Evaluate how discriminatory language in the play shapes the overall meaning of characters and themes.

The society of Othello is
male-dominated, to say the least.  In structure and language, the male characters drive
the action, while the female characters passively wait.  The male reputation is vaunted,
while the female reputation is sullied.  Males repeatedly and openly use discriminatory
language not only against women in general, but against their wives.  Iago calls his
wife a "villainous whore."  Othello calls Desdemona "whore" even more.  Other names
afforded to women include: "foul," "villainous," and
"false."

"Whore" is used 13
times:

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be sure thou prove my
love a
whore,
Be
sure of it;

AND

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This is a subtle
whore,
A
closet lock and key of villainous
secrets

AND

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I took you for that
cunning whore of
Venice
That married with
Othello.

Synonymous
with "whore" and no less damaging are words that describe how talkative and unquiet
women are.  Desdemona says this of Othello:

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I'll watch him
tame and talk him out
of patience;

AND to
Othello:

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I have been
talking with a suitor
here,

AND

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I pray,
talk me of
Cassio.

Emelia
says:

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That she reserves it
evermore about her
To kiss
and talk to.

Iago says of his
own wife:

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Sir, would she give you
so much of her lips
As of her
tongue she oft
bestows on me,
You'll have
enough.

As
counterpoint, the word "honest" appears over fifty times in the play, usually said by or
describing a male.  Observe:

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A man
he is of honest and
trust:

AND

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That thinks
men honest that but
seem to be so,

Iago
is repeatedly called "honest" by Othello, Cassio, and himself: "Honest Iago,"
and "As honest as I am."

So,
it is clear: for women to talk is to be loose not only with the tongue, but in bed.  Men
see women who talk a lot as "whores."  If Desdemona is talking with Cassio, she might as
well be sleeping with him.  And the classic double-standard: men can talk against women
openly, but married women cannot talk to men at all, either privately or
publicly.

Women are in an unwinnable situation in
Othello.  Desdemona doesn't talk.  She doesn't defend herself in
the bedroom, and she is strangled.  Emilia talks.  She exposes her husband in Act V, and
she is stabbed.  It's a morbid double standard.  If women talk, they are victimized.  If
women don't talk they are victimized.

To say men use
discriminatory language is an understatement.