Othello, By William Shakespeare - 1288 Words

How much is too much We can see, Othello serving as an example to demonstrate the expectations of a woman in the society, the practice of privileges in male-controlled marriages, and the suppression and restriction of femininity throughout the play. According to Shakespeare s society built upon beliefs, women were meant only to be married. As their only occupation, marriage held massive responsibilities of house management and child nurturing. Additionally, women were expected to be silent, untainted, and obedient to their husbands, and all men in general. In our societies women s subordination is the natural order because women were thought to be physiologically and psychologically inferior to men. As we go through Othello we find†¦show more content†¦Desdemona is primarily considered an innocent victim of her fate, just as her name means ill-fated. We see that she herself did not want to die at the hands of her beloved husband she begged him to kill her the following day (act5.2.100). She was loving and devoted to Othello and envisioned a long marriage of prosperity and dedication that would lead to her ultimate happiness. She had achieved what is supposedly the essence of a woman’s role, she had found a husband who she could love with all her being. She reflected that through her actions and dialogue throughout the play. She could not have possibly believed that anything that she did or said would have caused her loving husband to turn on her so viciously. If responsibility has to be assigned to an individual, surely she should be forgiven since one could not understand that she could intentionally initiate any course that would lead to her death and the end of her relationship with Othello. Othello had a perception of Desdemona that was altered by the conspiracies of Iago. Desdemona contributed to that perception by fulfilling a role that she thought was ideal for Othello. She wanted to be Othello’s perfect woman, so she portrayed herself as pure to her husband. She was not guilty of wrong doing in her portrayal since she was pure. Her excessive efforts to remain pure in Othello’s eyes caused her to appear the exact opposite of how she wanted to be regarded by him. Rather than see her as the pure