Essay
A* ‘Othello’ Essay AQA A-level English Literature - Emilia as a tragic victim
Full mark A* essay exploring how Emilia’s character is a victim of male power and malice.
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‘Ultimately it is hard to see Emilia as anything other than a tragic victim ofmale power and malice.’ To what extent do you agree?
Within Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ it is difficult to see past the overwhelming misogyny
that consumes the female characters, with a prime example being the ongoing abuse
that Emilia faces. However, upon further analysis we may infer that Emilia’s tragic tra-
jectory was not entirely at the hands of the men surrounding her and some factors
may even make her exempt from being labelled as a ‘tragic victim’.
Throughout the duration of the play, it is clear to the audience that Emilia and Iago do
not have the perfect married life. Iago’s manipulation does not stop even for his wife,
and instead extends into an emotionally abusive environment. In Act 2 Scene 1, Emilia
is forced to undergo the public insults that Iago throws her way as he announces that
she tends to “rise to play, and go to bed to work”, suggesting that she is lazy in all she
does, with the exception of sex. Despite this, Emilia continues to seek validation from
her husband, in hopes to “please his fantasy” as a wife. The tragic victim goes on to
betray Desdemona by stealing the all important handkerchief, which proves crucial to
Iago’s plot. Although a contemporary audience may believe that Emilia is only fulfilling
her role as an obedient and helpful wife, a more modern audience may infer that
Emilia is a domestic violence victim who thinks pleasing her abuser will suppress her
torment. For example, as she teases Iago with the idea of a gift he blatantly refers to
her as a “foolish wife”; however, upon revealing the handkerchief, Iago’s sharp tone
softens and praises the “good wrench”. With this being the only private scene be -
tween Emilia and Iago, it is clear that Iago’s negligence has an overall negative effect
on Emilia’s own well-being, proving that her own storyline may have had an alterna-
tive ending if it weren’t for the diabolic male intervention that she was unwillingly
thrown into.
As well as this, Emilia’s character may be a symbol of the negative effects that the pa -
triarchy pressed onto women. In Act 4 Scene 3, Emilia’s feminist outburst allows her to
privately voice her opinions of their unjust society to Desdemona. With Desdemona
being a woman, Emilia can internally reassure herself that she will face no conse -
quence in speaking out like this, as it is likely that Desdemona can resonate with some
of her comments. In Act 5 Scene 2, Emilia publicly defies the known expectations put
upon her to “obey” her husband as she exposes his “villainy”. Following this, it is no
surprise that Iago intensifies his previous abusive behaviour and labels Emilia as a “vil -
lainous whore” before catalysing her death. Here, Iago is able to make a quick escape,
yet again using Emilia to his advantage. At this point in the play, the audience may be
stunned at how easily the male characters overlook Emilia’s death. As the tragic victim
is added to the “tragic loading” of the bed, the crowd of men continue to reduce her to
purely being regarded as Iago’s “wife”. They allow no room for Emilia’s own identity,
despite the great contribution she has made into discovering the truth, and it is not
long after until the men fixate their interest back onto Othello. This vividly showcases
how the patriarchal society typically regarded women as lesser than men, so much so
that Emilia’s death is not nearly as significant as capturing the criminalised Othello.
However, throughout the play we see Emilia emerge into an outspoken and deter -
mined woman, greatly contrasting with the oppressed and obedient nature we see in
the beginning. For example, in Act 2 Scene 1, Emilia’s dutiful behaviour allows her to
stealthily possess the handkerchief that she knows Desdemona “so loves”, and so it
may be argued that the tragic villain’s success is almost entirely reliant on the role of
Emilia as a submissive wife. Although, this is quite ironic since Emilia is later able to
embrace herself as a strong individual and goes on to be the cause of Iago’s undoing
as she dramatically exposes his “villainy”. In doing so, Emilia accepts her death and
becomes a martyr for feminism, dying to protect the reputation of the “innocent” “an -
gel” that was Desdemona. However, it is at the end of Act 4 Scene 3 where Emilia first
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