Othellos Downfall Essay Example for Free

Othellos Downfall Essay Males within Venetian society maintained a higher status than women and were considered to hold the power and intellect. Throughout women’s lives, they are owned by a male figure; as a young girl they are owned by the father, but once they are married they are then owned by the husband. They were also expected to portray a feminine figure, obey and respect men, remain virtuous and maintain a good status as an Elizabethan wife. Throughout Shakespeare play Othello, Iago leads Othello to believe that his wife Desdemona is being unfaithful towards him with his newly appointed lieutenant Cassio. Without confronting his wife about this accusation, he begins to prematurely punish her by treating her without respect and later on strikes her. This occurs In act 4 scene 1, and Desdemona responds to Othello by saying â€Å"I have not deserved this†. During Venetian times, physical abuse upon wives was emitted, with the wife unable to fight back. Women were also seen as something males owned. The relationship between Iago and Emilia was clearly not built on love and passion; instead it seemed to be built on Iago’s goal to gain status among piers. Iago requests many favours from Emilia such as stealing Desdemona’s handkerchief and follows Iago in a wifely duty. He does not treat her like his wife until he requires something of her. This shows how the women were used in venetian society, there was no relationship with a give and take system. Instead it was merely the men who would take from the women, and the women would just accept that, as it was the way they were raised. In Act 3 scene 3 Emilia says aloud â€Å"my wayward husband hath a hundred times wooed me to steal it†¦ I’ll have the work tane out and give’t Iago† this gives the audience the understanding that Emilia has been requested by Iago to steal the Desdemona’s handkerchief while knowing that it has some link to an evil act ,as she references her husband to a â€Å"wayward husband†. Women being seen as male owned, is also shown in Act 1 scene 3, Desdemona informs her father Brobantio that although she is grateful for all he has done for her; providing life and education. Now however, she has a husband and she will give all her loyalty to him, just as her mother gave her loyalty to Brobantio. In this scene, it is the only time in which we are shown the strong-willed, brave, outspoken and independent side of her. It was also common in Venetian society form men to be trusted over women. In act 4 scene 2, Emilia and Othello discuss of Desdemona and Casio’s relationship. Emilia defends Desdemona’s honesty, claiming â€Å"I heard each syllable that breath made up between them† and that there was nothing suspicious going on between the two of them. However despite the conversation between the two, Othello does not take any of this into account when later on he and his wife are in conversation and he refers to Desdemona as a â€Å"impudent strumpet†. This shows how women were not as trusted as men were through Othello ignoring Emilia’s evidence and choosing to believe Iago’s. The play wright’s criticism of the way women were treated in Venetian society show that they believe that in some cases, Desdemona should have defended herself when she was faced with severe provocation. She doesn’t confess to losing the handkerchief of which Othello presented to her as a token of his love. This is because of the fact that she feared the outcome of the situation if she did, as Othello has power. Her actions in response to Othello’s accusations were merely exemplary behaviour of married women in Venetian society. Desdemona is obedient towards Othello, and herself declares of it in act 3 scene 3 â€Å"I am obedient†. Throughout the play she obeys Othello commands from the early stages of marriage to the later stages of his jealous ravings. She continues to obey Othello in the act 5 when he orders her to go to the bedroom with which she replies â€Å"I will, my lord†. Down to her very last breath she remains true to Othello saying â€Å"commend me to my kind lord†. Desdemona appears to have accepted her role completely as a subordinate and obedient wife. Through the use of the willow song in the Othello, it truly re-enforced Desdemona’s grief as it would stir up the audience to feel the sadness of her as a victim and feeling empathetic towards her. The language in the song really made the audience understand her better, rather than accepting the outcome of the play, as something that was not preventable and should have been expected. In Othello, the Venetian society, moulded on the ideology of Elizabethan England, place women in their position. This is that they behave as men expect, believing this to be ‘natural’. They are considered to possessions of men and are to remain submissive and meek at all times. The only power they possess is their sexual power; however the women must remain loyal towards their husbands. This power must be resisted by men in society as it is considered evil.