Emilia's Speech in "Othello" and Its Teachings Essay

In Othello the Moor, Shakespeare combines destiny with a fatal character flaw and that flaw is jealousy.  Shakespeare's tragedy allows one character to hold the key to the entire web he has spun and that character is Emilia. Emilia is the lone character who garners the knowledge to all circumstances of the events surrounding the characters in Othello the Moor.  Although other characters in the play are privy to certain details of the unfolding events, Emilia is the character that uses this knowledge to the benefit of the play.  Emilia's character is minor yet necessary.  Without her character the play would have no means of unraveling the confusion created by the author.  Emilia, wife

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.

This further develops Emilia’s character to the audience, as it displays her view of men, and how she believes that females are treated unequally in the world. Emilia’s view of men can be summed up in one of her very own quotes:

In her tale Dame Alice claims once again that the most important thing to a woman is to have control and dominance in a relationship with a man. This is seen when the knight returns to the castle to answer the queen’s question, saying "a woman wants the self-same sovereignty over her husband as over her lover, and master him, he must not be above her" (174-176). As part of a previous arrangement the knight is saved, but must marry the old hag. The woman knows that her new husband is upset that she is old and ugly, so she decides to give him a choice. The hag questions the knight as to whether he would rather have her old and faithful or young and unfaithful. The knight tells the hag that the decision is hers to choose what she thinks will be best. Because the knight was wise enough to give the woman the choice to choose for herself the old hag was able to become young, beautiful and good. The Wife’s tale demonstrates that life will be better for a man when he gives his

Men had far more power than women and took advantage by making them do everything from cooking, to cleaning, taking care of the children, and much more. This demonstrates the struggles women faced during this time period due to men acting more superior than women. Leonce “looks at his wife like a valuable piece, with suffered damages” (p33). He only holds on to Edna because he views her more like a possession than caring about her true self. Leonce uses Edna to make himself look better, rather than helping her with the damages she faced with. Woman require “psychologist to deal with” (p220). To men, women received impossible to deal with and for someone to understand them they need a medical professional. Men think they come off much more superior than women. In the role of society, “Mrs. Pontellier, not a mother-woman” (p43). A mother-woman someone who constantly there for others in time of need, they only worship their husbands and the holy spirit. But Mrs. Pontellier does not fit this role in society; She refuses to occupy the role and rather put herself above her family. She fights back towards the rights that women supposedly supposed to do. She does not appreciate only to do a couple things when she could do so much

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.

Emilia is often named “the feminist of Othello” by scholars and critics because of her, seemingly, fiery independence among a sea of submissive women ( “Act Four: The Feminist of Othello” 17). The characterization of a woman who speaks out for herself suggests that Shakespeare thought progressively; because during that time, the Elizabethan era, women were mere objects rather than human beings. The plot of Othello revolves around the misgivings of poor communication and lack of trust among the characters. Tragedy ensues, as it does in all of Shakespeare's works, but could the death have been prevented? Report after report applaud Shakespeare for developing a true feminist role model, however, sometimes a character who has attitude gets

Let it suffice that they all have done things worthy of celebration. And since it is difficult for a woman to win praise in new areas of endeavor, because their lives are stimulated by less diversity of opportunities, we must inevitably cherish the traits which they have in common so that nothing may be lost from these just precepts and ruin the rest. And yet my mother, who was very dear to me, deserved greater praise than all the others because in modesty, moral integrity, chastity, obedience, wool-working, diligence, and loyalty she was equal and similar to other excellent women, nor did she yield to any woman in virtue, hard work, and wisdom.” This inscription is significant because it reveals the qualities males associated with the ideal woman; they were expected to lead simple, domestic lives, which focused on taking care of the household. However, it is important to keep in mind that the portrayal of women reflects the idealistic woman, opposed to a realistic Roman woman.

In this scene of Othello, Shakespeare explores the characterization of Desdemona and Emilia to portray their opposing views on fidelity. As Shakespeare reveals, Desdemona’s naivety makes her unsupportive of any form of disloyalty, however, Emilia’s wordly nature argues for the wife's right to sleep with someone else once their husband has already cheated. Not only does the two women’s traits present different perspectives to a problem but it brings them closer together. As Desdemona walks back to her room with Emilia, after Othello has commanded her to go to bed, she begins to think about fidelity.

Did it even matter if they followed their religious morals? Furthermore, Emilia had very corrupt beliefs on the importance of cheating and her marriage. The audience notices that she did not have the proper duties of a traditional housewife. Emilia answers Desdemona’s question about cheating with, “But I do think it is their husband’s

3. Emilia is a strongly opinionated character in Othello and one her many bold statements is her critique on marriage. Emilia states that “But I do think it is their husbands’ faults/If wives do fall.” (Othello) she makes a very interesting assessment on how love works in her society. What she is saying is that it is the husband’s fault if their wives cheat on them. Earlier, Emilia mentions how she would cheat on her husband to make him king “Why, who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch?” (Othello) and Desdemona states that she would never, “Beshrew me, if I would do such a wrong For the whole world.” Which is due to such the strong love she has for Othello. (Othello) Why she would outright say this is due to her own

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 the play by Shakespare, Othello, there are two noticeable women who were featured in the play. One of them was the wife of the tragic-hero in the play (Othello), while the other one was the wife of the greatest villain of all time (Lago). The comparison of women in a Shakespeare text cannot be done without understanding the situation of women in Shakespeare’s time, and the cultural and social context in which he wrote women, especially nobles. In England, women were naturally subservient to men, as was customary and traditional. Despite being ruled by a woman, Elizabeth I, society did not take to the idea of women in careers, especially if they were married; it went against the natural order of the world, when men had dominion over their wives.

Although, Emilia did obey many of the traditional women roles she decided to go against them realizing how unfair it was for women to follow these roles. For instance, after Emilia has picked up Desdemona’s handkerchief and hands it to her husband Iago after, they have finished arguing, Emilia thinks about how she does “nothing but to please his fantasy” (3.3.298-299). Here we see how Emilia takes her role as a wife satisfying her husband needs with whatever he pleases from her, making her an obedient traditional wife because women were expected to follow these roles and would be criticized if they did otherwise. Moreover, Emilia has realized how unfairly Iago treats her and states that men “eat [women] hung[ri]ly, and when they are full, they belch [them]” (3.4.103-106). Emilia has finally become aware but most importantly recognizes how her husband has used her throughout their years of marriage. Emilia realizes how men only use