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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help
perhaps an essay on the three principle women in othello would be better--Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. each one is shown in relation to a particular man (Othello, Iago and Cassio) and is contrasted with the other women, which reveal how the sterotypical verison of womanhood impacts their lives (and deaths)...things like for men the standard of morality is honesty, whereas for women it is chasity...Emilia is the rebel, whereas Desdemona and Bianca are completly passive...if you want to look at Desdemona alone focus on the destructive results of her unwillingness to confront Othello...an intresting angle perhaps would be to examine the evolution of this topic in Shakepearean criticism...the earlier, mostly male critics, praised her for it, yet the later stuff recognozies the role D. playe din her own demise. there's a quote by critic Leslie Fielder, "the male nightmare of unmerited betrayl and the female dream of patient suffering rewarded" hence O.'s murder and D.'s attempted cover-up...the line where D. lists her sins to O. as "the loves I bear you" indicate the D. herself might have realized her role in the tragedy--
another note...one of the most terrible, aching lines in Shakespeare's entire cannon is spoken by Bianca in Act IV, i:
"An you'll come to supper tonight you
may; an yuo will not, come when you're
next prepared for."
What woman hasn't at some point dealt with that--which is why Shakespeare's comments on gender relations are the most enduring message of the entire play...
Posted by lindy on April 08, 1997 at 22:42:16
In Reply to "HELP!! PAPER TOPIC!! SOMETHING DEALING WITH PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN!!" posted by Stephanie on April 07, 1997 at 16:42:29
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help