Double Standards Between Men And Women In Othello

Emilia acts similarly when she defies her husband in the final Act of the play. She is of a middle class and serves as a maid and a loyal friend to Desdemona. Her character is somewhat different as she follows her husband, Iago, diligently but speaks disparagingly of men and believes them to be foolish and perverse. This is particularly evident in Act 4 Scene 3 “let husbands know their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell, and have palates both for sweet and sour” and “what is it that they do when they change us for others? Is it sport? I think it is”. She expresses the inequality between men and women living in this time

In Shakespeare’s “Othello”, Emilia is considered one of the minor characters. She is the wife of Iago and the lady in waiting to Desdemona. Emilia makes a crucial contribution to the play as a whole. She contributes to the characterization of a couple of key characters and adds to the dramatic irony of the play. She plays an essential role in the escalation of the dramatic action. She also adds to some of the themes of the play.

Her silence causes Othello to become in rage with his wife this leads us to believe that Emilia is a liar. Although Emilia doesn’t intentionally lie to Desdemona she fails to tell her that she took the handkerchief as a token to win praise from Iago. This causes conflict between Desdemona and Othello just as it is the reason for Othello’s jealousy.

Emilia has a similar role in this play, but she not only has an obligation to her husband Iago but she also has to answer to her mistress's powerful husband Othello. Throughout the play she has no choice but to play the role of a good obeying wife and keep what she knows to herself. She knows that she has that obligation to her husband, but she fights with herself because she seems to have a different obligation to her mistress. She has no choice but to go on living her everyday life, even after knowing what Iago was planning. She would not think of questioning him, because she would know the consequences.

In Othello, Act IV, scene ii and iii, Emilia, Iago’s wife, reveals her opinion about relationships to the reader as she attempts to comfort Desdemona. She indefinitely believes that many men, as well as women, are frequently guilty of deception and betrayal of their partner. By this part of the play, Othello’s suspicions of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness have greatly increased, and he begins to accuse her of cheating on him. When Desdemona persistently denies his accusations, Othello becomes enraged. He sarcastically asks for her pardon and claims that he took her to be the “cunning whore of Venice” (Act IV, scene ii, line 88). Desdemona is heartbroken by her

Emilia is the wife of Iago and Desdemona’s maidservant. Emilia, much like Desdemona, does not have much power but once again her presence has an effect. Her role in the play, apart from being Desdemona’s maid, is to fetch

Shakespeare has hidden meaning in his lines which refer to Emilia, Iago’s wife. When Emilia defends women who cheat on their husbands to help make their husband “a monarch,” the audience can infer that she is actually referring to herself, as she seems to have cheated on Othello based on this. Additionally, earlier in the play, when Iago talks to Emilia about Desdemona’s handkerchief, because of the way that Iago speaks to her, it can be assumed that they are talking about her private part and her having sex with other men, rather than Desdemona’s handkerchief. Therefore, Shakespeare wants the audience to infer that Emilia cheated on Iago with Othello, and Iago believes that she has done it with even more men than that. This hidden meaning referring to Emilia connects to the plot of the book, in which Iago tries to trick Othello because of his hatred of him. One of the main reasons for this hatred is that Iago believes that Othello slept with his wife,

In addition, Emilia proves her underrated intelligence by standing up for what she believes is right. Desdemona, Othello's wife, and Emilia's relationship grows because of her great loyalty towards her. At the end of the play Emilia stands up for Desdemona because Othello kills her. She explains Desdemona's true love for him and would never do anything to hurt him, which proves Desdemona's innocence. Not only does Emilia stand up for Desdemona, but she also voices her opinion to Othello. Emilia shows no fear standing up to Othello to prove to him that his wife has always been faithful. At first Othello finds it implausible but then Emilia says, "Thou art rash as fire, to say that she was false. O, she was heavenly true!" (Shakespeare V: ii, 165-166).Women are looked at in Othello as unintelligent and unfaithful, but Emilia changes that stereotype by standing up to the men. From the start Emilia and Iago's relationship always seemed rocky. Emilia's confidence in herself shows that she is not afraid to stand up to her husband. Emilia realizes the danger she puts herself in when she stands up to Iago. In order to make things right, she does whatever it takes, even if that means ruining their marriage or taking her life.

Because of these reasons, Emilia warns all men to change their ways and start treating their wives with the respect they deserve

When she realizes what a horrible man he was she would rather die with Desdemona than continue living with him. In Act V when Emilia first hears of the manipulation put out by her husband she is completely shocked. Although the signs were all there since the beginning her kind soul never saw the evil inside him. Although she was shocked she believed Othello when he told her, even after he had just killed her best friend. This shows that there has always been a strain in the relationship between Iago and Emilia, just waiting to unravel.

Emilia is Iago's wife, and Desdemona's maid, a woman of practical intelligence and emotional resilience. She follows Iago in wifely duty, but during the play develops a strong loyalty to Desdemona and, at the end, publicly declare Iago's lies to defend Desdemona's reputation. Emilia having heard from Othello that Iago told him of Desdemona "cheating" on him with Cassio, accuses him of gross dishonesty leading to an unjust murder. When she hears about the handkerchief, she reveals her role and Iago threatens and then kills her at the first opportunity. She can't bring Desdemona back to life, but she does clear her friend's name.

She continues on to explain that men and women also share the same desires and affections, but the only difference is men are weaker mentally. This conversation takes place privately and Emilia does not

In act three scene three Desdemona drops a handkerchief that Othello gave to her which Emilia picks up, however before thinking too much about it, Iago enters and takes it away from her. In this scene, Emilia can be characterized to the reader as a clueless and defenseless person from her actions and words. Being Iago’s wife, Emilia must have had a feeling Iago was conspiring a plan, but she did not and in fact she aided him on his scheme. It may be argued Emilia would want to get “revenge” on Desdemona and she might have supported Iago’s plan, but this is evidently false as Emilia asks Iago to give back the handkerchief for she knows Desdemona will be worried sick, therefore showing she cares for Desdemona. Additionally, this scene captures

In Shakespeare’s “Othello” Emilia plays the role of a minor character. The play is centered around the relationship of the military general (Othello) and his fair wife, Desdemona. Emilia is the wife of antagonistic character, Iago who is hell-bent on destroying the relationship of Othello and Desdemona in order to extract revenge from Othello for giving the title of lieutenant to a young fellow named Cassio and not him. Emilia’s character is of great significance in “Othello” despite being a minor character; her character is the cause of escalation of events, characterization, and tragedy. Emilia and Iago share a fairly weak and disrespectful relationship in comparison to Desdemona and Othello’s relationship at the beginning of the play, that was before Iago obliterates their relationship.

However, a modern day audience may agree with her, as it was a feminist way of thinking. In Act 4 scene 2, Emilia expresses her thoughts on men very boldly with negative perceptions on love, which was very unusual at the time as women were typically focussed on