Femme Fatale :

The ability of
women to
inexplicably
alter the life of
a man.
DIAGRAM
 Marriage
 Women posses the ability to control a man’s actions and socio-economic status
through marriage and undying commitment.
 “You are the lord of my duty,
I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband,
And so much duty as my mother showed
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord.”
 Othello--who is most likely a Christian convert, since in sixteenth-century Venetian
society he would need to have been baptized to marry Desdemona, and since
he does rebuke his own soldiers, 'for Christian shame,' at having 'turned Turk'
(2.3.163-65)5--can even be seen as a Christian Everyman, an Augustinian
'stranger and sojourner' forced to choose between the love of God embodied in
Desdemona, and the Satanic deception woven by Iago.
 In the text Desdemona is able to bring Othello firmly into the upper class of Venice
through her marriage which her father is forced to grudgingly accept despite
his objections. Also she is able to alter Othello’s opinion so much that he goes
so far as changing his religion to simply be with her.

 Emasculating Effects
 The ability to emasculate a man,
whether intentionally or not, is
a woman's most crucial
characteristic in determining a
man’s behavior.
 “[a] passion most unsuiting such a
man.”
 Commenting on Iago's influence and
Othello's vulnerability as an
alien in Venice, G. M. Matthews
contends that despite his
physical and cultural
difference, Othello is "a great
human being who ...
recognizes (within the limits of
his social role) only universal
humane values of love and
loyalty," which he loses once
he allows himself to become
"vulnerable to irrational,
inhuman forces, embodied in
Iago”
 Desdemona is able to emasculate
Othello to the point where he
no longer feels like a soldier
anymore and is stuck in a
domestic house setting far
from the battlefield. Also
Othello allows himself to be
absorbed into Desdemona’s
lifestyle and become
 The Catalyst of Drama
 Woman through no fault of their own are seen
as the weaker sex and are used as tools to
accomplish a larger goal and often a
catalyst of drama.
 “With as little a web as this I will ensnare as
great a fly as Cassio,”
 Of course, Iago has told Othello that
Desdemona has betrayed him with
Cassio. But Othello is inventing
elaborate variations on the adultery
theme when he transforms
Desdemona into a “public commoner.”
Only a very simple conception of man's
psychological constitution could deny
that Othello's fury is compounded
partially of relish. Othello has created
the brothel and the whore. He
luxuriates in the fantasy he has woven
out of his own perversity.
 Iago is able to ensnare Cassio, who is an
outstanding man in society, into his
scheme to destroy Othello through the
wiles of Desdemona since she has the
ability to entrance any man she
chooses. Also Iago uses Othello’s love
for Desdemona to overwhelm him with
paranoia after he leaves a trail of clues
Proof of being the Superior
Sex
 Desdemona will put fairness and
wit to use in a sense that
includes and goes beyond
the sexual one,
acknowledging and using
"bad" to heal it. Her earlier
command to have the
wedding sheets put on her
bed seems one expression of
this positive usage. Just
before her death, as earlier
in the handkerchief and
brothel scenes, Desdemona
strives to "mend" Othello's
debased view of her,
transforming the "sins" he
accuses her of into "loves I
bear to you"; a testimony to
her pure, active, humble,
fertile affections. But
Othello recorrupts them:
"And for that thou diest"
 Synthesis

 In the novel of
Othello, women,
Desdemona in
particular, are the
most crucial
characters in the
entire plot of the
story due to their
ability to control a
man through a
variety of means
and in doing so
control the very
outcome of life
 Bibliography
 Ed. Dana Ramel Barnes. Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. p183-192. From Literature
Resource Center. Shakespearean criticism http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
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 Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Vol. 68. Detroit: Gale, 2003. p79-104. From Literature Resource Center.
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 Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Vol. 68. Detroit: Gale, 2003. p131-141. From Literature Resource Center.
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 Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 122. Detroit: Gale, p87-110. From Literature Resource Center.
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%7CH1420090662&&docId=GALE|H1420090662&docType=GALE&role=LitRC