In Shakespeare's play, Othello, men hunt women, as a human hunts animals in the wilderness. The man exercises dominance and expects the woman to accept her submissive role in relation to his dominance. The central couples involved in showing this type of man-woman relationship are Othello and Desdemona, Iago and Emilia, Cassio and Bianca. Shakespeare illustrates the chase in the sexual encounters, marriages/relationships, and murders exhibited by these characters throughout the play. At the same time, the way men hunt women in the play is mirrored by the way Iago hunts all the characters. The hunting that is shown throughout Othello is reinforced by the plethora of animal images that Shakespeare uses in the language of the play. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Emilia clearly sees and articulates the nature of the hunted-hunted man-woman relationship. He shows this understanding when he says “what do [men] do when they change us for others? Is it sport? I think so" (IV,iii,107). Emilia examines men's propensity to sleep around. He explains this by saying that men don't see women as human beings, but rather as animals that are fun to chase, but once won over they lose some of their intrigue and men want to move on to other women. Iago shows that he has this opinion of women when he says that Desdemona and Emilia are “wild cats” in their “kitchens” who “rise to play and go to bed to work” (II,i,123,129). Iago is saying that his view of women is that when they are not in bed they are just playing. This goes hand in hand with the American Heritage Dictionary's definition of "sport": that is, a type of "game" with a certain set of rules (a hunt, for example). Likewise, the use of the word "wildcats" to describe them again evokes the image of sport (hunting). It's a game for men to bed women from the kitchens. Then, when women are in bed, they simply fulfill their duties to their husbands by sleeping with them. Once they are in bed (having sex), it's game over. Othello also refers to women as inhuman prizes when he calls Desdemona "honey" (II,i,225), although this reference is not intentional on his part. Calling her “honey” is a common term of endearment, calling a woman “honey” is like calling her “sweetie” because honey is sweet. However, the term also has a flip side which states how men chase women to get them involved in a relationship or in bed. This side is that humans must overcome the protective barrier of bees to obtain honey. To reach his "honey" (Desdemona) Othello will have to make her fall in love with him, in other words, break through her defenses and enter her heart. The reader is not aware of that part of the relationship between Othello and Desdemona in the play, that part takes place before the action of the play begins, but it can be inferred. The "sport" Emilia talks about is chasing women. Seduction, which is the starting point of a man-woman relationship, is depicted as having certain rules, as is hunting (a sort of game/sport), in Othello. Rules are often established at a social level. Roderigo tries to respect social rules by trying to get Desdemona from his father Barbantio. She sees that her father has the power to tell her, Desdemona, who to marry because that was the custom of society. A woman's father was “the lord of [her] duty” until he relinquishes that “lordship” to his daughter's husband (I,iii,212). This means that it was his duty to do whatever she told him to do (including marrying a personin particular). Roderigo appeals to Barbanzio's power rather than directly addressing Desdemona as Othello does. But Othello in doing so undermines Barbantio's lordship. Iago reveals this when he tells Barbanzio that "[his] daughter [Desdemona] and the Moor are playing the beast with two backs" (I,i,130). The fact that Desdemona has sex with someone before obtaining her father's permission goes against the rules of the 'seduction hunt' that Roderigo adheres to. Barbanzio finally gives up this power to Othello by saying "I have done" (I,iii,219). traditional, however he has rules. Cassio successfully seduces Bianca through sexual contact. He gives it minimal importance and she in turn clings to that meeting they have “What, keeping you away for a week? Seven days and nights, eighty eight hours, and the absent hours of lovers" Bianca complains to Cassio, describing how much she missed him (III,iv,196-7). She is only his lover and yet by performing in bed he gave her the impression that he was in some sort of relationship with her whereby he was implicitly obliged to visit her regularly. In the scene where Othello kills Desdemona, he acts entirely as a predatory animal, devoid of human characteristics He simply suffocates her. This is the same intimate, primitive way in which an animal is required to kill. Ironically, Othello justifies the action as a man would other men, saying "she must die, or she will betray other men" (V, ii, 7). He is attempting to humanize himself while dehumanizing her by deceiving himself into believing that she is a rational being which is ironic when compared to the passage in which it is said that Desdemona will “tame” Othello (III,iii,25) . During the crime scene, it is her existence that brings out the most primordial of his actions (the impulse and ability to kill). It doesn't "tame" his animalistic side but rather aggravates it. Moments before Othello commits suicide, immediately after killing Desdemona (his wife), Othello says he is a "circumcised dog" (V,ii,416). At this moment he finally sees clearly, the deception has disappeared from his mind and he understands that he is an animal and not a human being, as he had thought before. The fact that he is not human reveals to him that he did not hunt (as a controlled sport) Desdemona, as he thought he did. But instead he was just participating in a very vile, animalistic action, devoid of rules, control or humanity. Evaluating Othello with reference to hunting, it becomes evident that while the men in the play hunt women, Iago is hunting men. (and consequently also women). He is the key designer of the play and essentially wrote the play and planned the action. He says that "he will entangle a fly as big as Cassius" (II,i,183). Similarly, Iago says that he intends to lead Othello "by the nose, like an ass" (I,iii,445), and then, later, in the second act, Iago again states that he will make Othello an "ass" (II ,ii,331). These sentences show that Iago sees himself as the human hunter. He verbally transforms people who are considered human beings into animals over which he has control and dominion. Iago will control how they perceive the world and ultimately trap them by means of these invented perceptions. When Iago kills his wife Emilia, it continues the man-hunt-woman relationship explored above. He kills her the moment she no longer runs away from him, to the point that she no longer obeys the turns he tells her to make without asking questions. But, even if she thinks she is challenging him by stopping her in her escape, in reality he has cornered her, he has chased her. Emilia says “it is right that I obey him [Iago], but not now” (V,ii,233). He thinks he's going,.