Women have been denied their

rights throughout the ages and

Desdemona’s desperate cry for
freedom is another example of
the lack of respect that women
receive.
 Othello
The husband, the lover, the companion

Brabantio
Iago The father
The bully the caregiver
the manipulator the supporter
 Father-
Daughter
Relations
hip
 P: Children who receive strong discipline grow up
with moral values, very strict parents and no
independence.
 E: “God be with you. I have done./Please it your
grace, on to the state affairs./I had rather to adopt
a child than get it.—” (1.3.191-193)
 P: “Unfortunately, the practice of child abuse has
been passed down from generation to generation
through the Puritan ethic that purports ‘to spare
the rod is to spoil the child’”(Watkins 323)
 I: Desdemona grows up as her dad’s little servant
and has done nothing but serve he father honestly.
Although when she decides to follow her heart she
is immediately disowned by her pompous father.
Husba
nd
and
Wife
 P: Those that enter marriage realizing it is a partnership and not
a dictatorship have a more lasting relationship then those who
run a marriage like a dictatorship.
 E: “Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm!/ It is hypocrisy
against the devil./ They that mean virtuously, and yet do so,/ Th
devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven.” (4.1.5-8)
 P: “…trust in trust-involving relationships and forms of
cooperation, are the ones that we have good reason to welcome,
from a moral point of view. Not loyalty to loyalty, but trust in
sustaining trust, trust in it in full knowledge of its risks as well as
its benefits, and trustworthiness to sustain trust, these may well
be the supreme virtues for one like us…”(Baier 137)
 I: Desdemona does nothing to cause Othello lose his trust in her,
but because of her beauty he does not believe that she can be a
honest woman and a devoted wife. Othello is seen yelling at his
wife without letting her defend herself or her dignity. He even
compares her said actions to devils play, saying that only a fool
would lay in a bed with a naked woman without taking
advantage of her. At no pint does Othello ever consider
Desdemona’s stand up morals.
 The
Bully
 P: Women of position are less likely to receive the respect
they deserve because of their gender than a male.
 E:”Come on, come on. You are pictures out of door, bells in
your parlors wild-cats in your kitchens, saints in your
injuries, devils being offended, players in your housewifery,
and housewives in your beds.” (2.1.119-122)
 P: “….Prior to democratization, women focused primarily on
social rights to improve their economic well-being.” (Fallon
525) “Indigenous women, however, have frequently found
themselves marginalized by women’s movements and
indigenous movements alike, particularly when they make
demands for rights as indigenous women—not just as
members of one group of the other.” (Richards 199)
 I: Desdemona tries to fit in with her new environment and
knowledgably argue for women’s rights in front of Iago. In
turn Iago is rude and disrespectful to his general’s new
bride. She is never given the chance to prove herself as a
strong individual.
 The ring on
Desdemona’s finger is
symbolic of the ball and chain
that drags her away from her
goal and eventually leads to
her demise. She is
looking for and freedom
but instead she is
undermined by her femininity.
 Work Cited
1. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.bpl.org/stab
2. Othello by: William Shakespeare