Voices of the servetta: the role of Emilia and Nerissa in Shakespeare's Othello and The Merchant of Venice

The two plays chosen for this thesis are Othello and The Merchant of Venice. They were selected for the reason that they both offer plenty of opportunities to explore the roles of women and, more specifically, female servants in Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre and society. The female characters that will be analysed are Othello’s Emilia and The Merchant of Venice’s Nerissa. This study, through the analysis of various critical articles and works, aims to both examine their roles as women in service during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras and analyze Shakespeare’s sources and inspiration for these particular plays and characters.