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Cassio essay
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Cassio-views on bianca vs Desdemona
Shakespeare expresses Cassio as a vehicle to present the masculine belief in the
inherent duplicity of women. Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s coined the Madonna-Whore
complex, of which he found women to be placed within the margins of either the virginious
‘Madonna’s’ or promiscuous ‘Whores’, Cassio expresses clear accordance with this ideology,
placing Desdemona and Bianca as the ‘Madonna’ and ‘Whore’. In the second act of the play,
in response to Iago’s voyeuristic depiction of the lack of consummation of Desdemona and
Othello’s marriage, Cassio refers to her as ‘most fresh and delicate’. With ‘fresh’ and
‘delciate’ projecting Desdemona to be innocent and precious due to her virginity. When Iago
further describes her eyes sounding ‘a parley to provocation’ which Cassio revokes: ‘an
inviting eye, and yet methinks right modest’, once more evidencing his view of Desdemona
as a ‘madonna’. He finishes the line of conversation by describing Desdemona as ‘indeed
perfection’. Contrarily two acts later in the play, Cassio describes Bianca, his prostitute and
therefore ‘whore’, with significantly different language. When Iago first brings up Bianca he
too dehumanises her to ‘a creature that dotes on Cassio’, the article ‘a’ here suggests Cassio
has a large range of women of whom ‘dotes on’ him, highlighting his desire for feminine
physicality, the use of ‘creature’ in reference to Bianca, projects her to being unhuman, due
to her sexuality, which once more enforces the patriarchal belief that a woman must be
chaste to be of value. Iago continues to express to Cassio, Bianca’s love for him and desire
for Cassio to marry her, in response Cassio laughs, dismissing Bianca as ever being eligible.
He then refers to Bianca as ‘the monkey’, dehumanising her and ‘the bauble’ presenting her
as a inanimate decoration and unserious possession. Once Bianca arrives, Cassio dictates:
‘’tis such another fitchew’, ‘fitchew’ here referencing a wildcat notorious for its bad smell
and sexual activity. The manner of his reference to both Desdemona, whom he still
objectifies under the expression of her chastity and the immense dehumanisation of Bianca
finds Eaj Honigman depicting: ‘one wonders…whether the men are capable of unselfish
love’. This analysis is significantly evidenced as Cassio appears to base his regard of
femininity almost solely on their position within society, to be praising of the virginous
upper-class respectable women, allows him to flatter those above him to gain power and
delight a potential partner, whilst his arrogance thrives when diminishing women he views
as less.
Arguably, Shakespeare explores Cassio as a means to discuss the ability of the white
man to fall colloquially upwards despite a loss of reputation. Within the play, significant
characters suffer the loss of their reputation, with Desdemona outcast and dehumanised by
society, ‘strumpet’, due to her suggested infidelity and Othello consistently discriminated
due to his race, ‘moor’, tarnishing both of their reputations. Cassio in turn’s actions are the
most evidenced, he is witnessed to get heavily drunk and even wound Roderigo: ‘a knave
teach me my duty! I’ll beat the knave into a twiggen bottle’. Monatano’s attempts to cease
conflict finds him further threatened by Cassio to ‘knock (him) o’er the mazzard’- ‘mazzard’
relating to ‘knocking’ his head off. The ‘vile brawl’ sees Othello’s removal of Cassio position
as an ‘officer’ depicts Cassio in a new state of infamy as he professes: ‘Reputation,
reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself,
and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation.’ The repetition of
‘reputation’ expresses its importance to Cassio, the emphasis of ‘part of myself’ and ‘bestial’
further portrays his career and position within society as defining factors within his
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