Desdemona vs. Emilia

             Desdemona, the bride of Othello, and Emilia, the wife of the villain Iago, are the two principal female characters in Shakespeare's Othello. Although they are both very loyal to their husbands, a sharp contrast between these women is realized with regard to Desdemona's innocence and idealism and Emilia's experience and realism.
             Desdemona and Emilia are loyal characters who want to please their husbands. Desdemona's loyalty to Othello reaches to her superceding her loyalty to her father and moving to Cyprus to be with him. True to her lord, Desdemona follows Othello's every wish, despite him strikes her in public and calling her a strumpet in a jealous rage. Following these, Desdemona discovers that she is facing a death my her jealous husband's hand, but does not resist her fate or argue her life. She follows her belief of whatever her husband says or does is correct and accepts that she will die for his honour. Pronounced on her deathbed , her loyalty to Othello is proved by her stating: "If you say so, I hope you will not kill me." (Shakespeare) Even faced with death, she will accept his actions and die by his will. Her loyalty is true and unbreakable, and Desdemona risks it all to remain a loyal wife to her once respectable husband. Emilia is also a very loyal character to her husband, Iago. Although Iago is of villainous personality, Emilia realizes as his wife she has a duty to obey him. She allows him to call her a wench and dares not to renounce him, despite her very confident nature. Emilia's loyalty to her husband even begins to conflict with her many other loyalties, even that with her mistress, Desdemona, whom she loves dearly. She lies directly to her when Desdemona enquires to her the whereabouts of her handkerchief. Emilia will not even hint to the misplacing of the napkin as her fault. Furthermore she knows it will cause much trouble between Desdemona and her lor...

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Desdemona vs. Emilia. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 06:38, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/34025.html