Treatment of Women in Othello Sadly, sexism rears its ugly head even in a tragedy as unquestionably great as William Shakespeare's Othello. We continue the study of the problem in this essay. In William Shakespeare: The Tragedies, Paul A. Jorgensen describes the sexist “brothel scene” of Othello: The “brothel scene” (4.2), sadistically cruel because in it he speaks to Desdemona, as a prostitute, is nevertheless full of tearful agony and even ardent tenderness. He redeems him in his desire for heaven to test him with affliction – a theologically salvific belief; and opens his heart momentarily when he sees his worst affliction – without which he could endure the trial – being discarded from “where I have gathered my heart” (4.2.57). (65)In the opening scene, while Iago expresses his hatred towards General Othello for having chosen Michael Cassio as lieutenant, he devises a plan to partially take revenge (“I follow him to serve him my turn”), with the help of Roderigo, alerting Desdemona's father, Brabantio, of his daughter's escape with Othello: “Call her father, / Wake him: pursue him, poison his delight [. . .] .” Implicit in this move is the fact that the father takes control over his daughter's choice of spouse. It closely follows Iago's warning to the senator: “'Zounds, sir, you are robbed; for shame, put on your toga; / Your heart burst, you lost half your soul. This statement also implies that the father has authority over his daughter. Brabantio's admonition to Roderigo implicitly expresses the same message: Worse reception: I commanded you not to frequent my doors: ... middle of paper ... lie; On my soul, a lie, an evil lie. He lied to Cassius! (5.2) Then he accuses him of having provoked the murder: “And your complaints triggered the murder”. Emilia's extraordinary interrogation and conviction of her husband as the evil mastermind behind the murder overturns the sexist image of women underlying the play. Her performance demonstrates that women are guided by reason to the same extent, or even more, than men; and that men are driven by passion more than women. The tables turn on sexism right at the climax of the drama! WORKS CITED Jorgensen, Paul A. William Shakespeare: The Tragedies. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985.Shakespeare, William. Othello. In Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No lines n..