Bianca Flashcards
(4 cards)
“I am no strumpet, but of life as honest / As you that thus abuse me”
Refusal to accept submission and remains vocal in the play ( unlike Desdemona’s faint protests about her innocence in Act 5 sc 2)
ACT 5.1
Bianca’s words echo motifs found throughout the play and set her in direct opposition to Iago. Whereas he blasphemously claims “I am not what I am” Bianca’s “I am” asserts her purity. Where Iago is incorrectly described as “honest”, when Bianca claims this attribute we have no evidence to disbelieve her.
How do Des and Bianca deviate as characters?
D becomes less strong minded and determined to hold her own; in act 4.1 experiences physical and emotional violence teach her that she needs to either relinquish her love or accept that marriage is not the pathway to equality she might of thought it was in Act 1.3 and Act 2.1 - realises she is no longer “our captains captain” and retreats to submission. Bianca however refused to accept this and remains vocal throughout.
How could Bianca (mirror in a way) Desdemona ?
Perhaps Bianca provides us a vision of what might have been for Desdemona, had she retained the outspoken confidence of her 1st appearance
act 1. Bianca’s stubborn refusal to assure the identity she is given by others indicates that there is a way for workers to live as they choose.
What shows that Bianca’s freedom is far from complete?
Uses the same sexist language as the male characters referring to the original owner of the handkerchief as a “minx”. She is denounced by Emilia at the end of Act 5.1, and her story-line remains unresolved at the end of the conclusion. Bianca is hardly a model for female agency - but perhaps is a realistic portrayal of the complexities of a woman’s survival in Renaissance England; whilst women were NOTabige stereotyping their own gender, and were forced to compromise, Bianca’s indomitable spirit provides us with a glimmer of hope that women could gradually gain independence. There has recently been an unmarried female monarch, after all
