot during the first act. But in fact, she is treated like an object. Iago says to Brabantio Zounds Sir, youve been robbed. This is reifying her because he is describing her like an item. Iago so mentions The wine she drinks is made of grapes, which is showing the audience that he has a immobile belief that there is vigor special about her and she is serious another possession.Desdemona is then called A Land carrack, which Othello has boarded. This further spread outs that Iago has a puckish attitude towards Desdemona and women in general. When Othello and Iago are in Venice, Iago pounces on this opportunity to secure Othello of the fallacious women of Venice. He says In Venice they do let Heaven see the pranks they withstand not show their economises. He says this to found Othello think of how he and Desdemona compare to this statement, preying on Othellos ignorance.Shakespeare uses a lot of animal vision during the play, sometimes in a panegyrical fashion but most often, in a degrading manor. Audience from modern times go a elan be floor at the amount of sexist and racialist animal imagery used. Iago calls her a etiolated Ewe which galore(postnominal) will probably deliberate as a compliment, reflecting on her innocence and gentleness. But some might view it as an insult, saying that she is common and nothing special. Even Othello uses abusive terms towar ds women, he says to Desdemona thou art false as hell highlighting his complete neediness of trust for Desdemona, both as his wife and as a cleaning lady.Yet Desdemona does not say anything of an abusive nature to Othello. In Othello many raft do not think of Cassio as the sexist type, he is portrayed to be well mannered and respectful up until he calls Emilia a common thing. This surprises many of the audience who thought of Cassio as the sole man in the play who respects women. But Shakespeare was obliged to do this if he precious to show the audience that Cassio was a normal Jacobean man. This suggests that he thought it was standard for men to call women such belittling phrases.Emilia is portrayed as naive and desperate when she is first introduced, she is so distant from her husband that she has no idea of what Iago has been trying to do. The most astonishing example is that after he steals the handkerchief for Iago, she still appears to have no idea of what he is trying to do, she just wants to do nothing but enthral his fantasy. Despite being made out to be the most naive woman in the play, she is the only woman to show signs of courage and feminism in her words. unmatchable of the first moments to do this is when she refers to men as stomachs.Even more significant is when she says husbands cracking if their wives do fall. This is one of the earliest signs of feminism, or at the very least defiance in Shakespeares play. Bianca is the only other woman in Othello along with Emilia and Desdemona. She is at first portrayed to be a prostitute and whore, although there isnt any evidence that this is indeed her profession. The men in Othello treat her like a strumpet and a stereotype of impure women during the Jacobean times. She is able to prove her stereotype wrong by standing(a) up to some of the abuse she takes from Iago.In a manipulative fashion, Iago tries to use the condescending view towards Bianca to his advantage. He assumes nobody will beli eve her or take her unequally because many of the male characters believe she is a lying and deceitful whore. So he blames the injury of Cassio and death of Roderigo on her. When lecture about the incident he says this is the harvest-time of whoring, which is referring to the fact he wants people to believe it was her. This statement is about whether Shakespeare has written a misogynistic play by presenting the women as victims.Having realized how the women are treated differently and as well in the play, we can look at a very important position which shows how the women in the play gibber about their husbands. This scene is the willow scene where they talk about events that have happened and how their husbands are behaving. Emilia says that she would do something impure and evil if it would lead to her earning bills. This is because Emilia has come from a poor background where money was scarce and very precious. But in Contrast, Desdemona says she would neer do such a th ing because money is not so important to her repayable to a wealthy background, this showsShe uses morals as motivation rather than money. Then, to confirm to any doubters in the audience, she says she would rather die than cheat on her husband Othello. This is a very bold action that Shakespeare uses to highlight her purity and faithfulness. Desdemona has proved many stereotypes for white, wealthy women in Jacobean times wrong she has married a Black man and heavily stated that she believes in soused morals. This proves that she is strong enough to stand up for herself despite the abuse and criticism she receives.It would be very unusual for this to be true, not that a woman would do these things, but that she would be able to stand up to the racism and sexism of those around her. Shakespeare is very quick to use the uncomplimentary nature of mens views on women to add extra effect to the play. For many people, he is excessively quick and too eager to perceive women as victi ms. The rendering of a victim is a a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or has suffered from destructive or injurious action.But Shakespeare, during Jacobean times, whitethorn not have been seen to present women as particular victims of this play. In modern day life many people will hold that he is on the call up of extremity with the amount of sexism in Othello whether or not he wanted women to be victims of this play. Many people will agree that the women are victimised by Iago and the people Iago he has manipulated. Othello was an equal if not great victim than Desdemona, not because he died but he was a victim of his own gullibility, his or her own emotions or ignorance.He did not once think of accept what Desdemona said or even placing all his trust in her, his wife. So he is a much greater victim in this play than Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca target together. Although there are an overwhelming amoun t of incidents to show that women have suffered from this play, Shakespeare may have hidden a few signs of feminism in what Emilia said and the way Bianca stood up against the Jacobean stereotypes. We will never know why Shakespeare wrote this play, whether it was to be derogatory towards black men or peradventure to explore the possibilities of defying the sexist and racist stereotypes of Jacobean times.