Explore the presentation of women in Othello.

An overarching theme in William Shakespeare's Othello is the subjugation of women at the hands of their husbands or male partners, something which is evident in the plight each of the three named female characters - Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. However, this domination of women appears to manifest itself differently with each character, and the ways in which it does so will be explored further in this essay. Nevertheless, the impact of the patriarchal society of 15th century Venice is clear, and the extent to which Othello can be viewed as a condemnation of such a society is worth considering.One could argue that the Madonna/whore dichotomy is present in Othello - a phenomenon identified by Freud, who argued that men can only ever see women as “fallen” and promiscuous or as pure and saintly. This is especially prominent in the presentation of Desdemona and Bianca. At the start of the play, the vocabulary other characters use to describe Desdemona denotes purity and virtue – “fair”, “a maiden never bold”. One can examine this in contrast to how Bianca, a courtesan, is addressed by others – “strumpet”, “trash”. Following Iago’s manipulation of Othello, Othello’s perception of Desdemona is shown to change drastically as he refers to her as a “strumpet” and “whore of Venice”, thus showing how Desdemona is now a “fallen woman” in his eyes. This is clearly captured in the line, “Her name that was as fresh / as Dian’s visage, is now begrimed and black / as mine own face”, as Othello not only makes it clear that Desdemona’s reputation is now tarnished, but is also shown to loathe her in the same way that he resents himself.