Let’s state the obvious. Men are very weak when it even comes to the idea of their wives being unfaithful. Stereotypically, males are the ones to be considered the cheaters and these two works are interesting because it plays with the idea of men being the ones cheated on instead of the other way around. The most compelling aspect of this idea is that the females weren’t even unfaithful, as far as we, the readers know! Sita in The Ramayana was kidnapped by a demon, who held her captive in his household, and when she was finally rescued by her husband, Rama, she was pushed into proving her innocence or faithfulness to her husband by “the trail by fire”. She ended up losing her life because her husband did not believe her and also because he was worried about what the people of his kingdom would think is acceptable behavior for a married couple. Othello shows a lot of weaknesses as he lets his emotions control him and they drive him to committing murder. The worse part was that everything was made up by another person. He trusted the opinion of another person instead of having faith in his life partner, who disobeyed her own father to be with him. He ends up killing his wife as she was pleading for him to hear her innocence. One of the last things she says before she dies is “A guiltless death I die.” (5.2.1127) She refuses to die as an adulterer. Both men displayed lack of trust in their bond with their wives. Both listened to people outside their relationship when it came to forming their opinions about the legitimacy of their relationships. Both females died trying to prove their innocence and loyalty to their husband and both stood by their stance. It is extremely upsetting to see how women are seen as deceitful beings, which is common in the past. Men are just as deceitful.
http://feministfilmstudies.blogspot.com/2010/06/queer-diaspora-and-fire.html
http://bookandbiscuit.com/2011/05/01/day-20-favourite-kiss/
