Discrimination In Othello

Shakespeare’s Othello and Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan are two plays which males dominate and control. Gender discrimination was strongly evident throughout both the Jacobean and Victorian era in which both were written. Women were generally considered the ‘inferior’ gender with little purpose other than their domesticated role. Males were seen as more powerful with a harsh attitude towards females. Marilyn French examines that it’s a females “cultures dictum to be obedient to males,” however, by showing the representation of gender in both my set texts, as a modern reader, I intend to disprove this statement and show the impact of the female voice.

Shakespeare lived and wrote in a society where the ideal female was chaste, silent
An example of this is Desdemona's disobedience towards her father although being obedient to Othello. Shakespeare presents the expectations and dependence placed upon females during the Jacobean era to suppress their voice, innermost desires and emotions in order to marry for money and class. This is shown through Brabantio’s reaction to his daughters marriage to the “black Moor,” describing it as a “gross revolt.” It is therefore evident Brabantio cares more about his social status and honour than his daughters love; “look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see, she has deceived her father and may thee.” Desdemona’s marriage to Othello also broke all of societies conventions. In marrying a black man, she went against societies perceptions of marriage, marrying for love, not class. This breaks the Jacobean stereotype and shows the empowering female
According to Fintan O’Toole, Othello’s “tragic flaw” is jealousy which he carries around like a “crutch just waiting for someone to kick it from under him.” There are three types of male jealousy; professional, romantic and parental. Romantic jealousy is the most important. It is shown through Cassio’s betrayed love by Desdemona and Othello’s jealous belief that Desdemona is having an affair. Here, Shakespeare wants us to empathise with Othello as he does not realise Iago is lying. Iago is examined by Rosenberg as “feeding on all life around him,” using jealousy against Othello, however jealousy is likely the source of Iago’s hatred in the first place. Male jealousy is key to destruction in Othello, however female jealousy is evident as well. Bianca is a jealous female as she wants to go public with her and Cassio’s relationship but he wants it to remain private. This shows the patriarchal society at this