The Fate of Sexual Power By Victoria Emmert Schiller The Laughing Medusa, GWU

Sex debases men. They begin to struggle when they feel they are losing control of their emotions in any way. For a woman to easily change the way a man feels or the way he acts just by being female and attractive is enough to drive men insane. William Shakespeare's plays, Othello and Hamlet, demonstrate on paper, on film, and in other art forms that female sexuality and beauty are a threat to patriarchal society and that they must be controlled. Showalter affirms this in her essay by quoting David Laverenze's essay, "The Woman in Hamlet." In this essay he asserts that, " Hamlet's disgust at the feminine passivity in himself translated into violent revulsion against women and into his brutal behavior toward Ophelia" (Showalter 222). As men begin to see feminine aspects within themselves they will go to great lengths to not only deny, but also control these undesirable changes. Shakespeare's two plays are a direct commentary of the male insecurity that exists within relationships.

Shakespeare's message concerning the male preoccupation with masculinity and their resulting fear of feminine sexuality has been portrayed in film, photography, and drawings. The way the women are represented in each genre clearly demonstrates the power of female sexuality. Though separate in style, each artwork clearly shows how the men of the play see the women as sexual powerhouses. The other genres help to reinforce my analysis of the text. In film we can watch hamlet's facial expressions as he reacts to Ophelia's obvious pull over his emotions. Every picture is taken for a reason in photography. Through each frame we are able to analyze the split second of action the photographer intended to capture. Here we are able to see an emotion or movement we may otherwise have missed on the stage or in film. Drawings take a different approach as well. Rather than focusing on a real person who is acting the part of Ophelia or Desdemona, the artists sketch their own interpretation of the character. This way we are able to see the impression that the text is making on individual artists.

In my analysis, I have found that each type of art works in a different way to reinforce the theme that female sexuality intimidates men. Though they choose to portray the women of Shakespeare's plays in different ways, the women's sexuality and power within it remain strong.

Though the theater and photographs give a hint to Shakespeare's message, one can truly see it in the literature of his play. Through words, Desdemona and Ophelia's sexual appeal are portrayed as threats to their lovers. Shakespeare did not write in a social vacuum. His livelihood depended on his audiences being pleased. We must remember, his audiences were notoriously unruly. As a result, he had more leeway with what he wrote. He captured their imaginations by showing them the personalities of their friends and husbands, but more importantly, their wives, their mistresses, and their lovers. Women were a mystery. Shakespeare cast a glimmer of light on their shadowed sexuality and undertones of powerful beauty. People finally saw a true reflection of themselves and their lovers. It was a bold move. He drew women out of their social cage and put them on stage as innocent magician like creatures. They did not fully realize the effect they had on the men. Men, so wrapped up in their narcissistic values cannot accept the hold that women are able to have over them. In Shakespeare's plays, "the men sometimes are jealous; the maidens and even the wives are not. They love, are loveable, and seek love in turn. The emotion is the center not the sum of their existence" (Stoll 46). Aside from what their mannerisms are in movies or how they are portrayed in a drawing or photograph, the power of sexuality that lies in Shakespeare's females is most evident in the dialog in the play itself.

Ophelia's intimidating sexuality is best portrayed throughout her encounters with Hamlet in scene three of the play. Hamlet accuses her of promiscuity just because he feels threatened by the hold she has over him. He says this in the unforgettable line, "Get thee to a nunnery. Go, farewell. Or if thou /Wilt needs marry, marry a fool/ For wise men know well/ Enough what monsters you make of them" (III.i.139-42). Like a little boy flirting with his crush, "he is trying to get some spark of reaction from her." (Pitt 54) But Hamlet is far from finished with his game. His jealousy drives him to fully humiliate her. He sits with her at the play he has arranged to prick Claudius's conscience. He continues to crack lewd jokes and even though she realizes what he is doing, she does not let it bother her. Instead she rises above that and plays his game.

Hamlet: Lady, shall I lie in your lap?
Ophelia: Ay, my lord.
Hamlet: I mean my head on your lap?
Ophelia Ay my lord.
Hamlet: Do you think I mean country matters?
Ophelia: I think nothing, my lord
Hamlet: That's a fair thought to lie between maids' legs
Ophelia: What is my lord?
Hamlet: Nothing. (III.ii.110-19)

He is frustrated that she did not react to his jibing. He wants to fluster her and make her angry. This way he can have some sense of control. On this scene, Pitt remarks, "the hint that she might be quite happy to indulge in verbal flirtation brings Hamlet up short…[and] gives an aura of repressed sexuality to their relationship" (55). Representing Ophelia as nothing here is a ploy by patriarchal structure to silence female power. Dusinberre points out that, "'nothing,' was Elizabethan slang for female genitalia" (40). Shakespeare is being overtly specific about what he is trying to say about women. He uses Hamlet as his male catalyst.

Hamlet has not let Ophelia bloom. Her sexual desires are yearning to break free. This only threatens his power because he knows how week he would be in their midst. He has encouraged her then cut her off at the most painful of moments. The way in which he chooses to manipulate her is actually very sexual in style. He brings her hopes up for romance then slaps her down. He does this over and over. It is very much what would frustrate a woman in sexual foreplay. It is like he is bringing her very close to climax then not fulfilling her. Repeating these actions over and over with no fulfilling end is sure to upset a woman. Hamlet seems to know this and uses it to emotionally manipulate Ophelia to the point of insanity.
Visual four is a picture of Ophelia's madness after Hamlet has left her. Her pose looks like she is crawling after him. Her eyes reflect a great sense of hunger for fulfillment. Surrounded by vines and ivy, her garden is falling around her. The garden is a symbol of her virginity. An offering she has bestowed upon Hamlet and he has chosen to reject. The culmination of Ophelia's eroticism is in the graveyard scene. She is represented as eternally virginal when at her death it is recited, "Lay her I'th' earth, And from her fair unpolluted flesh may violets spring" (V.i.202).

Shakespeare's portrayal of Desdemona is very much the same as Ophelia, though Desdemona becomes more aware of Othello's insanity and resulting intentions. Desdemona, like Ophelia however, tries to counter his unbalanced mind with her soft and sexual actions. She believes her beauty and attraction will calm him when it is exactly the contrary. Desdemona's sexual threat initiates Othello's insecurity towards their marriage. It causes him to redefine himself as a man of violent action. Though brutal, it shows what power a woman holds over a man merely in her sexual appeal. Othello recounts their relationship early on as, "she loved me for the dangers I had passed/ And I loved her that she did pity them"(I.iii.68). He moves from a martial world to one of maternal pity. Upon reflection he begins to feel weak and his manhood threatened. If he is susceptible to Desdemona's pity it suggests his is dependant on her. No man would ever want this. As soon as they feel weak in a relationship they must fight back. Othello does so to the harshest degree. It is his sexual attraction to her that makes him week. He says," For since these arms of mine had seven years pit/ till now some nice moons wasted…" The idea that moons could waste Othello's arms suggests that female sexuality (represented by the lunar menstrual cycle) can damage Othello's masculinity, which is represented by the arms that carry his weapons. Throughout Othello symbolism is key to illustrating the roots of his jealousy.

Desdemona's handkerchief is one item that Othello obsessively lingers over and indulges his jealousy in. She loses it and it ends up in the hands of Cassio. Othello takes this as the final proof of her affair with another man. He chooses to be blind to her love and to the evil, jealous intentions of his friend Iago. Desdemona begins to realize his depths of suspicion and bitterness. She says to Emilia, "Where should I lose that handkerchief, Emilia…I had rather of lost my purse/ Full of crusadoes; and but my noble Moor/ Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness/As jealous creatures are, it were enough/ To put him to ill thinking…I think the sun where he was born/ Drew all such humors from him" (III.iv.123) As soon as she has made this remark Othello approaches and grabs her hands. He says they are moist and require, "a sequester from liberty, fasting and prayer…" (III.iv.124). He is trying to control her while grasping at the last pieces of his sanity. He feels she should be punished for making him feel the way he does. By fasting and prayer he wants her to isolate herself from the world and deprive her. Through these means she will become weak and he may again reign as controller. In the end he is successful. In death, Desdemona loses her sexuality thus regaining her purity in his eyes.

What Othello and men do not understand is the feminine way of being. It is a powerful and intimidating way. It may make some men feel less physically appealing and others just less strong. Othello's attempt to control her over the issue of the handkerchief is like the ways in which men impose certain controls on women today. We are told that skinny is beautiful in their eyes and we must deprive ourselves for their benefit. It is suggested that we wear high heels to make the greatest impression. This is another form of bondage in which our true sexuality is being interrupted. Men are continuously searching for ways in which they can prevent their mate from any form of greater success. Though today men do not go to the lengths of Othello and Hamlet, they try and obtain power in other ways.

While most of the characters of Shakespeare's Hamlet, are recognizable from the reading of the play, the image of Ophelia, played by Helen Bonnham-Carter, in Franco Zefferelli's version, is radically different from the common representation of her character as innocent and easily manipulated. Her sexuality exudes and her power is obvious. Her physical appearance is the most obvious key into her sexuality. She has big expressive eyes and wide cheekbones. It is an unconventional and daring beauty. Her nose is unusual and her mouth babyish. These extraordinary features immediately give her character an intimidating sense. In contrast to Hamlet, she is far more interesting looking and dominates each scene with him.

A feisty spirit parallels her unconventional looks. It is far from sentimental, which is how her character is usually portrayed. In the book Shakespeare's Women, the author, Angela Pitt comments that, "much of Ophelia's personal tragedy is that she has insufficient strength…a poor innocent, oblivious of danger to the last" (52). Zeferelli's version however, portrays her as having a dangerously strong mind. Her tone of voice is constantly one of mimicry. Her gestures are broad and dramatic. Her physical characteristics and motions in the movie define her better than her words. This is why film is crucial to public commentary. Obviously the director picked up on the underlying theme in Shakespeare's work that women's sexuality drives men to extreme measures. When the ego is threatened it fights back.

A specific example of Ophelia's character in this movie as strong and smart rather than weak and innocent is in her first scene with Laertes and Polonious.

Polonious, her father forbids her to talk to Hamlet. After a pause she utters, "I shall obey, my Lord," in such a tone that it is clear she is complying with his demands against her will. Subtlety works to her advantage here because the camera picks up on it and the other characters do not. She knows that if a woman is high strung she will lose respect. The camera captures this moment almost as an aside.

The movie continues to work to her advantage slowly revealing the sexual power she has over Hamlet. The scene where he confronts her in her room he cannot even speak to her because he beauty overwhelms him so. The camera holds Mel Gibson's face for one second longer than a glance in order to convey his staring desire. He reaches out and grabs her wrists. The look on his face again, is all lust and desire. He teases her, seeing that she returns his sentiments. He cannot face the fact that his feelings for her are overpowering his strength. For this reason, he gets angry and casts her hands away, turning from her. She has been shunned from his soul because of the power of love she has over him. Though the scene could work to portray her as weak it does not. It shows her deviance in that she "goes against social mores by seeing a young man unchaperoned and without her father's approval"(Pitt 53). Hamlet sees that his only way to conquer her exuding sexual power is to drive her to the point of suicidal insanity. If she is no longer sexually attractive to him, he is no longer weak.

The way women are portrayed in their death scene is crucial. In Zeferelli's movie, Ophelia is not portrayed as a victim. Instead her death is portrayed as an almost beautiful thing. It is left to the audience to infer whether she killed herself or not. This gives her e certain strength and credibility that is usually not seen in her. The scene shows her in the distance, floating down a stream. She looks at peace in death. Even here her beauty remains. One can see here and in previous examples, how differently a character can be portrayed in a movie versus a text. Though her character was stronger and of a much more feminist role, the theme that men fight the power women have over them in love, remains.

Orson Welle's production of "Othello" uses cinematography to help capture the same strong essence of a woman as Zephereli's Ophelia. Although much of the dialogue of the original Shakespearean text is lost, it is replaced by visual relationships that require great attention of the viewer. Desdemona is portrayed throughout each frame as passively sexual and strong. In Framing Othello, Welles describes his Othello, as "monumentally male and his story is monumentally a male tragedy" (Howlett 57). The movie truly captures the need for control men desire in their relationships with their lovers. Desdemona is truly innocent to her powers over Othello, yet her passivity makes her strong. It is enough to arise the narcissistic desire within him that determines her fate, murder. There is a deliberately jerky rhythm to the movie. It changes perspective continuously to capture Othello's confusion and insanity.

The movie begins with a visual of Desdemona alone in her quarters. She is preening. The entire scene is silent. All we see are her hands on her face, then caressing a globe, which immediately suggests she possesses Othello even on his travels. Her eyes are focused on over and over beginning with this scene. One can see her innocence yet the influence they could hold over the male psyche. The movie continues to show Othello's sanity collapse around her. He believes her to be having an affair with Cassio; though nothing in her mannerisms toward him suggest it. Slowly her beauty is something repulsive. It is a power over him that he cannot control. "The love he had once found for the Lady now changed to the bitterest hate, and he gave himself up…" (Sexton 50) Desdemona never falters, however. She realizes her power, yet only uses it to love him more. The more distant and bitter he becomes the more affection she shows him. A critic commented:

There is no question of Desdemona's goodness. She is pure to a fault, as unwilling to see or imagine evil in others, as she is to allow it in herself. Her love for her husband is strong enough that not even her murder can shake it--she half-rises from her grave in an attempt to save him from punishment for the crime. (Footnote 1)

Desdemona's pure goodness overwhelms Othello. She remains devoted and loving to the end. She does not try and control him, yet her beauty and sexuality attracts him so persistently it never leaves his mind. Again, the death scene in this version is crucial to this point. As he suffocates her, Desdemona's gaze never leaves his face. The camera shifts to her perspective and the fact he is going to kill her. The contrast here between her distorted face and his erotic gaze underscores their relationship and Othello's masculine need to control her. The last scene of the movie you see him carry her body after he has killed her, up the stairs as if they were crossing the threshold on their wedding day. Her feet are bare and breasts turned toward the sky. He reaches the roof and lays her out like an offering to the heavens. She too, like Ophelia is beautiful in death. "He kills her not out of a sense of justice, but a twisted desire and hatred for her inhuman (goddess like) perfection" (Howlett 58). The bedroom scene is repeated over and over to suggest a certain erotic pleasure Othello got out of killing his wife. In the end, he kisses her corpse and throws a cloak over them. Finally he possesses her power over him, her beauty.

Artists and photographers have used their art form to carry out a message about their subject. In the photographs and illustrations of Ophelia and Desdemona, one can clearly see the references to their powerful sexuality. Each still frame captures a moment of the play that characterizes women in their role as controller. They are there for their lovers to envy. It creates the tragedy of Shakespeare. A man's jealousy and a wife's passive sexuality overtake a cast of characters into an enticing tale of insanity and chaos. By the facial expressions and postures of the characters in each picture it is very clear that the artists are capturing this continuing theme.

In Visual one, we see Desdemona reaching out toward her Othello. She is beckoning to him in a sorcerer like position. This pose is seen over and over in the still art to convey the power she omits over him. She is depicted again with her arms outstretched toward her lover in Skelt's Drawings (Visual 2). This pose acts again to demonstrate the command she has over Othello. Though it is a slightly passive pose, it is assertive. It is as if some third power is being released from her fingertips into his heart. He is overwhelmed by her beauty and must conquer it. Her eyes show that she knows this. While reaching to him, she knows she is driving him into a deep insecurity, away from her and into certain insanity. Her sexuality is apparent in the depictions as well. In the photograph of Zvetelina Vassileva as Desdemona (visual 1), she is dressed in a full, white, virgin like gown (representations of purity and humility), yet the expression on her face changes this initial take. Her mouth is slightly open, lips full. It is as if she is beckoning his loins with her facial expression. Later on in this series we see Othello kissing Desdemona desperately. He holds her face in his hands possessing it. There is a great sense of ownership in his pose. His desire to control her is apparent in the hovering of the pose. At the same time however, her sexuality has brought him to his knees both metaphorically and here, literally.

Ophelia's sexuality is seen in a distinctly different way in the photographs of her role. She is robed in mourning clothes and caged in steel. This cage resembles very closely a chastity belt in the way it is shaped in a V around her torso. The metaphor of this costume is clear. Her sexuality has obviously been repressed by Hamlet. It is his jealousy of her beauty and sexual power over him that possesses him to play the games he does with her. Both this photo and the illustration seen in visual 5 illustrate this fact. In the illustration, Ophelia has the same beckoning pose as Desdemona had in her depictions. This common theme illustrates the sway that women have over their men. Arms outstretched, they affect their lovers in insane ways, the end deadly. The threat is too much for the men to handle and the women are killed. Though this illustration may be taken as a weak representation of Ophelia because she is on the verge of her death, it is quite the contrary. She remains beautiful, her breasts exposed and hair tousled in the wind. She has a secure and powerful foothold on the branch she is standing upon. Though she falls in the river to her death, the death in itself is a metaphor for sex. She, the powerful and sexually strong Ophelia is falling into the pure running steam. She dies in the water and they become one, united in death.

The effect that a still photograph or drawing has on an audience is crucial. The photographer took each frame for a reason. One can see one second of action and representation in a still frame whereas in an entire video or book, one must concentrate on the character as a whole. The artist has the same intent. We can put time at a standstill and analyze both Desdemona and Ophelia's character through photograph and drawing. It makes analysis of their character constant and unchanging. One can analyze portrayal inch by inch, letting the entire piece settle in.

Desdemona and Ophelia capture the weakness of men, their jealousy and need for control. As soon as a man feels he is out of control he falters. The more he falters, the more anxious he become and the deeper into his insecurity he falls. Shakespeare's plays, the movies of his plays, and representations of his women through art all work together to create this great social commentary on men in relationships. The plays are obviously extreme since every man who is in love does not kill his lover. The point of the extremity however, is to reveal the gap that may otherwise go unnoticed. Desdemona and Ophelia are far from role models for women. They die and we do not want that. Once again, however their cases are extreme. We learn from them that acting blind to your lover's issues is not what we should strive to achieve. Rather, we should work together to make our sexuality a less foreign object to men. The more comfortable they are with it, the less intimidating it will seem and the more enjoyable it will be for both participants in the relationship.

Footnote 1- this quote was taken from a video commentary on www.sparknotes.com the author of the comment is unknown.