본 논문은 여성주의적 입장에서 셰익스피어의 비극 작품 『오델로』에 등장하는 여주인공을 연구 해보는데 그 목적을 두고 있다. 셰익스피어는 수 많은 희극 작품과 비극 작품을 썼다. 특히 그는 다양한 여성의 모습을 작품에 그렸기 때문에 그를 여성주의자 혹은 반 여성주의자로 보는 견해가 있다.엘리쟈베스 시대에는 희극 작품과는 달리 비극 작품에서는 여성을 타자로 간주하였다. 희극 작품에 등장하는 여주인공들은 자신들의 생각을 자유롭게 표했고 그들만의 세계를 향유 했었고, 남성들을 지도하기까지 했었다. 그러나 비극 작품에서는 모든 권한이 남성들에게 귀속되어 여성들은 그들의 생각을 자유롭게 밝힐 수 없었다. 가부장적인 사회에서 여성들은 남성에게 순종적인 태도를 보여야만 했었다. 항상 여성들은 남성보다 열등한 인물로 간주되었었다.본 작품에 등장하는 여주인공 데스데모나는 여성은 매개체로 여겨졌던 가부장적 사회에서 과감하게 부친의 허락도 없이 자신의 의지로 자신의 남편을 골랐다. 이 당시 사회적으로 도저히 용납될 수 없었던 악의 화신으로 치부되었던 흑인과 남몰래 결혼을 한 것이다. 그녀는 사회적으로 용납할 수 없는 흑인과의 결혼에 대해서 자신의 생각을 용감하게 밝힌 것이다. 이러한 역경을 물리치고 결혼을 했으나 오델로는 남자였기에 결혼과 동시에 가부장적인 남성의 모습을 드러내어 데스데모나를 하나의 인격체로 본 것이 아니고 자신의 소유물로 생각하여 이아고의 음모에 넘어가서 아내를 살해하게 된다. 아내를 살해하고 난 후에야 데스데모나의 진정한 사랑을 깨닫게 된 오델로는 그녀가 보여준 진정한 사랑으로 자신의 과오를 후회하게 된다. 셰익스피어는 비록 데스데모나는 가부장 사회에서 희생자로 삶을 마쳤으나 오델로에게 진정한 사랑과 삶을 깨닫게 한 것으로 결코 그녀의 죽음은 헛되지 않음을 그리고 있다.
The purpose of the present thesis is to study the female character in Shakespeare's tragedy Othello from the feministic point of view. Shakespeare wrote so many comedies and tragedies. Especially he described the women in many different ways, so he had been called a feminist or an anti-feminist. The Elizabethan period women were considered as otherness especially in tragedies differently in comedies. Most heroines in comedies spoke freely their own ideas and they could establish their own world. Even they could give the guide for men. They had power and authority. But most tragedies were attributed to man's power, dignity, and authority. So women could not express their thought freely and they had to press their own idea in the patriarchal society. Women were required to be as obedient. They were considered as things and it was almost impossible to keep their own identities. Women were still thought of as inferior things to men and to be subject to men. In the patriarchal tradition women usually were regarded secondary and non-substantional beings. The heroin in this work, Desdemona expressed her own idea very bravely in the patriarchal society. In those days woman didn't have a right to choose her husband. Only her father could do it because women were considered as marketable items. It was her father's power to choose a son-in-law. Like those days Desdemona chose her husband by herself without her father's permission. Especially her husband was a black Moor which was considered an evil carnation. Desdemona explained the reason and insisted her decision to choose the Moor as her husband in front of the Duke and the father. Finally she got a permission from the society but not from her father. Even though Othello fought to get Desdemona from her father who had a strong patriarchal conception, he couldn't protect her wife from Iago who was a machiavallian and used everything to achive his aim. Othello loved her so much like his own life and wanted to give everything to her but he was a men like Brabantio. After he got married her, he took her his own belongings and wanted to own her. His mind changed like other men. He insisted he had a right to judge and kill his wife because the wife belonged to her husband. Even though Desdemona lost her life wrongly by her husband's patriarchal attitude, Othello realized his wrong idea and the way to go. Desdemona’s death saved Othello's spirit. In conclusion, Desdemona was a victim of the patriarchal society and died, but her death was not useless because it made Othello realize the real life.