There are not many female characters in Othello, but the only three in this play stood out for different reasons. But if you need to talk about the female characters’ roles in Othello, you have to discuss the patriarchal background, the misogyny, and the cultural stereotype background of the play. Shakespeare, in this play, Venice as a place of male misogynistic suspicion, rather than neutral. Males in this play utilize a pre-existing stereotype surrounding Venetian women. Men utilize a pre-existing imaginary surrounding Venetian women, anticipating them as suspicious, unlawful, or deceitful. We can see this aspect clearly in many characters, especially in Iago and his language. Iago’s misogyny is not limited merely to insulting individual women. In his view, all women are sexually unfaithful. He tells Othello:”In Venice they do let God see the pranks / They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience / Is not to leave’t undone, but keep’t unknown.”(Shakespeare, Act III.3.205-208). At this scene, Iago is not only emphasizing that Desdemona is a sexually sophisticated Venetian woman. Simultaneously, he is also planting in Othello the notion that all Italian women, as he claims, have a “country disposition" that is universal. His opinion of women takes away women’s autonomy of both personality and body, and he transforms his misogyny into a weapon to manipulate Othello. He is one of the clearest representations of the patriarchal view in the play’s background.
Desdemona is the biggest victim of the patriarchy. In the play, the position of women is consistently portrayed in terms of extremes. In the eyes of other men, they are depicted in absolute terms, either as saints or as whores. There is simply no middle ground for women. This is precisely the fate that happens to Desdemona, initially idealized as divine Desdemona. She is subsequently and swiftly dragged down into the language of the whore. In Othello, to see Desdemona merely as a passive and weak female character is an oversimplification of her character development. On the surface, particularly in the latter half of the play, Desdemona indeed seems to be becoming increasingly silent and submissive. She even attempted to protect her husband, even though he murdered him in her final moments. This behavior can easily lead readers to think of her as lacking a spirit of resistance. On the contrary, she is a woman who actively made choices, dared to accept responsibility, and possessed moral courage. Her tragedy never happened because she lacked will, but because her will could never be known and acted upon within a white male-dominated social order. Desdemona is not a female who passively waits for an arranged marriage. She fights against her father’s will to actively choose Othello. She is not a sad and passive daughter. She stood up for herself and made her own decision, for a young woman living in the patriarchal society of Italy, which is an act of rebellion. She also never fell in love with Othello out of impulse, and not out of mere desire. It is because she admires Othello’s experience, his virtues, and his spiritual strength. In other words, her love is grounded in understanding and personal choice. However, the tragic part of the play is that, within the world of Othello, the moment a woman tries to show her agency, men would treat her agency as deceit. When Desdemona dared to choose her husband and went against her father, Iago immediately turned it into a weapon against her: “She did deceive her father, marrying you" (Act 3, Scene 3). When she defended Cassio’s behalf, Othello, manipulated by Iago, misread this act of kindness as a suggestive behavior of their affair. Consequently, female judgment is seen as cunning, their kindness is seen as immoral, and women’s words are no longer credible. It is not Desdemona’s failure to stand up against herself. She defended her innocence repeatedly, but no one is listening to her. In a patriarchal society, her voice was never heard by any male. Her passivity is not born in her, not an intrinsic trait of her character, but rather the result imposed upon her by the social structure.
Emilia, on the other hand, is the rebellious one in the play, and finally dies because of her rebellion. So she is the one who sees through the selfish nature of the entire male world. She directly pointed out that men “are all but stomachs, and we all but food" (Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 4). She believes that men are solely concerned about satisfying their own needs, whereas women are frequently treated as just objects to be exploited. Emilia offers a different perspective on women and marriage, different from that of Desdemona. She steadfastly maintains that she would never be unfaithful to her husband. Emilia believes women, just like men, possess “senses, desires, frailties" (Act 3, Scene 4). Men believe in themselves that they are permitted to have desire and commit error, yet women are absolutely demanded to be pure and show absolute obedience. Therefore, Emilia’s role does not serve merely as a contrast to Desdemona, but as one of the few characters in the play able to say out loud the injustices in patriarchal marriage. Through her, Shakespeare enables us to see that the so-called ideal of the virtuous wife is not a natural truth, but rather a suppression of women’s desires and voices.
Bianca didn’t appear a lot in Othello, but she is still an important character who reveals the situation of women in the play. She exposes how society judges women through a misogynistic lens. As a woman with low social standing, with an ambiguous relationship with men, Bianca is viewed as a non-human being. Her emotions, dignity, or right to feel pain are unimportant. Because she is not a pure woman, she is lowered down to just a bad woman, an object that can be consumed, humiliated, and made fun of. Shakespeare reveals that the social status of women’s sex life can be belittled or stigmatized. Women are not viewed as a whole human being, but just something that can be labeled as whore.
The three female characters in Othello are by no means merely minor figures or purely passive players in this tragedy; they are, in fact, characters of significant importance. Through them, Shakespeare reveals the patriarchy and misogyny embedded within the play. Female identity is always shaped by males’ suspicion, control, and judgment in this play.