A Feminist Perspective of Othello Essay -- Feminism Feminist Women Cr

A Feminist Perspective of   Othello      Ã‚   Throughout the length of Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello there is a steady undercurrent of sexism. It is originating from not one, but rather various male characters in the play, who manifest prejudicial, discriminatory attitudes toward women.    In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his hatred for the general Othello for his having chosen Michael Cassio for the lieutenancy, he contrives a plan to partially avenge himself (â€Å"I follow him to serve my turn upon him†), with Roderigo’s assistance, by alerting Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, to the fact of his daughter’s elopement with Othello: â€Å"Call up her father, / Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight [. . .] .† Implied in this move is the fact of a father’s assumed control over the daughter’s choice of a marriage partner. Iago’s warning to the senator follows closely: â€Å"'Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put on your gown; / Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul.† This statement also implies that the father has authority over the daughter. Brabantio’s admonition to Roderigo implicitly expresses the same message:    The worser welcome:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I have charged thee not to haunt about my doors:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In honest plainness thou hast heard me say   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My daughter is not for thee [. . .] . (1.1)    Iago’s continuing earthy appraisals of the situation all seem to bestow upon the father the power to make decisions for the daughter. Roderigo even calls Desdemona’s action a â€Å"revolt† against paternal authority: â€Å"Your daughter, if you have not given her leave, /   I say again, hath made a gross revolt [. . .] .† Upon verifying the absence of his daughter from the home, Brabantio exhorts all fathe... ...view, LXIV, 1 (Winter 1956), 1-4, 8-10; and Arizona Quarterly (Spring 1956), pp.5-16.    Mack, Maynard. Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.    Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.    Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 68-90)       Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wayne, Valerie. â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello.† The Matter of Difference: Materialist Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed Valerie Wayne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.