ENGLISH LITERATURE
CHARACTER FOCUS: BIANCA
Othello
Her role in the play Key Scenes
Bianca is a Venetian courtesan
who is in love with Cassio, who in
Bianca first appears in Act 3 Scene 4 and
turn sees her as a laughable clearly shows herself to be in love with Cassio
nuisance. by the way she reprimands him for neglecting
her and being jealous because of the
Like Desdemona, Bianca is used handkerchief he gives her. Cassio appears to
and abused by the male be loving, excusing his lack of attention and
characters in Othello. She is only promises to make it up to her. However, these
are easy excuses which Bianca sadly sees
seen in relation to men and is
through:
always in a vulnerable position.
CASSIO: Not that I love you not. (line 190)
BIANCA: But that you do not love me.
Themes & Quotes
Bianca’s genuine love for Cassio is seen in her
“So hangs and lolls and weeps upon me, so hales distress after he is attacked in Act 5 Scene 1.
and pulls me. Ha, ha, ha!” Cassio (Act 4 Scene 1, She rushes to his aid and tries to comfort him,
line 137)
even facing Iago’s cruel taunts and
“Tis such another fitchew! Marry, a perfumed one. /
What do you mean by this haunting of me?” Cassio accusations of her part in the attack. The truth
(Act 4 Scene 1, line 144) of her love for Cassio allows her to assert that,
“I am no strumpet, but of life as honest As you that regardless of her lifestyle, she is a woman of
thus abuse me.” Bianca (Act 5 Scene 1, line 122) virtue.
The main themes that are associated with Bianca are
BIANCA: O, my dear Cassio, my sweet Cassio!
promiscuity and prostitution. She is only perceived as a O, Cassio, Cassio, Cassio! (line 76)
commodity for men and a shallow character.
Analysis
Shakespeare's overall portrayal of Bianca is sympathetic. In act 3 scene 4, Cassio and Bianca share mutual
love for eachother as opposed to Emilia and Iago’s transactional relationship. However, when speaking
about his lover to Iago in the next act, he regards her as ‘another fitchew’ who ‘hangs and lolls and weeps’
on him. From these two scenes, we as the reader establish Bianca’s role as a disregarded female character.
Through Bianca, Desdemona and Emilia, we see the treatment of women and how they are presented
towards their superiors; their husbands. Because of this, Shakespeare implies how gender roles were like in
Elizabethan times and mirrors this in the play.
CHARACTER FOCUS: BIANCA
Othello
Her role in the play Key Scenes
Bianca is a Venetian courtesan
who is in love with Cassio, who in
Bianca first appears in Act 3 Scene 4 and
turn sees her as a laughable clearly shows herself to be in love with Cassio
nuisance. by the way she reprimands him for neglecting
her and being jealous because of the
Like Desdemona, Bianca is used handkerchief he gives her. Cassio appears to
and abused by the male be loving, excusing his lack of attention and
characters in Othello. She is only promises to make it up to her. However, these
are easy excuses which Bianca sadly sees
seen in relation to men and is
through:
always in a vulnerable position.
CASSIO: Not that I love you not. (line 190)
BIANCA: But that you do not love me.
Themes & Quotes
Bianca’s genuine love for Cassio is seen in her
“So hangs and lolls and weeps upon me, so hales distress after he is attacked in Act 5 Scene 1.
and pulls me. Ha, ha, ha!” Cassio (Act 4 Scene 1, She rushes to his aid and tries to comfort him,
line 137)
even facing Iago’s cruel taunts and
“Tis such another fitchew! Marry, a perfumed one. /
What do you mean by this haunting of me?” Cassio accusations of her part in the attack. The truth
(Act 4 Scene 1, line 144) of her love for Cassio allows her to assert that,
“I am no strumpet, but of life as honest As you that regardless of her lifestyle, she is a woman of
thus abuse me.” Bianca (Act 5 Scene 1, line 122) virtue.
The main themes that are associated with Bianca are
BIANCA: O, my dear Cassio, my sweet Cassio!
promiscuity and prostitution. She is only perceived as a O, Cassio, Cassio, Cassio! (line 76)
commodity for men and a shallow character.
Analysis
Shakespeare's overall portrayal of Bianca is sympathetic. In act 3 scene 4, Cassio and Bianca share mutual
love for eachother as opposed to Emilia and Iago’s transactional relationship. However, when speaking
about his lover to Iago in the next act, he regards her as ‘another fitchew’ who ‘hangs and lolls and weeps’
on him. From these two scenes, we as the reader establish Bianca’s role as a disregarded female character.
Through Bianca, Desdemona and Emilia, we see the treatment of women and how they are presented
towards their superiors; their husbands. Because of this, Shakespeare implies how gender roles were like in
Elizabethan times and mirrors this in the play.
