Female Agency In Shakespeare's Othello

Words: 1510
Pages: 7
Open Document
Examining Female Agency in Othello

There are many layers to a feminist reading of Othello. At its most apparent, the tragedy is a warning, an example of how much damage a culture of patriarchy can inflict. While both Emilia and Desdemona are ultimately killed because of the nature of society that allowed the plot to take place, with Desdemona the integral plot device, it is important to trace her construction within societal confines, and to question whether or not her character achieves any sort of agency within the play.
Desdemona is already hindered by both the writing of her character as well as by her treatment by the men in the play, which reflect the patriarchal society in which both the characters and Shakespeare existed. She is a central figure, whose death is the great tragedy Shakespeare wants to convey, yet she has no monologues that allow the audience to better understand her thought process, or even just more about her character’s place in the story. Her single longest piece in the play, the Willow Song, is often cut by directors who see little value in delving deeper into her mind (Pechter 114). …show more content…
Her beauty and external graces are only indirectly glanced at: we see “her visage in her mind”; her character everywhere predominates over her person. . . .The truth of conception, with which timidity and boldness are united in the same character, is marvelous. The extravagance of her resolutions, the pertinacity of her affections, may be said to arise out of the gentleness of her nature. They imply an unreserved reliance on the purity of her own intentions, an entire surrender of her fears to her love, a knitting of herself (heart and soul) to the fate of another. . . Her whole character consists in having no will of her own, no prompter but her obedience” (Hazlitt
Show More

Related Documents: Female Agency In Shakespeare's Othello

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions Essays

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions 89S. Imagining War. Instructor M. Maiwald. WF 8:30-9:45 In this course, we will consider how the experience of war has been represented in American fiction, non-fiction, and film. We will investigate how attitudes toward war have evolved throughout American history: our timeline begins with the Civil War—the traumatic event that birthed the modern American state—and ends with the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In particular…

Words 9501 - Pages 39

Gp Essay Mainpoints

GP NOTES 2010 (ESSAY) Content Page 1. Media a. New vs. Traditional b. New: narcissistic? c. Government Censorship d. Profit-driven Media e. Advertising f. Private life of public figures g. Celebrity as a role model h. Blame media for our problems i. Power + Responsibility of Media j. Media ethics k. New Media and Democracy 2. Science/Tech a. Science and Ethics b. Government and scientist role in science c. Rely too much on technology? d. Nuclear technology…

Words 24667 - Pages 99