William Shakespeare And Domestic Violence .During High

William Shakespeare and Domestic Violence During high school, students will tend to read multiple plays written by William Shakespeare in school. In fact, part of the English Language Arts (ELA) Standards set by Common Core included William Shakespeare’s plays. For ninth and tenth grade students, standard CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.9 expected them to be able to examine how an author draws on and transforms source materials in a specific work (Common Core State Standards, 2017). The examples given included how an author draws on a play written by Shakespeare and how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible (Common Core State Standards, 2017). In regards to high school students in the eleventh and twelfth grade,†¦show more content†¦Othello was lead to believe that Desdemona was having an affair with Lieutenant Cassio (Shepherd, 2016). As a result, he called her a whore, a commoner, a strumpet and a devil in Act 4 Scene 2 (Shepherd, 2016). According to Smith and Segal (2017), yelling, name-calling, blaming, and shaming were forms of verbal abuse. Verbal abuse was also a part of emotional abuse (Smith Segal, 2017). Domestic abuse often intensified from threats and verbal abuse to physical violence (Smith Segal, 2017). In Act 4 Scene 1 Othello publicly hit Desdemona (Shepherd, 2016; Nadelhaft, 1984). Although Desdemona knew she did nothing to make Othello hit her, she followed his orders and left the room to no longer offend him (Nadelhaft, 1984). Nadelhaft (1984) described Desdemona as meek, passive, docile, tender, and self-loathing (para. 2). Nadelhaft (1984) felt these characteristics to be common among women who have been victims of domestic violence (para. 2). In multiple scenes Othello threatened to hurt and kill Desdemona (Shepherd, 2016). For example, in Act 3 Scene 3 Othello told Iago that he would tear Desdemona to pieces (Shepherd, 2016). In Act 4 Scene 1 Othello told Iago that he would chop her into pieces (Shepherd, 2016). Near the end of the play Othello did kill Desdemona. Othello killed Desdemona in Act 5 Scene 2 by suffocating her with pillows in their bedroom (Shepherd, 2016).Show MoreRelated Taming of the Shrew: Male Domination Essay1046 Words   |  5 PagesTaming of the Shrew: Male Domination The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, deals with marriage. The ideas explored are primarily shown through the characters of Petruchio and Katharina. We are introduced to the trials and tribulations which present themselves in their everyday lives. The characters bring up a traditional concept of male domination. Through the play we see the need for domination through Petruchio, and the methods he uses to dominate. 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