Gender Stereotypes In Shakespeare's Othello

Shakespeare’s Othello challenges gender stereotypes found in other texts of the era. The one major female character at first seems to be a largely rare type of character in a tragedy, a strong, outspoken woman who also happens to be good and innocent. Her initial actions in the story are very bold, not only does she goes against her father by marrying Othello, but she also shows herself in the Venetian senate chamber to testify in support for her love of Othello and her wishes to accompany him on his military campaign. She shows no fear of public speech or speaking her mind to others above her. Many early modern texts, however, bind women to the acts of silence and obedience. Many parts of Desdemona’s bold personality can allow for a negative interpretation if someone happens to read her with an intent to find some sort of fault. Othello’s lieutenant, Iago, is one of these readers. He makes the assumption that his own wife was being unfaithful to him, despite there being no evidence in the play showing that this assumption is true. Iago suggests to Othello that because Desdemona defied her father in marrying him, she will in turn deceive
They are interested to examine how the gender philosophies of the drama interconnect to destroy both Othello and Desdemona, as well as many others. The undeserved grief inflicted upon Desdemona reveals how easily an early modern woman could lose the designation of a good wife and be labeled as a whore. Similarly awful is that this murder of Desdemona coincides with the play’s intensifying stress on Othello’s barbarity, enabling the fantasy of victimized womanhood endangered by masculinity. In the end, the play provides multiple cases between different characters where each party crumbles in the end, offering feminists with plenty of material to discuss on whether the downfall of a male character of a female