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Stereotypes, voiceless women, and Iago’s secret weapon
Juliet, Beatrice, Rosalind, Viola, Desdemona. Some of William Shakespeare’s most well-known tragic and comedic heroines were first introduced to the world in the form of crossdressed men on stage. Even as they spoke out for their beliefs and fought for their dreams, the voices telling their stories were not their own. The low female status in Elizabethan society influenced Shakespeare’s works, as the women played pivotal roles in the plots but were kept from speaking out their own truths. In fact, taking the voices from the female characters in Othello was the ultimate cause for the tragedy.
The women in the tragic play of The Moor of Venice are stripped of their say in many different ways, but none as notable as Othello literally silencing Desdemona as he murders her. As Othello works up the courage to suffocate his beloved, he makes a decision.
“I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster” (5. 2. 3-5).
Othello describes Desdemona as the ideal of Venetian society: a wealthy, white, virtuous woman. Her skin is “alabaster,” a soft, white rock that was common for statues, making her a work of art. The French artist Théodore Chassériau represented her death scene in an etched portrait and he highlighted Desdemona's purity, innocence, and ideal beauty by making her skin more pale than the rest of the characters. She is seen in this light throughout the play by many of the other male characters. For example, Cassio calls her “divine,” (2. 1. 80) making her equal to a goddess and “creat[ing] an ideal that seems impossible for a woman to actually live up to” (Karim-Cooper). She stays true to that perception as she is the only character to not lie or betray another, making her the representation of pure good in the story. However, she, and the other female characters are much more than only their ideals.
Desdemona’s stereotype of the woman on a pedestal is countered by her own name. The name “Desdemona” means “ill-fated, and unlucky.” Her name foreshadows her tragic demise, but also symbolizes how although she may seem like the ideal, she was predestined for that unfortunate ending. Bianca’s name also has a strong meaning. “Bianca” means “white,” a color that symbolizes purity. Her role as a prostitute, low ranked in society, opposes the true love that she feels for Cassio. Bianca even denies Emilia and Iago’s preconceived notions of her when she declares, “I am no strumpet, but of life as honest/ as you that thus abuse me” (5. 2. 143-4.) Both women defy their stereotypes: The doomed Patrician woman and the courtesan in love.
Emilia’s name is also notable, since it means “to rival.” At first glance, Emilia symbolizes the dutiful and loyal wife as she listens to Iago and gives him Desdemona’s handkerchief. However, her character grows throughout the play as she begins to stand up for her own beliefs. Emilia is witty and worldly and is strong enough to betray her husband and stand up for the reality of the situation.
In the scene of Desdemona’s death, there is irony, as Othello takes away her breath and voice because of Iago’s rumors but had already been doing so throughout the play by not confirming with her if the rumors were true. Even as she wakes up before her death, Othello silences her by speaking the most in their dialogue. Modern interpretations and retellings of the text have taken a feminist approach to the story. Toni Morrison, the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author, rewrote the tale in her play Desdemona. This version grasps the narrator role from Iago, who is completely absent, and gives it to Desdemona in a realm between life and death. She recounts her past, how she fell in love with Othello, and introduces Barbary, a mere footnote in the original text, as a strong, black woman who shaped Desdemona to who she is. Morrison revives Desdemona, giving her voice back, and hands white and black women center stage, reflecting the radical progress society has made towards equality since the male dominated stage of the Elizabethan age.
Morrison’s Desdemona also addresses the titular character’s idealization in the original. By giving her an enriched backstory, Desdemona has virtues and flaws, just as any other of Shakespeare’s complex male protagonists. Desdemona’s original director, Peter Sellars, commented “Desdemona is no longer perfect. She is allowed to be human” (Sciolino).
Othello is a play about extremes. Cassio is either the most loyal partner or a complete betrayer. Brabatio either loves his pure daughter or disowns his rebellious only child. Desdemona is either the ideal woman or a traitorous strumpet Othello was told “deceived her father, and may thee” (1. 3. 334). These labels and stereotypes leave no room for the imperfect humans in between. Their Venetian society is limited and prejudiced. An environment where only misogynistic, white men rule. Iago suppresses societal progress in equality and elevation of status for people of race and women by reducing the minority victims in the play into their stereotypes: the disloyal Venetian woman and the violent, vengeful Moor. Iago so easily manipulated all of the characters in the play by interfering with their ability to tell appearance and their expectations from reality. It is ironic that Othello was deceived through his own misogynistic expectations and yet taken down by being reduced to his stereotype. Humans transcend any simple definition, both in Elizabethan society and today, and should not be put in ranks due to the way they look.
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