In Shakespeare's Othello, we, the audience, are introduced to several characters throughout the play, three of whom are women. These characters are Desdemona, wife of Othello, Emilia, wife of Iago and Bianca, the lover of Casio. Shakespeare chose to introduce the reader to only three female characters for specific reasons, because we are able to compare and contrast and see the differences between the women. in a society dominated by men. It also helps us, the audience, to see how different women, belonging to different social classes, behaved during the Venetian era of the 16th century. A time where men are seen as holding all the intelligence and power, and women are seen as taking on the traditional role of "housewife" and are equally seen and not heard. When Shakespeare introduces the main female character of Desdemona, he presents a character with different levels of personality and, in many ways, also a character who symbolizes innocence and helplessness. So, when we try to answer the question above about the play Othello being a "feminine tragedy", we must think of questions such as that of the main character: "Is it Desdemona's fault that she ended up becoming a victim? One woman's tragedy rather than being a tragedy as a whole, rather than society as a whole having an impact on her downfall? We, the audience, first meet the character of Desdemona when her father objects to her being with and marrying Othello a Moor, someone who is not only of one race and religion different from her, but also much older than her. Her father strongly disagrees with their marriage, but Desdemona maintains that she truly loves Othello and that he is the right person for her. As she puts it: "...... middle of paper ...... e to the men's insecurities, a chain of events progressed that resulted in the deaths of two of the three women. This would make a person more inclined to think that this was a female tragedy because the woman died needlessly and at the hands of the man and would cause the woman in the play to be seen as a victim. Even though their circumstances caused them to become one, Desdemona and Emilia certainly did not intentionally allow themselves to become one, nor did they view themselves as one even when their husbands treated them more like objects than wives. This is because I think Shakespeare's idea of ​​marriage at that time was that neither could live or survive without each other. But some people may say that it cannot simply be put into one category of female tragedy, because the play is a great tragedy as a whole. . The divergences and faults of each having an impact on the disappearance of each as a whole..