Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2- (B-), University of Göttingen (English Seminar), language: English, abstract: This work deals with Shakespeare’s play Othello with regard to feminism. It will analyse the female characters and their relation to men and society. Furthermore it will try to find out if Shakespeare was a feminist or not, if he created feministic women and if he supported the idea of equal rights. Additionally, the paper will look at the handkerchief as a stage prop and as a symbol with a wider meaning. How did Shakespeare use its symbolism? First of all, this work will give a short overview over feminism, its definition, its historical development and its relation to Shakespeare. The following chapter deals with the play Othello in connection with feminism. Can Othello be interpreted from a feminist point of view? What symbols did Shakespeare use? Here the handkerchief is of special interest. Finally, the conclusion will summarize the findings and give results. In order to give a broad view of meanings and feministic reviews this paper works with secondary literature from 1775 to 2000 to show how opinions changed, respectively how they remained the same. Moreover it includes books about feminism in general and books about Shakespeare’s plays and feminism.