Emilia Quotes Flashcards
‘Enter Emilia… But he protests he loves you and need no other suitor’ - Stage direction/ Emilia in Act 3 Scene 1
Iago commands his wife, she only enters at his bidding. She is involved in his plan without knowing it, making her the puppet and him the puppeteer. She is deceptive towards Cassio, lying about Othello’s feelings towards him in order to please her husband.
‘I am glad I have found this napkin… give’t Iago: what he will do with it heaven knows, not I - I nothing, but to please his fantasy’ - Emilia in Act 3 Scene 3
Emilia is not knowingly complicit in Iago’s plans however she understands her husband’s nature and how important the handkerchief is and yet she still gives it to him as she is driven by a desperation to please Iago - emphasising her role as a tragic victim.
‘To have a foolish wife’ - Iago in Act 3 Scene 3
Emilia is in an emotionally and verbally abusive marriage with Iago who is deeply misogynistic, cruel and devoid of any compassion or warmth towards her. She represents the women trapped in a patriarchal society who have to submit to their cold and unloving husbands.
‘He snatches it’ - Stage direction in Act 3 Scene 3
Iago does not reward or show any gratitude towards Emilia for giving him the handkerchief. The reason she gave it to him was to please him and yet he still shows her no kindness.
‘Is he not jealous… is not this man jealous?’ - Emilia in Act 3 Scene 4
Emilia is a foil to Desdemona. Where Desdemona is foolish, gullible and naive, Emilia is experienced and hardened from her upbringing lower down in society as well as by her awful marriage to Iago. She is trying to make Desdemona aware of Othello’s worrying behaviour.
‘They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; they eat us hungerly, and when they are full they belch us’ - Emilia in Act 3 Scene 4
Emilia creates a divide between the two sexes - using ‘they’ and ‘us’. She also makes it clear that men use women purely for their sexual appetites and then discard them. Emilia has worldly knowledge from her disastrous marriage to Iago and the fact that she is not sheltered like upper class women.
‘But jealous souls will not be answered so; they are not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they’re jealous. It is a monster begot upon itself, born on itself’ - Emilia in Act 3 Scene 4
Emilia uses the motif of ‘monster’ to warn Desdemona to act wisely around Othello as jealousy is perilous, but Desdemona does not heed her advice.
‘She is honest, lay down my soul at stake’ - Emilia in Act 4 Scene 2
This passionate defence of Desdemona solidifies the newfound sisterhood between Emilia and Desdemona. Emilia’s use of ‘soul’ and ‘honest’ is truthful and unironic, showing how Emilia is trying to restore the idea of a pure soul which Iago has corrupted.
‘If any wretch have put this in your head, let heaven requite it with the serpent’s curse’ - Emilia in Act 4 Scene 2
This reveals Emilia’s growth as a character, she’s now unafraid to tell Othello the harsh truth. She also recognises how he has been poisoned to believe a falsehood - she alludes to the bible, referencing Adam and Eve being banished from the garden of Eden and she wants a similar extreme punishment for the villain who fed Othello these lies.
‘Yet she’s a simple bawd’ - Othello in Act 4 Scene 2
Othello would rather trust a man (Iago) than a woman (Emilia) which shows the struggles that women like Emilia have to deal with everyday in a patriarchal society where their voices are not heard or valued.
‘The Moor’s abused by some most villainous knave, some base, notorious knave, some scurvy fellow’ - Emilia in Act 4 Scene 2
Emilia realises that Othello is being poisoned against his wife, revealing her worldly knowledge and experience in a society she knows can be corrupt and evil.
‘If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties… or else break out into peevish jealousies … let husbands know their wives have sense like them… and have no we affections desires for sport and frailty, as men have?’ - Emilia in Act 4 Scene 3
Emilia gives a proto-feminist diatribe and says that women have the same tendencies, urges and feelings as men and that if wives are disloyal then it is their husbands fault. If wives are left unsatisfied then they’ll look elsewhere for the fulfilment of their physical needs. This is a radical view, however Emilia isn’t entirely feminist yet because the scene takes place in a private setting in front of her close female friend. She’s not confident enough to speak this aloud in public.
‘My husband?… If he say so, may his pernicious soul rot half a grain a day! He lies to th’ heart’ - Emilia in Act 5 Scene 2
Emilia experiences her anagnorisis, finally connecting the dots and realising that Iago is the culprit. She consequently becomes overwhelmed with wrath.
‘I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak… I will ne’er go home…No, I will speak as liberal as the North’ - Emilia in Act 5 Scene 2
Emilia rebels against Iago who is trying to silence her, therefore she defies the patriarchy and the expectation that she should obey her husband.
‘O lay me by my mistress’ side’ - Emilia in Act 5 Scene 2
Shakespeare illuminates how female friendships are far stronger than marital bonds. There are no examples of good, loving marriages in the play but instead we see Emilia and Desdemona’s friendship blossom. After fighting for justice for Desdemona, Emilia dies and requests to lie by her friend, something that married couples usually ask for.
