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Characterisation / Emilia - Coggle Diagram
Characterisation / Emilia
Similar to Desdemona?
Emilia shares some of Desdemona's qualities; she is a loyal wife who seeks to please her husband; she gives Iago Desdemona’s handkerchief because she knows he wants it. She also feels that it proper that she obeys and submits to her spouse.
Also, like Desdemona Emilia also defends herself and her sex. She replies sharply when Iago degrades women in
Act 2 / Scene 1 : "You shall not write my praise"
.
In some ways Emilia differs from Desdemona, mainly in how much stronger of a feminist she is.
In Act 3 / Scene 4, Emilia demonstrates more realistic idea about male–female relationships than Desdemona. Discussing marriage and men she says:
Quote en quote:
’Tis not a year or two shows us a man.
They are all but stomachs, and we all but food:
They eat us hungerly, and when they are full
They belch us.
It is impossible to imagine Desdemona speaking in this down-to-earth, practical and vulgar tone.
As Desdemona becomes weaker in the second half of the play Emilia’s role becomes more important. She becomes her mistress’s energetic defender, becoming a mouthpiece for the audience’s outrage regarding the treatment Desdemona receives
In the final scene Emilia becomes
[the voice of truth]
and finally stops Iago’s evil progress. It is impossible not to agree with some of her harsh judgements of Othello and we know that she is absolutely right to betray Iago. Her final lines reconfirm her own and her mistress’s honesty:
"So come my soul to bliss as I speak true!
So speaking as I think, alas, I die." (Act 5 / Scene 2).
Confusing aspects of Emilia.
Why does she give the handkerchief to Iago when she doesn't know why he wants it and when she also knows that her mistress will
"run mad"
when she discovers it has gone
(Act 3 / Scene 3)
?
Does she also perhaps suspect her husband before she finally speaks out?
Quote en quote:
Villainy, villainy, villainy!
I think upon’t: I think I smell’t: O villainy!
I thought so then: I’ll kill myself for grief! (Act 5 / Scene 2).
Some critics argue that Emilia has suppressed her suspicions, that her desire to
"speak true"
comes too late
(Act 5 / Scene 2)
.
Emilia has a casual acceptance of sin (her acceptance of adultery), suggesting she is too basic a moraliser to be relied on for Othello's overall potrayal.