my maid of honor speech for my sisters wedding!
13 years ago
Sunday, February 8, 2009
SBD -- Silent But Deadly
In Act 2, we see Iago crudely attack and generalize all women as whores with Desdemona and Emilia standing by. Although Desdemona vehemently fights back (and holds her own, you could argue), Emilia has only a few scattered one-liners in protest. Iago then continues to explain his "ideal woman" that goes beyond Usher's hit song to include "suckling fools and chronicling beer" as well as "having a tongue at will and yet never loud". How do you view Emilia's character? Do you think she is trying to act as Iago's "ideal wife"? Or do you believe the rumors abroad that Emilia slept with Othello and is, therefore, acting (or not acting) out of guilt? Is an affair in her nature? We know she decides to obey Iago's request to create "alone time" for Desdemona and Cassio, but do you think she's aware of Iago's evil plan? Why or why not?
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19 comments:
Hoonestly, I dont see Emilia as a woman who cheated on her husband. From what we have seen of her, she doesnt have much of a personality. Even if she is being quiet just to repent for her sin of adultery, I cant support her being a woman who cheats. I mean she doesnt talk at all! We dont know her and therefore we can only use what little we see of her and our own assumptions to decide if she was with Othello. I think overall, she is just a woman overpowered by her husband. She has an idea of what Iago is doing but she doesnt know that entire scope of his plan. She handed over the handkerchief, i believe, because she didnt know what Iago was going to do with it. If she was aware of it and she was truly D's friend, she wouldnt have given the cloth to Iago.
What is interesting is why Iago continuously degrades her. Would he be insulting her if she had not done anything? However, I dont think that she has in terms of cheating with Othello.
I do not believe that Emilia is the type of person to cheat on her husband, and there definitley doesn't seem to be anything going on between Othello and Emilia. I think Othello would have told Iago if he did because he has such a guilty conscience, but also Othello values morals in a bug way so I don't think he would provoke anyone to cheat.
I think that Emilia does her best to be the ideal wife for Iago despite his cruel treatment of Emilia. In actuality she loves him very much but he is always looking for something better, the perfect woman. Since there is no such thing he is eternally unhappy and miserable.
I do not believe she knows of Iago's plan, she just does what he wants her to do because that is the duty of a wife to her husband. I am confused why she isn't curious of why Iago needs her to do some suspicious things, like steal the handkerchief and give Cassio and Desdemona some alone time. But there are some people that are not naturally curious and therefore do whatever they are told. I think that if Emilia tried to be happy with herself, like express her true personality Iago would appreciate her more. He is an observant fellow and sees that she can be easily pushed around. She needs to develope a voice for herself anf fight for some rights of her own. If she plays hard to get maybe Iago will realize that she is his "ideal woman."
Affair is in everyone's nature. I actually watched a special sunday night on the scientific study of sexual attraction that proved this theory. Now I'm not one to assume, so for all I know Emilia very well may have cheated on Iago. It doesn't matter how she appears to be to us, she could be a saint and still mess up. People make mistakes and we don't even know the circumstances of the alleged "trist" between Emilia and Othello (if there was one at all.) Just as strong Othello bent to Iago's manipulations, a loyal wife may bend to her HUMAN desires. Additionally, after seeing how Iago treats her, (which I do not consider okay even if she cheated on him)i wouldn't blame her for finding fullfilment elsewhere! Maybe Othello charmed her with stories as he charmed Desdemona. Maybe they were both drunk and messed up as Cassio had. As for her quiet and compliant behaviors displayed now, they could be out of guilt. In my opinion, i think Emilia is just trying to validate herself in some twisted way by pleasing her husband who never seems to be pleased with her. I think how he treats her is abusive and naturally, took a toll on her self-esteem. Therefore, she's overcompensating by trying to be Iago's ideal woman. Even then, she cannot seem to make him happy for more than a moment. I think she knows Iago's nature, but is so consumed by her own personality disorders and inferiority complex that she is ignorantly blind to the extent of his evil schemes.
Personally, I like Emilia. For now. Although I can not excuse her for not telling Desdemona about the lost handkerchief, I feel that she has good reason to keep her silence and she strives to be reluctantly obedient to her husband. Her character is revealed through others as she does not have many speaking parts. I can't help but respect for being able to assert her authority over Desdemona despite her being overshadowed.
I definitely think that Emilia is trying to act as Iago's "ideal wife." Although she might have some resentment for him, she as his wife now and forever after and can do nothing about it. Thus, she is trying to make the best of the situation, even if she may appear to be the kicked puppy that keeps on coming back for treats.
Under no cicumstances do I believe the rumor that Emilia had slept with Othello. Although Iago might believe it, as of yet we have not even seen Othello and Emilia speak to one another! If there was sexual relations between them, one would think that there would at least be some awkward silences or something. Instead, just pure, impersonal silence.
In addition, although Emilia has some manipulation skill, she is not aware of Iago's evil plan. When she decided to obey Iago's request to creat "alone time" for Desdemona and Cassion, I think that she was just trying to honor her husband's request and perhaps believed that Iago was really concerned for Cassio.
For now, I don’t seem to favor Emilia’s character that much. She is reckless, careless, judgmental, and dishonest. She went against her friend’s back by stealing the most essential thing from her in order to satisfy the needs of her husbands, or at least, in order to get his attention to get what she wants. She immediately judges Othello as every other man who will get tired of his wife. She doesn’t even realize the spiritual bond between Othello and Desdemona, and immediately concludes that Othello is this jealous man who is too lost in his own world trying to get the truth out of Desdemona, so he can feel satisfied about his marriage again.
There is an assumption as to why Emilia seems to be acting as Iago’s “ideal wife”. She is not intending to please Othello’s wishes, she is just using him to satisfy her own self. At this point of marriage, there is seems to be a lack of communication between Iago and Emilia, that their relationship has lost the trusting bond in its foundation. The reason why their relationship seems to work because they are both using each other. Emilia is trying to act as Iago’s “ideal wife” to get her way, not to grant his wishes. Iago is using her to get his goals accordingly in plan. Thus, that is the only reason why their marriage seems to work because they need each other to get what they want. They don’t base it on love anymore (or at least it was built upon that at first) they base it on satisfaction.
I don’t believe that Emilia slept with Othello. There is not much evidence except Iago’s speculation to support that idea. But for now, I will support my point with my own assumption. I do believe that she betrayed Desdemona. She may have been innocent for not knowing the truth behind the scheme, but don’t you ever wonder how Emilia’s feels on her husband craving for Desdemona‘s handkerchief. You would immediately think jealousy. The ironic thing is that she didn’t show any sign of jealousy, but that doesn’t mean she is cheating behind Iago’s back. In my opinion, she is more jealous of Desdemona’s character than her having an affair with Iago. First of all, she betrays her friend and lies to her afterwards, but she shows no obvious affection towards Othello, so I assume that she is doing these things either because she is jealous of Desdemona herself or jealous of her husband’s need for Desdemona’s handkerchief. Thus, I conclude that Emilia’s betrayal towards Desdemona has nothing to do with her trying to capture Othello’s love.
However, I do think that Emilia is aware of Iago’s nature. There might be a reason as to why Emilia didn’t feel a stab of jealousy when Iago jumped for joy when Desdemona’s handkerchief were in his hands. Jealousy doesn’t seem to reflect her character that much, which is why she explains to Desdemona to be aware of it. I agree with Jen’s assumption here that she is granting her husband’s request in need for a return to satisfy herself. Maybe she is doing this to build up a strong marriage again. She is willing to support her husband’s scheme to save their marriage. Going back to their marriage right now is based on satisfaction, I believe she is using him to keep their marriage alive. Either way I don’t believe jealousy is the reason behind her agreement.
I believe that Emilia did not cheat on Iago. At times it may seem that she did, but this is only her cry for attention. Emilia has a husband, but he's not her friend. Emilia and Iago have a realtionship based on lust rather than love. There is no emotion between them, and because there is a piece missing from their relationship Emilia will do anything to get it. Therefore, she stole the handkerchief not to hurt Desdemona but to recieve attention from Iago. I do not think that Emilia would have an affair with Othello, this would be going too far. Although, Emilia is brave enough to steal the handkerchief she would not risk her friendship with Desdemona. If she did then she would have no one left but Iago, and Iago is too busy with his own clever plans to include time with his own wife. Emilia most likely does not know what Iago is planning, but she will do what she is told because she understands the duty she has as a wife. She would not want to ruin any chance of gaining respect or attention from Iago. However, if she knew what Iago was truly doing then she would probably attempt to stand up to him and convince him to put an end to his wrongdoings.
I would have to say that I agree with Denise in that I don't believe Emilia cheated on her husband. She seems too sincere to do this. I mean, when Iago was bashing her in front of everyone, she didn't even have the boldness to stand up for herself. Would a women who respects her husband so much that she wouldn't say anything to defend herself in front of him really be one to cheat? I would hope not.
I admit that when I first read the scene where Emilia steals Desedemona's handkerchief to give to Iago, I thought she was nothing more than a backstabbber, but now as I think about it more, she was completely the opposite. She chose her husband over her friend, for that one time, something that I believe most people would do. A husband or a spouse usually stays with you for your entire lifetime, most especially during the time when Othello was written. Marriage, sadly enough, was a little more cherished, then say it is today. Today, it's more about independence in marraige, where alas in Emilia's day and age, marraige was measured in loyalty. It was probably on this basis that Emilia stole the handkerchief from Desdemona, not because she was being mean, but because she was trying to be a faithful wife.
I also believe, that if Emilia had known that Iago had an evil plan to destroy Othello and Desdemona's relationship, she would not have taken the handkercief. To me, she respects others' relationships. At the same time however, as Faith mentioned, we don't really know much about Emilia to make strong assumptions or accusations about her, but with what we do know of her, she's too simplistic to feel either powerful envy or rage.
All this being said, my opinion of Emilia changes in the movie. In the movie, it seems as if Emilia stole the handerchief from Emilia simply to woo her husband into bed with her, something that I can imagine had'nt happened in awhile. Nonetheless, Emilia doesn't seem like one to cheat.
I have to say i truly think Emilia didn't cheat on Iago with Othello, but still the question remains about the tenseness between them.
Emilia is like Faith said, very quiet and doesn't speak much, so we don't have much to go off of. But, the little statements that Emilia does make are very strong ones (ill give her that). She casts a huge generalization about men just Iago did about women, when she says something along the lines that men are monsters who feed and feed on women til they spit them up when they have no use.
woahh thats not something u hear people say on a regular basis. And Emilia also tells Desdemona that the true men come out after a few years (and that she knows from experience) so maybe something did happen between them, but theres really no evidence that supports her being some kind of "afairee".
Emilia does have some strong desire to please Iago so i really think she loves him and wants to make him happy. Maybe shes trying to make up for something she did in the past.
even though she agreed to let desdemona and cassio have alone time, and to give the handkerchief to iago, i really think at this point shes kind of clueless and is really just trying to please her hubby. but thats just my thoughts..
I see Emilia as a strong feminist type. Although it would seem more fitting for her to fight back with her words towards Iago, I think she remains quiet for a reason. This reason might be that she is hiding something, or it could mean that she has other ideas for getting back at Iago. Right away I would think that Emilia would get back at Iago for degrading her in front of everyone and then using her for his plan, but I think that she's smarter than that. I think that if Emilia went on and cheated on Iago that she would be exactly what he categorized every other woman as and she just doesn't seem like the type of woman to do that. This is especially evident when she specifically says that men just use women for their pleasures and then get rid of them. This really plays up her possible feminist personality. It's ironic that she thinks this way of men where Iago thinks that way of women.
Iago and Emelia have a very weird and twisted relationship. I believe that there are qualities that the other respects in the other. Emelia admires Iago's intelligence and feels special to be involved, in any way possible, with Iago's "master plan". I believe that Iago likes Emelia because she recognizes those certain qualities in him and makes herself subordinate to him. I do think that Emelia (though she may not know exactly what Iago is thinking) is pretty aware of his plan and goals. How could she not be after seeing Desdemona's and Othello's respective reactions to the loss of the handkerchief and knowing that Iago wants Cassio to appeal to Desdemona. Emelia is smart enough to put two and two together. I do not think that she cheated on Iago. There is not textual evidence of awkwardness or anything of that nature between Othello and Emelia - and Emelia just does not seem the type of person to cheat on Iago. She'll just keep on having her twisted malevolent relationship with the manipulator and call it a day.
I um...disagree with Cristina...Affairs are in no ones true nature...no matter what a Sunday night special professed.
Ha ha! I love your idealism, Erik, and your cynicism, Cristina. I love even more, however, that so many of you seem just as intrigued by the complexities of Emilia and Iago's relationship as I am! :) See you all on Monday.
It’s really hard for me to see Emilia cheat on Iago. Since we don’t really know her and she barely even talks and we see very little of her, we don’t really know her true personality. I can’t see Emilia cheat on Iago with Othello even if she is being quiet to feel sorrow for what she did.
I mean, even if Emilia would be that type of person to cheat on her husband, Othello doesn’t seem like he could have done that. Othello is soo honest and trusting that he would probably have a hard time dealing with that.
Iago seems like he has power over Emilia and he doesn’t really tell her much. I think that Emilia has an idea of what Iago is doing but I don’t think she knows his entire plan, otherwise I don’t think she would have decided to help create alone time for D and Cassio. I believe that if she was fully aware of what Iago was doing and if she was Desdemona’s true friend then she wouldn’t have given the handkerchief to Iago.
I definitely think that Emilia knows about Iago's evil plan. The only question behind it is why she is so willing to follow whatever he says. Emilia and Desdemona are supposed to be "best friends." Desdemona trusts in her and tells her everything and in the beginning I thought that the connection was two sided. After the scene where Othello and Desdemona are having the argument about the missing hankie it was clear that Emilia wasn't as innocent as she seemed at first. Her motives are complex though
It seems to me that she is seeking approval from her abusive husband and doesnt know any other way to get it. By selling out her friend for a brief moment Iago pays some attention to her. This is probably how there whole marriage had been so far. Emilia is innocent... but not really?!?!?!
-molly martin
I am not cynical!!!! I'm, scientific, realistic, unbiased! I was scanning through the blogs, as usual, looking for my name to see if anyone commented on my comment and i must say i'm glad someone actually read it, erik. (even though you disagree). But hear me out... I'm not saying everyone cheats and its genetically going to happen, lots of people don't. I'm just saying that it's possible and human instinct is to reproduce. I'm going off the animalistic, scientific facts WITHOUT factoring in all the personal complexities of society today like morality and fidelity. These things are more feeling-based and not to say that i'm in anyway unfeeling, but i like to draw conclusions from either the most natural feelings or no emotion at all to be fair and un-biased and try to see from other people's perspectives so i'm not just stuck in my own emotionally fueled opinions. Anyways, despite my scientific conclusions drawn previously, I personally do not believe Emilia cheated on Iago either..but not because i don't think her character is capable (cuz i dont know her) and not because i dont see texual evidence of awkwardness between her and othello (cuz they've barely interacted at all.) I think she didn't cheat because of IAGO'S actions. He expresses his motives to be over Cassio's getting his position and his wife's affair, wanting to get even w othello wife for wife. However, even after getting his job and ruining othello's relationship, he still doesn't give it a rest. He goes further. He goes as far as to get Des and Cassio killed. More specifically, killed before he thinks to even othello wife for wife. If these were his true motives, that'd be on the top of his list and he probably wouldn't be wanting the two of them dead. That's why i find the affair theory invalid.
As far as Emilia's cheating on Iago, I would have to say that it could be either or. As Faith said, we really don't know a great deal about Emilia, so it is hard to judge. It could be that she just has a quite nature, or it could be that is just being quite to repent for her sin. I guess with Emilia, since we know so little about her, anything is possible. I personally think that Shakespeare purposefully included Emilia as a character that we know so little about, so that we are able to shape her character any way that we want in our minds. It in a way adds a little spice to whole story because of all the differing views on her. Whether Emilia knows of Iago's plan can again go both ways. She could have given Iago the handkerchief just to please him with or without knowing what he was going to do with it. I personally think that she doesn't know about the plan. I think this because if she did know then I would think that she would have told someone such as Desdemona.
Emilia's character seems to be a complicated one to explain. Although she trys to complete all of her husband's wishes, even if that means to betray Desdemona and steal the handkerchief, she still has a strong sense of certain ideas reguarding to men. She believes that you don't truly know a man until about 2 years of being with him, which I believe as well. Because her relationship with Iago isn't that strong and seems that he controls her more than loves her it's not surprising that she thinks "they are all but stomaches, and we all but food." I believe that she trys to be an ideal wife because back at that time there was no way of getting out of a marriage therefore, she had to deal with the situation she was in. She's right about men using women in her case because Iago just wants to use her to get the handkerchief to plot his plan, but she has no idea what's going on just yet because she says so herself she hasn't the slightest idea for what he wants the handkerchief for. Emilia has no mosre of a relationship with Iago than a servant had with his master or a prostitue with her customer.
Based on this scene, I would certainly say that Emilia is desperate to please Iago and probably didn't cheat on him because she seems so rediculously meek and obedient. She actually seems kind of stupid and most definetly knows nothing of his plan. However, based on everything we know about her up to act 5, I think it's very possible that Emilia cheated on Iago, although perhaps not with Othello. She had a lot to say when discussing affairs with Desdemona, suggesting that she has thought about it a lot. Her arguments were really logical and hard dispute. She also blamed men for when women cheat, giving reasons for it that seem to describe Iago pretty well. You also see a much bolder side of her. However, she does always remain very loyal to Iago, bringing him the handkerchief and supporting him in everything he says. She does appear to be trying to act as an ideal wife for Iago, perhaps because she is guilty of something and doesn't want to see her relationship fall apart.
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