Cole Elliott

ERH-321

13 December 2017

Help Received: None

 

Research-Informed Analytical Essay: Marriage and Patriarchy in Othello

 

Often characterized by the uneasy, unsuccessful transition of power to a Moor, William Shakespeare’s Othello taps into much further social issues than just race. The transition of Othello taking over is certainly a central piece to the structure of the play, however many other valuable, important pieces stem from this and other central issues. Othello’s marriage to Desdemona was seen as arguably an equally taboo issue at the time of the early modern English era. Desdemona’s strong willingness of choice in the matter is perhaps most significant—and in turn starts to cause the ripple of effects that lead after it. But this paper will examine Othello’s conveying of the representation of the relationship of marriage was like for men and women of the early modern English period. In addition, it will look at what role patriarchy played both in and outside of marriages, and how perhaps the patriarchal structure helped to preserve the marriage of Othello and Desdemona. In Othello, Shakespeare’s ability to position characters, his providing of many stream-of-consciousness moments, and his overall flair for the dramatic in his writing make him the quintessential writer dedicated to providing a tragedy of this nature—and one that is perfect to examine the relationship of men and women in a patriarchal sense.

The marriage between Othello and Desdemona was not one with an auspicious beginning. With Othello rising through the military ranks of Venice, he became close to Desdemona’s father, and therefore was granted more access to Venetian social society and more upper-class activities. The rise to military power is an important moment in the inception of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship also. Because of this, Desdemona has access to Othello as well—and is able to see a different type of man participating in the Venetian military and successfully gaining prowess also. However, it is also important to understand that women at the time are totally confined in the same sense. Kim F. Hall writes in the women of Othello that they are, “carefully positioned according to their relationship to men and marriage…because early modern women were largely defined by their relationship to family, particularly to fathers and husbands” (Hall 262). With this we see that it is natural for Desdemona to eventually find her husband among her father’s younger lieutenants because this is the environment to which she is regularly exposed. And because of the conventional confinement of this era, women were not regularly permitted access elsewhere—making it virtually impossible to marry outside of the original social circle. In addition, this inability to become something outside of the social expectations of your father (or family at whole) represents an unwillingness to let women experience life by themselves—something they were not deemed capable of doing or righteous of doing. Hall later writes, “Defined primarily in relation to marriage, early modern women were seen as highly visible social subjects, always the objects of surveillance, correction, and comment” (Hall 262)—and through these sexist driven lives of correction, surveillance, and comment, women of the early modern era are always driven down and belittled—systematically. They were required to always be on their guard at all times in order to avoid “correction” or “comment” and were therefore reinforced of their apparent inability to live a life of freedom or absence of suppression.

In addition to women’s struggles to live freely and act accordingly to such freedom, a very important part of the woman’s role was that of their transitioning into, effectively, womanhood. Hall states, “A woman was expected to make a seamless transition from dutiful daughter to obedient wife; in each case, her behavior affected not only her reputation but her husband’s and father’s reputations as well” (Hall 262)—clearly defining the high standard set of the early modern era. It was not acceptable to bring down the reputations of the men that surrounded her—even though she of course cannot control what they do on their own time. This “seamless transition” was something of an art at the time of the early modern period. It was something that, if mastered, can set you apart from so many “inadequate” and “inferior” other women that were not engaging in the same practice. Hall later writes, “A woman alone was the subject of jest or horror; single young women were more subject to arrest than married women simply because they lived beyond male authority (Capp 121)” (Hall 262)—citing the total downward view that was reserved for those women who chose not to elope in a marriage. In the early modern period, women who were not married were simply considered—socially—both an outcast and, more accurately, traitors to the social tradition that had brought them into the world. The idea of not marrying because a woman’s wish was to pursue a life on her own, providing for herself, and without a reliance on a husband would have been considered both unethical and impractical.

In Othello, Desdemona is exhibiting a different kind of transition that goes against the grain of societal fibers. While she is engaging in the normal practice of transitional womanhood—effectively marriage—she is marrying someone that is both unexpected and, more importantly, unacceptable. Othello—deemed the powerful military Moor of Venice—is both respected and well-liked among both his military counterparts and his social constituents. However, Desdemona—the daughter of another powerful, parochial military man—is not supposed to engage to or marry a moor that is serving in the Venetian Army, even if his military prowess that proceeds him is greater than anyone in the military force of Venice. Hall writes on Desdemona’s decision to marry Othello, “It is important that Othello presents Desdemona at that moment of transition: because it is transgressive, her move from daughter to wife without her father’s permission casts a broad net of suspicion that ultimately traps her within beliefs about women’s unfaithfulness” (Hall 262). Here, Hall recognizes that Desdemona is successfully making the transition into womanhood through the act of marriage, it is simply with a prospecting husband that does not fit the mold in any way. And it is this pressure that results from the suspicion of Othello that causes Desdemona to grow unfaithful and confused in many things—namely woman’s role in Venetian society.

In his article “Patriarchy and Jealousy in Othello and The Winter’s Tale”, Derek Cohen taps into patriarchy and jealousy for Othello and Leontes (the male character in Shakespeare’s work, The Winter’s Tale) by examining the fear as the catalyst for the patriarchal behavior that is exhibited as a result. Cohen writes, “[Othello/Leontes] transform sexual agony into an instrument of passionate blame in a kind of narcissistic adventure that enforces a transcendence of their known selves by actualizing a secret fear. They then transform the imagined sexual infidelity of their wives into a fear of chaos” (Cohen 207). This assertion places the importance on the inability to have faith in the fidelity of the wives and recognizes that this trustless behavior results in patriarchy through the form of pure jealousy. Cohen is working to impress the reader that Othello performs his patriarchal behavior due to his insecurity and lack of sound judgment—because of his inability to trust. Cohen goes on to discuss the role that social organization and order play in the considerations for patriarchy in Othello. He argues that because of social order—or lack of trust and faith in it—comes the element of patriarchy that is by nature produced. He writes, “The patriarchal power structure, however, supports only the illusion that men possess its security: the examples of Othello and Leontes demonstrate that in a patriarchy the fidelity of wives is the major prop and condition of social order” (Cohen 207). By this inability to possess security, Cohen speaks of the coinciding inability for men to see the fidelity in their wives, which Othello fails to do and therefore exhibits considerable patriarchal behavior.

Cohen calls on fellow scholar Edward A. Snow to assist in his assetion that Othello is played by Iago in the play. He asserts that Iago wants Othello to see Cassio, the associated instrument of developing mistrust in Othello’s mind, in his role and that he is out to take what he has. Cohen writes, “Edward A. Snow has strongly made the point that ‘Iago’s plan is to get Othello to imagine Cassio in his (Othello’s) place.’ And he notes that the plan ‘is abetted by the language of a hierarchical, status-conscious society that thinks more in terms of positions than of the persons who temporarily occupy them” (Cohen 208). Here, Cohen implies that Shakespeare works to structure Iago as the absolute villain he is meant to be throughout the play. He asserts—through Snow’s theorizing—that the feeling of power being taken away by a worthy adversary, in this Cassio, is something that the Venetian power structure provides to further effect the patriarchy in the play. It wasn’t enough for men to have what they have, they need to feel that it is only belonging to them and that they truly have total control over it. The power structure in Othello and the Venetian way plays perfectly into Shakespeare’s unprecedented ability to place characters in positions to make lasting impacts in plotlines of his plays. And while these thoughts of replacement by another man closely linked to themselves, these characters—Othello and Leontes—also have trouble with the thought of another man taking their place that can have the same effect on their wives as they can. In other words, Othello could see Cassio and Desdemona together—there isn’t anything he does for her that Cassio cannot also reciprocate, should the circumstances change. Cohen states, “The other in these two dramatic situations is a well-known and trusted friend, the image of whose body is substituted by the hero for his image of himself” (Cohen 209). This “trusted friend” has close access to the affairs of both Othello and Desdemona, and can predict what they will be carrying on in their lives almost on a daily basis. The vision of Cassio with Desdemona is not only out of the realm of possibility, but quite honestly very conceivable within the structure of the society—especially considering the risk Desdemona takes by marrying a Moor and not an establishment-type character. Moreover, Cohen writes of thoughts of “transference” within the minds of Othello and Leontes that is being embedded throughout the play. Cohen asserts, “Leontes and Othello are impelled to imagine Polixenes and Cassio in postures in which they have not known them, but in which they can imagine them because of their own sexual experience with their wives. The transference becomes an erotic fusion of the images of self and other” (Cohen 209). The image of Cassio then takes on a sexual element that infuses patriarchal feelings that are produced as a result. Men are not content with visions of another man in the arms of their wives, but when a sexual element taps into those insecurities and doubts, the man is doomed. The case of Othello proves that  men are not strong enough to have the fortitude to brush off these images and insinuations as ludicrous and false—thus resorting to the unacceptable and despicable behavior of patriarchy.

As alluded to earlier, Iago is the driving force and ultimate catalyst in Othello’s thoughts of infidelity and eventual lack of trust in his wife. Boyd M. Berry writes of perhaps the most famous scene of Othello—Act III, Scene III—and how Iago, in his most decadent of ways, strives to infect the mind of Othello to see the false infidelity that exists in the mind of his wife. Berry writes, “Perhaps the most common, rationalized response to the play is, if one had to do with such a devil as Iago, one might well come to doubt the fidelity of one’s spouse. The fascination which both critics and audiences have shown for Iago testifies to the success of this rationalization” (Berry 268). Berry contends that Iago’s devil-like qualities are indeed the driving force to Othello’s unfaithful insanity—and Act III, Scene III is the pinnacle of just that.

Works Cited

• Derek Cohen; Patriarchy and Jealousy in Othelloand The Winter’s Modern     Language Quarterly 1 September 1987; 48 (3): 207–223.            doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00267929-48-3-207

 

• Shakespeare, William. Othello: Texts and Contexts. Ed. Kim F. Hall. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-312-39898-9.

 

• Hall, Kim F. “Marriage and the Household.” Othello: Texts and Contexts, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007, pp. 262-290. Bedford Shakespeare Series.
• BERRY, BOYD M. “Feminine Construction of Patriarchy; Or What’s Comic in ‘The Tragedy of Mariam.’” Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England, vol. 7, 1995,        257–274. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24322416.