Skip to main content

Othello: Was Shakespeare a feminist?

Posted 
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Actresses Kate Mulvany and Eryn-Jean Norvill in performance of Othello
Othello: Was Shakespeare a feminist?

SUBJECTS:  Arts, English

YEARS:  7–8, 9–10


Othello 4.3 Explainer


Shakespeare seems to have a complicated relationship with his female characters.

Some of his heroines are quite timid and compliant while others are complex and strong.

Here, James Evans and Kate Mulvany from Bell Shakespeare explore Emilia's impassioned speech to Desdemona in Act 4, scene 3 of 'Othello'.

They consider whether the character of Emilia could be considered a feminist.


Teachers

Visit Bell Shakespeare's website

Discover programs, workshops and more performances at one of Australia's great theatre companies.

Download a PDF with the full synopsis for each play.

Full plot summaries of Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, and Romeo and Juliet.


Acknowledgements

Created by ABC Splash in collaboration with Bell Shakespeare.


Production Date: 2014


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Posted