Bianca

Question 1

How is Bianca presented in ‘Othello’?

Answer 1

Despite not being implicated in the main plot, Bianca is a defiant and intersting character. She is Shakespeare’s vessel for communicating men’s control over women and how - despite their lack of agency - rise above the patriarchal society they are born into. Her relationship with Cassio is a turbulent one that

Question 2

“some minx’s trophy”

Answer 2

Bianca - Act 4, Scene 1
AO1: derogatory descriptor “minx”
AO2: the derogatory language Bianca uses likens her to the misogynistic men in ‘Othello’ like Iago, which isolates her from the women in the play (outlier to gender roles do to the fact of her prostitution making her looked down upon)
AO3: women in Renaissance times

Question 3

“I was a fine fool to take it”

Answer 3

Bianca, Act 4 Scene 1
AO1: Fricative
AO2: shows Bianca’s outpour of frustrations and betrayal at Cassio gifting her the handkercheif and herself for taking it willingly (self-realisation)

Question 4

“I am no strumpet, but of life as honest/ As you that abuse me”

Answer 4

Bianca, Act 5 Scene 1
AO1: Derrogatory descriptors
AO2: Bianca is referred to as a prostitute by male characters such as Cassio and Iago and female characters alike such as Emilia. This isolates her not only from men because of her lack of agency but also women because of her hand in sex work.
AO3: Women and Prostitution in the Renaissance

Question 5

“O my dear Cassio! my sweet Cassio! O Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!”

Answer 5

Bianca, Act 5 Scene 1
AO1: Tripartite, Epithet
AO2: Displays Bianca’s true display of love for Cassio despite him believing she is a “customer” in earlier scenes (duality of love and care as she is seen as dramatic rather than romantic)
AO5: Loomba - “a nightmare of male violence”