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Analysis of emilia in othello
Notes on Desdemona and othello relationship
Notes on Desdemona and othello relationship
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Is Othello responsible for Desdemona’s death? Or is it Iago who planned to get revenge against the Moor? There are many people in the play who are responsible for Desdemona’s death. However, one of the individuals in the play unwittingly helps contribute to her death by being naive. Emilia who is Desdemona’s loyal friend fails to convince Othello that Desdemona is faithful. She is unwittingly responsible for her friend’s death because, she never mentions the handkerchief until Desdemona has been killed. Although, Iago is the master mind behind Desdemona’s death and Othello is the person who murdered her if then, it were not for Emilia who initiates Iago’s plans Desdemona would still be alive. Emilia is unwittingly responsible for Desdemona’s death because she is naïve about her husband’s actions; she is silent about the handkerchief and lacks courage to prove to Othello that Desdemona’s is innocent.
Desdemona’s death is caused because Emilia is naive and has poor judgment of Iago. Iago believes that Emilia is promiscuous this sparks his jealousy toward Othello. Because he suspects that Othello and Emilia have been together intimately. He then seeks revenge on the Moor in the process he uses his own wife as an accomplice. This leads to, the case of the missing handkerchief! Emilia is completely naive and without any suspicion she never suspects that Iago envies the Moor and will use the handkerchief to deceive him. When Emilia says:
I am glad I have found this napkin;
This was her first remembrance from the Moor.
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Wooed me to steal it; but she so loves the token
And give’t Iago. What he will do with it,
Heaven knows, not I; I nothing but to please his
Fantasy. (3.3.289-92, 296-98)
S...
... middle of paper ...
...kerchief thou
Speak’st of
I found by fortune, and did give my husband;
For often with solemn earnestness-
More than indeed belonged to such a trifle-
He begged of me to steal’t.(5.2.221-26)
Her confession then confirms that Desdemona was faithful and did not deserve to die and as a result she shows one that love can be foolish and naïve. Her love and loyalty to Iago causes her to deceive her friend and this ends with both women being killed because the love they possessed for too foolish men. Othello is responsible for murdering Desdemona; Iago is
responsible for Othello’s behavior but Emilia is responsible the person who takes the handkerchief and causes these events to take took place therefore she unwittingly is responsible for Desdemona’s death.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William, and Alvin, Kernan. The tragedy of Othello. Signet Classics, 1998. Print.
At the beginning of the action, the two ladies relationship furthers the plot by creating a circumstance in which Desdemona’s handkerchief goes missing. Desdemona’s most valued token of Othello’s love is a supposedly magic handkerchief that belonged to his mother and Desdemona keeps it with her at all times. When she drops it Emilia swipes it to try to please her husband, Iago. By stealing the handkerchief Emilia unwittingly sets in motion Iago’s scheme that will eventually lead to the death of herself, Othello, and her beloved Desdemona. Without this handkerchief Iago’s scheme would never work because it is the only piece of substantial proof of Desdemona's infidelity can use to convince Othello. Therefore, without Desdemona and Emilia's close friendship there would be no plot. Toward the end of the play, Emilia and Desdemona’s relationship becomes crucial to the plot again. After Othello kills Desdemona Emilia is the one who puts together the facts and unearths Iago’s scheme, risking her own life to do so. After witnessing Desdemona’s death Emilia says, “O thou dull Moor, that handkerchief thou speak’st of I found by fortune, and did give my husband- for often, with a solemn earnestness he begged of me to steal ‘t”(5.2.267-272). At the threat of her own death she revealed Iago’s treachery and concluded the plot by explaining how Iago’s scheming led to the death of four different people. Without Emilia’s proximity to Desdemona she would never have been able to take the handkerchief and her knowledge of Iago and Desdemona’s natures made her the only character able to uncover Iago’s scheme. Certainly, Desdemona’s close relationship and differing characters were essential to the plot of the
In Shakespeare’s Othello, the main characters suffer a tragic demise at the end. While it is clear that somebody is to blame for the unfortunate events, the main culprit behind the tragedy remains unclear. Three different authors, the humanists Baldassare Castiglione, Juan Luis Vives, and the Puritan preacher William Whately would all disagree on which character is to blame. While Castiglione would put Iago at fault for his misogynistic words and actions, Vives would say that Brabantio is the one to blame for his lack of control over his daughter Desdemona, and Whately would argue that Othello could have avoided this whole ordeal through forgiveness. While these different writers
In William Shaspeare play Othello, Iago make Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He does by taking advantage of any situation to make of Othello doubt. Iago make Othello thing a lot of crazy thing on his head, Othello got so jelous leading him to kill his own wife, Desdemona, satisfying iago obseccion for revenge.
Iago talks about jealousy and deception in this same scene, but never gives any proof or direct descriptions of Desdemona's betrayal. Yet we know that Othello's perception has been sufficiently influenced to make him angry and sick by the end of this conversation. He tells Desdemona he has a headache, but he refuses any help from her. When she puts her handkerchief to his head, he pushes it away saying, "your napkin is too little" (3.3.285). This takes on more significance later on in the play when we find out that this handkerchief is the first token of love Othello ever gave to Desdemona.
Emilia is not just in the play to be a simply friend. She is there to tell everyone the horrible acts that have happened. Once, Emilia realizes her mistress has died she starts asking questions which helps her put two and two together. Emilia finds out that Othello thinks Desdemona cheated on her something that Desdemona would never do. Emilia then asks Othello, why? The main reason is the handkerchief. Othello gave Desdemona handkerchief that represents their love and its precious. Because Othello finds out Cassio had it he thinks an affair was going on. Then is when, Emilia reveals that she gave the handkerchief to Iago because she found it. Quickly after that it’s revealed that Iago (her husband) is doing evil acts. Emilia “...That handkerchief thou speak’st of I found by fortune and did give my husband. For often, with a solemn earnestness—More than indeed belonged to such a trifle—He begged of me to steal it.” With that said, Emilia was much more than a
While Othello murdered his wife Desdemona, he did it purely from misunderstanding and jealousy. Iago made Othello believe Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio even though she never did such actions. Iago’s persistence and villainous intentions made Othello become jealous of Cassio and break down his emotions towards Desdemona and want to kill her with fierce rage. Othello would not do such a crime if he have known it is was a
When we first begin Othello, we see the start of what we believe to be a beautiful marriage between Othello and Desdemona. However, at the end, we are faced with the tragic murder of Desdemona by her dear Othello, bringing this marriage to a gruesome end. We’re left with a sense of horror, sorrow, and bewilderment. How could this have happened? Why did Othello, how did Othello, go from a doting husband to a furious killer? The obvious answer is that Iago deceived him into thinking that Desdemona had been unfaithful to him. However, multiple factors contributed to this tragedy. One could say that Emelia is the pivotal point in the tragedy of Othello. It was due, in part, to her actions and motivations, as well as the jealousy that she caused in Iago, that Desdemona died.
Who is really to blame for Desdemona’s death? Although Othello made the fatal design and actually killed Desdemona, Iago‘s manipulation of Othello gives reason to put the blame on Iago. Iago is definitely to blame for the misfortune that occurs in the story. Iago disseminates every character in the story. Iago’s main reason for doing so was that he felt mistreated and overlooked when Othello assigned Cassio his right hand man.
Given these statements, Othello, Iago and Roderigo are the people who are responsible for Desdemona's death. Iago for planning the whole thing. He uses any chance, he gets to arouse Othello's anger and jealousy to make Desdemona and Cassio seem guilty. Planting the handkerchief...which is the symbol of faithfulness.
...race, beauty and status put her on a pedestal like a goddess allowing him to idolize her and therefore never truly deserve her. Beneath his noble persona on display for all to see, the idealistic view of his wife, leads him to believe that she will never be able to fully reciprocate the love he has for her. Iago’s exploitative tactics used for revenge trigger Othello’s fatal insecurities to surface for the ultimately climactic ending in which he smothers Desdemona with a pillow before discovering “honest” Iago had been deceiving him, as well as the majority of the other characters, the entire time. Outraged, Othello attempts to stab Iago as revenge for being manipulated into killing his beloved wife, however when his hasty murder attempt fails, the heartbroken and worn-out man stabs himself next to the already dead Desdemona, whom he never believed he was worthy of.
Iago plants the handkerchief on Cassio. Convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity, Othello smothers his beloved wife in their marriage bed. Emilia then proves Iago’s guilt and Desdemona’s innocence to Othello. Othello stabs Iago, who is under arrest, but fails to kill him and commits suicide.
...her murdered mistress, resuscitates morality in this play. Emilia refutes the untrue notions which Othello says motivated him to kill; she counters Iago’s lies (“She give it Cassio? No, alas, I found it, / And I did give’t my husband.”) and lays the guilt for Desdemona’s murder on his shoulders. And she sacrifices her very life for the truth; she dies a martyr, stabbed by evil Iago. Othello also is a martyr in a sense, paying in full for the crime that he committed.
In conclusion, I feel that Othello is to blame for his downfall completely because he could have prevented the deaths of three people including him from happening by not letting rumours and assumptions getting the best of him and having faith in his wife. If he had even bothered to ask Desdemona if any of what Iago said about her was true, he could have seen what a distasteful man Iago really was and not have been fooled and driven to insanity and Desdemona could have at least justified herself properly. He must have had the same doubts in his head from the beginning of the relationship as he instantly believed the lies, because if he hadn’t, he would have questioned Iago more than once. Jealously is a powerful motive.
Iago controls Emilia and treats her as less when she does not act as a submissive wife. Therefore, Emilia follows to keep Iago satisfy. Further, Iago tells Emilia to steal the handkerchief; which she follows without knowing his intentions, to then be insulted by Iago calling her a “foolish wife” (3.3.313), and demanding her, “Go, leave me” (3.3.330). Apparently, Iago makes Emilia lesser, and she accepts her role as a submissive wife. Moreover, although Othello proclaims loving Desdemona, he perceives her as inferior as a result of jealousy. As in Act 5, Scene 2 where Othello says to Desdemona, “Down, strumpet!” (89), suggesting that he puts her in an inferior position to kill her reflecting his true perception of Desdemona. And likewise Emilia, Desdemona accepts the role of an obedient wife by using her last breath to take the fault off Othello
Even though Othello trusted Iago, he did not once think about Desdemona’s faithfulness and that Iago might just be completely lying. I’ll not expostulate with her. ”(IV.i.206-208) It shows that he came to a quick and poor conclusion to kill Desdemona. Othello having poor judgment lead him to trust the wrong people and when he finally realized this, it lead to his demise. The third trait in Othello that led to his downfall was his jealousy and obsession with Desdemona.