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to theater unescorted and unmasked, and a large proportion of the audience consisted of women. The puzzle here would be why a culture that so severally regulated the lives of women in every other sphere suspended its restrictions in the case of theatre. (Orgel 669) It is not unreasonable to wonder if, at least in part, one of the unconscious reasons for the freedom these women were granted in regard to theatre attendance may not have been that plays such as Othello worked to reinforce the social mores and patriarchal values that so pervaded Early Modern society. The play was certainly viewed that way in the early modern period. In 1693 Thomas Rhymer said that the morals of Othello were: First, This may be a caution to all Maidens of Quality how, without their Parents consent, they run away with Blackamoors. Secondly, This may be a warning to all good Wives, that they look well to their Linnen. Thirdly, This may be a lesson to Husbands, that before their Jealousie be Tragical, the proofs may be Mathematical. (Rhymer 132) While Rhymer was not overly impressed with Othello, concluding that it was a “Bloody Farce, without salt or savour” (Rhymer 164) it is significantly revelatory 35
of a possible agenda of enforcement of gender performance that over three hundred years later, Daileader determines that Othello is: the story of a woman killed—smothered in her bed—for having sex. Which particular man she is killed for having sex with matters less […] than the sexual nature of the transgression she dies for: […] from the standpoint of the masculinist-racist hegemony it is her defiance of paternal authority and the miscegenation taboo that results (and rightly so) in her death. (Daileader 2) Gender is performance; incorrect performance can not be tolerated. Therefore, the only way to restore the “oppressive status quo” is to end the disruptions caused by the incorrect gender performances of Desdemona and Othello. With the tragic loading of the bed, the “masculinist-racist hegemony” is restored. 36
Page 1 and 2: THE TROUBLE WITH GENDER IN OTHELLO:
Page 3 and 4: THE TROUBLE WITH GENDER IN OTHELLO:
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgments In Honor of Fred Fe
Page 7 and 8: TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: THE
Page 9 and 10: If, as Butler writes, there is no p
Page 11 and 12: Another benefit of this type of rea
Page 13 and 14: and Juliet show what happens after
Page 15 and 16: legitimacy of the authority, […]
Page 17 and 18: For Butler, the distinction between
Page 19 and 20: further understand the subversion i
Page 21 and 22: (i.e., fitting her gender, race, cu
Page 23 and 24: Therefore, the fact of Desdemona’
Page 25 and 26: her husband. However, there can be
Page 27 and 28: Section Two: Othello in the Matrix
Page 29 and 30: nearly verbatim, “look to your wi
Page 31 and 32: Nor to comply with heat, the young
Page 33 and 34: and leave her home in Venice for a
Page 35 and 36: is the threat to his gender perform
Page 37 and 38: fictive revenge schemes in the west
Page 39 and 40: Desdemona’s exposure of “a limi
Page 41: Conclusion The Matrix Restored By r
Page 45 and 46: Lenker, Lagretta Tallent. Fathers a
Page 47: Notes 1 In this section of her book

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