DJel said:
If you mean the character Othello;
From a small Othello text book I have it says that to just put the fact that he kills Desdemona because of jealously is "to gloss over the psychological depth that gives him life in the play. He objectifys Desdemona by refering to her as a 'thing' or at best 'she'. This is a common psychological mechanism employed by many murders." I think thats an important point as at the time they were facinated in psychology, etc.
... actually, I kind of disagree with that. Not saying it's incorrect or not useful or whatever, I just PERSONALLY think it's reading too much into something that can be plausibly explained in other ways. Othello referring to Desdemona in such impersonalized ways IMO reinforces the perception held by men in general, specifically in a patriarchal Elizabethan society. Women
were the possessions or prizes of men, to be dealt with as he saw fit. Look at how Iago cries "look up your house, your daughter, your bags!" Placing the man's daughter in-between those material objects illustrates this perception of women being objects and prizes, rather than equals. Desdemona went from being her father's possession to her husband's; she is still an object, just with a different owner. Take this and add the element of betrayal and disloyalty that Othello is by now so convinced exists, and his derogatory and disrespectful manner towards Desdemona would have been of no great shock or surprise to Shakespeare's Elizabethan audience, nor the characters in the play. Just look at the way Iago refers to Emilia, even when she’s in his presence. A man referring to his wife as a "thing" etc doesn't necessarly equate to a murderer justifying his thoughts and/or actions. It's simply the way men perceived women in general at the time, no less when they are considered to have betrayed 'their lord'.
of course, this has nothing to do with jealousy, but tbh neither did your point, so I'm just referring to what you brought up.
