Emilia and Desdemona: The Yin and Yang

The characters Emilia and Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello exemplify the distinction between that of a common, abiding woman and a woman who dares to challenge the sexism of her time. But before one gets into the parallels of these two characters, one must know the story itself. Consumed by jealousy, a soldier of the Venetian army, Iago, enacts his revenge on his superior Othello for appointing an inexperienced man, Cassio, as his lieutenant instead of him, and for supposedly sleeping with his wife, Emilia. In Iago’s fit of revenge, he manipulates all those around him in subtle ways, and as a result, he sets them against one another and ends up having Othello murder his own wife and Iago himself murdering Roderigo, until his plot is finally revealed, and he is sentenced to death. As a post-colonialist scripture, Shakespeare’s Othello highlights key gender and racial disparities, beliefs, and inequalities experienced during its setting in the Renaissance. The gender aspect is shown through the characters Emilia and Desdemona, the two women and wives of the story. To be more specific, Desdemona in the story acts as the common, abiding wife – an ideal representation of traditional values of the time when the story takes place – whereas Emilia acts as the rebellious, skeptical woman who isn’t afraid to stand up for her beliefs and herself as a whole.

Desdemona is, wholeheartedly, a representation of the ideal woman in terms of the stereotypical gender beliefs of her time. One quote in particularly by Desdemona shines a bright light on her gender-related beliefs. The quote comes from a conversation on the role of women in society and infidelity between Desdemona and Emilia, and it is as follows: “Good night, good night. Heaven me such uses send, not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!” (Shakespeare 4.3.80-81). Desdemona, after responding to Emilia’s argument that essentially states women should be strong-willed, says this quote to show she is in stark disagreement with what she says and that she will learn not to follow the actions of the resistant women that Emilia had stated. It shows that she remains attached to societal norms of a woman and will conduct herself accordingly, that is, to be obedient, submissive, and unassuming. By this conforming to society, she refuses to higher herself from the role of subaltern despite having the potential to make a difference. However, this role as a submissive, subaltern woman proves to be Desdemona’s downfall, for later in the story she refuses to resist being murdered by her own husband and she even places the blame for her death on herself to defend her husband. This excerpt clarifies Desdemona’s situation as the inferior, abused woman (the subaltern) in the story:

Desdemona is the classic, battered wife. Davidson limn into this profile as follows: ‘The victims may exemplify society’s old image of ideal womanhood – submissive, religious, nonassertive, accepting of whatever the husband’s life brings’ (1978, 51). Moreover, although her background might indicate a measure of independence, the battered wife frequently looks up to the male as superior and looks down on herself as inferior (Deats 36).

Albeit Desdemona remains in her realm of traditional, colonialist thought of patriarchal society, Emilia stands as the champion of a more radical approach – that of an independent, resistant woman.

Emilia is the polar opposite of Desdemona. While Desdemona is friends with Emilia, Emilia remains in stark contrast to her. The following quote stands as a clear representation of Emilia’s beliefs of women and her role as a woman, and it is spoken in regard to her resistance in being silenced by her husband for exposing his evil plot to manipulate everyone and cause destruction: “'Twill out, ’twill out. — I peace? No, I will speak as liberal as the north. Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, All, all cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak” (Shakespeare 5.2.231-234). This quote shows that she is willing to stand up for herself despite the beliefs of the time that women should obey their husbands vehemently and should not meddle in a man’s business. To go into more depth into this quote, “when Iago orders Emilia to go home, he is addressing the 'former' Emilia, a wife who was psychologically a slave to him, who would do anything to please him, because she had learned wifely obedience; she was his property. But at this point, the 'new' Emilia has abandoned conventional wifely behavior and has broken out of her own self-imposed restraints”. Additionally, unlike Desdemona, she is more of herself than what society desires, and although she dies by her husband’s hand like Desdemona, she dies knowing that she has finally stood up to him. Alas, Emilia can be seen as essentially the feminist hero of the story. She exposes the malicious plot of her husband, and she attaches to her beliefs of an independent, free woman even as she dies. However, her triumphant though tragic end proceeded a similar situation to Desdemona.

While both Desdemona and Emilia mirror each other, they still hold some similarities of which exemplify the enduring plight of female suppression by men no matter the type of woman. Both women have obeyed their husbands, whether it was at a point in time or throughout the entirety of the story. Throughout the majority of the story, Emilia remained just as loyal to her husband as Desdemona. Desdemona has shown her loyalty throughout the story through her constant expressions of affection to him and her acceptance of his abuses and orders; Emilia has shown her loyalty by stealing Desdemona’s handkerchief from the floor to give to her husband Iago, as ordered by him, and by following through with her husband’s plan by lying to Desdemona about the whereabouts of her lost handkerchief. Emilia is more surprising in this case because, despite explicitly expressing her progressive beliefs of the roles of men and women, she is still obliged to follow her husband’s command as enforced by the strict social-cultural traditions and beliefs around her during her place in time. Essentially, the world the story takes place (Venice and its territories) is a patriarchal society in which “women must think of themselves as 'other' and man as primary or 'subject'; banish ideas of self-sovereignty; rely on economic independence to assure freedom; and forego challenging societal patterns” (Dash 249). Because of this patriarchal culture in place, Desdemona and Emilia have been coerced and reduced into subaltern positions. Moreover, as another similarity, both Desdemona and Emilia have been murdered by their own husbands. At first glance, this may seem only as a very physical similarity not within the bounds of idealistic thought and proper Shakespearean criticism; however, one must note the significance and symbolism posed by the murderous husbands in the story. Throughout the entirety of the story, both Desdemona and Emilia are constantly dictated and have their voices suppressed by their own husbands. As the story progresses, the evidence of sexist abuses also progresses, until the abuses finally culminate into the full silencing of the two women, that is, when they’re murdered. Such murders may serve to draw attention to the act that if women are to be continually abused and taken advantage of by men, then it will only lead to their assured downfall in society - even more so than their current position at the time of Shakespeare’s writing. Subsequently, they may serve to motivate women to work against the constant exploitation of themselves by men, as evidenced by the unresisted murder of Desdemona after refusing to take action for her own benefit, and to consider the risks involved in overcoming some of the controls by men, as evidenced by the murder of Emilia by Iago after she finally speaks for herself. In summation, the shared situation of Desdemona and Emilia being suppressed by their own husbands and other men goes to show the importance of taking action cooperatively. In the story, one refuses to act for her own benefit while the other, after being tired of her own abuse and exploitation, eventually takes action. Both, however, eventually end up dead – their voices suppressed forever and their positions as subalterns set in stone. Thus, one must consider what could have happened were they both cooperating for their basic human rights, for they would have most likely been able to fend for each other and survive the ensuing threat of their abusive husbands and discriminatory men as a whole.

Ultimately, Shakespeare’s Othello is an exemplary work that shines a bright light on issues that still plague women to this day. It utilizes two women in particular to highlight such issues: Desdemona and Emilia. Desdemona serves the role as the submissive, abiding woman whereas Emilia serves the role as the rebellious, independent woman. However, both are used and abused by their husbands and other men, and in the end they both end up dead silent. With this, one must consider the alternate, more positive outcome that could have resulted if both had cooperated with each other to help themselves. Overall, as the gender issues in Shakespeare’s Othello still hold to this day, one must learn from it, and thus recognize that cooperation, strength, and determination is the means to achieve true equality for all.

Works Cited

1. Dash, Irene G. Wooing, Wedding and Power. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.
2. Deats, Sara Munson. 'From Pedestal to Ditch: Violence against Women in Shakespeare's Othello.' Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 43, Gale, 1999. Literature Criticism Online, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/KVXCNW369307085/GLS?u=lincclin_bwcc&sid=GLS&xid=8f440730. Accessed 29 May 2019. Originally published in The Aching Hearth: Family Violence in Life and Literature, edited by Sara Munson Deats and Lagretta Tallent Lenker, Plenum Press, 1991, pp. 36.
3. Iyasere, Solomon. 'The Liberation of Emilia.' Shakespeare in Southern Africa, vol. 21, 2009, p. 69+. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com.db03.linccweb.org/apps/doc/A213406443/GLS?u=lincclin_bwcc&sid=GLS&xid=17f753d9. Accessed 29 May 2019.
4. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. “No Fear Shakespeare - Othello.” Sparknotes. Transcription by Alex Woelffer.