Shakespeare’s Othello: Misogynistic Ideals of the Time

A major part of Shakespeare’s Othello is Othello’s obsession on less-than-damning proof of his wife Desdemona’s infidelity. Othello states that “he’ll see before he doubts; when he doubts, prove;”. This research paper explores the potential different reasons that Othello was so infatuated with having proof. Othello was so fixated on having ocular proof due to his abusive relationship with Desdemona, misogynistic ideals of the time, Othello’s affliction with Multiple Personality Disorder, Shakespeare’s blatant plagiarism of great authors before him, and the instigator, Iago. The first reason Othello was so obsessed with the handkerchief is because he was the abuser in his relationship with Desdemona. 

Desdemona was a great and loyal wife to Othello. She is respectful when she speaks, especially when she pledges her loyalty to Othello to her father. She addresses that she is loyal to her father, but that she is more loyal to her husband. This makes the aspect of Desdemona and Othello’s abusive relationship even worse. Othello pays no attention to Desdemona’s loyalty and dedication to him. Othello exemplifies the classic symptoms of an abusive spouse. He is obsessed with Desdemona and very possessive of her. He “defines himself through his marriage with Desdemona”. Defining identity based on someone else’s involvement is an unhealthy behavior that is a sign of an abusive relationship. It is also an argument that Abraham Feldman uses to justify his obsession. Feldman argues that since Othello’s integrity depends on Desdemona’s integrity, he is easily convinced of her dishonesty because of his unsettling thoughts of himself looking dishonesty. Othello also exemplifies another sign of an abuser in that he has unstable moods. Othello’s mood changes very quickly and is very dependent on others. Lago throws small hints that Desdemona may be unfaithful and Othello lashes out immediately. Although he claims he needs “ocular proof”, his hasty mood change caused this proof to be misleading by incriminating an innocent woman, Desdemona. Othello also “strikes her” which is the most basic form of physical abuse.

The final proof that Desdemona and Othello have an abusive relationship is Desdemona’s reactions to Othello’s behavior. Desdemona exhibits classic symptoms of an abused spouse. When Othello is mad at her, Desdemona reacts by trying to fix the situation. Even though she has not done anything wrong, Desdemona asks Iago, “what shall she do to win my lord again?”. She is so worried about Othello that she is willing to try to win him back even though he is the one who is wrong. When Othello is telling her he is going to kill her, Desdemona reacts by trying to calm him down and trying to reason with him. She maintains her innocence throughout their argument and begs Othello for mercy on her and begs for her life when she says “let me live tonight!”. Begging and trying to calm the abuser down are signs that victims of abuse show. Desdemona also blames herself for her own death even though Othello was at fault. When asked by Emilia who killed her, Desdemona replies, “Nobody. I myself.”. Othello killed her and she blamed herself. Another reason Othello was so obsessed with having proof and then using that proof to wrongly accuse his wife was because of the misogynistic notions held during the time period. 

During this time, women were viewed as possessions. They were the property of men and how they acted reflected their man. Othello viewed Desdemona as something to own or as a prize. When Othello talks about Desdemona’s father, Brabanzio, he mentions that he “won Brabanzio’s daughter”. Although he claims to love Desdemona dearly, he still views her as something to be possessed. Othello was so infuriated at the thought of Desdemona embarrassing him that he misinterpreted the evidence and deduced that it was irrefutable proof of her guilt. According to Alex Aronson, Othello saw proof of her infidelity because he wanted to see proof of her infidelity. Othello was actively searching for “ocular proof”. He found and accepted the handkerchief as damning evidence because he was searching for proof. Women were also not seen as trustworthy. On top of this, Desdemona had married a Moor, which was seen as an act of rebellion. It did not take much for people, ironically her husband, the Moor she married, to assume that she was being rebellious again by cheating on her husband. Women were also considered to be promiscuous, even so far as being shamed by other women. For example, Emilia calls Bianca a “strumpet”, a derogatory term because Bianca is a sex worker. 

An unmarried woman who is sexually active outside of marriage is unrespectable. Lago giving small hints that Desdemona may be unfaithful is all it would have taken for Othello and other men to think that Desdemona was an unfaithful strumpet as well. Another reason Othello was so obsessed with gaining proof is that he suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. A study done by Michael Herkov and Roger Blashfield showed that the major symptoms of Multiple Personalities include, but are not limited to: their feelings on their influence on others, lack of self-diagnostic constructs, and gender bias. Othello displays a self-consciousness of his influence on others, which is why he continually tells stories of his time at war. Othello states that he knows “that boasting is an honor”. He boasts throughout the story of his glories. Even with his dying breath, he brags about the things he has done and how he should be recognized. He says, “I have done the state some service, and they know’t”. 

This validation issue he has is a symptom of his Multiple Personality Disorder. Another symptom Othello displays is his lack of self-diagnostic constructs. This major symptom affects his judgment the most. Because of this symptom of his Multiple Personality Disorder, Othello is unable to perceive when he is being irrational. He is incapable of realizing that the handkerchief is not enough to convict his wife of having an affair with Cassio beyond a reasonable doubt. He smothers Desdemona over a circumstantial piece of evidence, but because of his irregular mental state, he cannot distinguish that he is being irrational. 

The last symptom Othello exhibits is gender bias. Instead of killing Cassio for supposedly sleeping with Desdemona, he preys upon the perceived weaker gender, his wife, Desdemona. For someone who boasts so heavily of his war victories and fights, he picked a very weak person to target. Desdemona was already beaten down by Othello’s abusive behavior so she would not have put up a fight. She begs him for her life while Cassio would have put up and fight and never would have begged. Another reason Othello was obsessed with proof is because he is based on an eerily similar character from a similar story by Giraldi Cinthio. De Gli Hectommithi is a novella by Cinthio that contains a story that has an uncanny resemblance to Othello by Shakespeare. However, De Gli Hectommithi was written in 1565 while Othello was written in 1622. They share a few major similarities that lead readers to believe that Shakespeare blatantly plagiarized Cinthio’s novella. One of these major similarities, as Maurianne Adams points out, is the use of the term “ocular proof” in Othello. Cinthio uses the Italian phrase “se non mi fai, disse vedere cogl’ ochhi”. “Ochhi” roughly translates to ocular. It is suspect that Shakespeare would choose to use the exact wording as Cinthio. Another similarity is the main female character’s name. Cinthio’s story has a woman named Desdemona. 

Shakespeare named the main female character of Othello Desdemona, which is only one letter away from Cinthio’s name. There are also undeniable plot similarities. Cinthio’s story contains a Moor seeking justice and the theme of revenge. Shakespeare’s Othello contains a Moor seeking justice and them of revenge. Other parallels include Cinthio using the theme of sight vs. blindness for his main character. Shakespeare uses the sight vs. blindness theme to convey Othello’s lack of self-awareness and how much he actually knows about the proof. They both explore “the frailty of human justice”.