Iago and Emilia Essay

Emilee Suter
English 1020
Samuel Gleason
May 7, 2013
Othello
Othello was a great play written by Shakespeare. The play shows the powerful great man named Othello who had fallen in love with a woman named Desdemona, who had married against her father’s word. Desdemona went against her father’s word and his standards for her because he did not want her to interracially marry with a black man. She did not want to do what he told her and she did not want to marry rich and like her father wanted. Othello had a good friend, he thought, named Iago. A crazy and deceitful man named Iago ruined this love for Othello. Iago also ruined the fate of many others in the play. This play shows in the best way that jealousy can ruin people’s lives. Throughout the play many characters like Desdemona, Emilia, and Roderigo all lose their lives for undeserving reasons. Desdemona is Othello’s wife in the play. They eloped because her father did not approve of inertial marriage. After have being married, Iago was trying to convince Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio. Iago tries convincing him by telling him that he found his handkerchief that he had given Desdemona with Cassio. Once he had convinced Othello that she was having an affair behind his back, him and Iago go and plot to kill Desdemona and Cassio. They have the killing planned out and on one night after Desdemona was already in bed asleep Othello comes in and after they have spoken and Desdemona had pleaded for her life and her innocents, he smothers her under a pillow and slowly kills her. Iago had a huge role in her death. He was constantly filling Othello’s head with lies to tear him apart. With any person if people tell someone something so much eventually they will start to believe it. This situation shows the influence and power people can have over others. Othello loved Desdemona but because Iago told him the same thing over and over again, he started to believe it. After hearing it for so long he truly believed it with all he had and took care of the problem he thought he had at hand. Othello was blinded by the truth because of Iago. He lost the love of his life due to his blindness towards what was really going on. He thought he could trust Desdemona but Iago made it is his mind where he could only believe him and no one else. If Othello had trusted his wife and not Iago who was trying to turn him away, he would still have Desdemona. One of Desdemona’s close friends name was Emilia. Emilia was married to Iago. They had become friends when they were both having husband issues. She arrived to Othello’s room the night she heard him screaming that there had been a murder. When she came in the room she saw that Desdemona was just about to die. As Desdemona lies dying she speaks out and says that she has been wrongly murdered. When they ask Othello what had happened he admitted that he had killed and tells them it was because she was unfaithful and wronged him. This is when Emilia speaks up and says that she was not unfaithful and she had never had an affair. When Othello realized this he becomes furious at Iago. Iago, out of rage, turns to Emilia and stabs her for telling everyone his secret. Emilia goes and lies by Desdemona and dies happily because she knew she had spoken the truth for her friend. Emilia died for telling the truth about what had really happened and revealed Iago vicious motives. She was blinded many different ways. She was blinded in the way of she did not know he position as a women and told on her own husband. Women in that time were expected to do as their husband say and not to turn on them but Emilia did for the sake of her friend. Another way she was blinded, was her greed. If the right man came along and offered the right price that she would cheat on her husband. She was not fully devoted to Iago, possibly because of all the problems that they had. It is almost as if Emilia would sell herself if the price was right with

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