Abstract
The character of Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello is most often portrayed as a naïve, passive, all-trusting, all-loving young woman. Not only is this portrayal exceptionally flat, it also reinforces the naturalized gender norms of women in Western society. Feminist theatre artists are working to disrupt these gender norms inherent in canonical works such as Othello. This thesis explores how feminist artists and scholars call into question the traditional portrayal of Desdemona in Othello as well as the representation of women in the canon. This thesis examines the subversive nature of productions of Othello by the Women’s Repertory Theatre and the Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company staged with all-female casts, looking particularly at how the use of drag challenges the play’s gendered representations. In addition, this thesis analyzes how two feminist revisions of Othello, Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) and Paula Vogel’s Desdemona: a play about a handkerchief, explore Desdemona’s nature and challenge the strict authority of traditional interpretations of this canonical text.
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