Examples Of Infidelity In Othello

She is then disowned by Barbantio with no further words directed to her by him but is referenced as a liar and should be kept on watch for her conniving ways by him towards Othello. Which then begins Shakespeare’s in depth writing on Othello and Desdemona’s relationship where she is as “a child to chiding” (4.2.119-120). Not even a moment after her father leaves Othello commands Iago to tell his wife, Emilia, to tend to Desdemona as a babysitter. Irony occurs within (2.1.169-171) where Desdemona challenges Iago and stands as an independent woman for Emilia objecting to his conclusion, that women no matter how beautiful or intelligent play the same “foul pranks”. However, as Othello’s jealousy and rage arises throughout the play it seems as her character has to fight even harder to breathe under his control; symbolic for her death of suffocation. Desdemona is a gentle women living under her love’s control with no power to object even if she had opposed this type of controlling relationship. As a higher class woman she had more power and respect over other women characters such as Emilia or Bianca, but is this dominance enough to feel in control of oneself? It is believed that Shakespeare added the 2 other

From the very beginning of the drama anyone can see the love Emilia has for Desdemona. Emilia is always there whenever Desdemona needed her the most. Emilia has shown her loyalty towards not only to Desdemona but to Othello as well. Desdemona and Emilia get closer when Desdemona starts to have issues with Othello. Emilia is always there to listen and to give advice to young Desdemona whenever she needs it the most. All though, Emilia does one act of dishonesty towards Desdemona by taking her handkerchief which Othello gave to her. Emilia does try to regain her loyalty by revealing her husband’s intentions towards Othello and everyone else. Once she did it was too late, Othello already had killed Desdemona for falsely accusing her of being a “whore.” Even though, Emilia finally cleaned her best friend’s name it was too late to bring Desdemona back to life. As any best friend would do she sacrificed her own life for Desdemona. Her husband, Lago, kills her by stabbing her in the back for revealing his true intentions. Emilia can finally rest in peace knowing that she cleaned her best friend’s name and that they will be together in the afterlife.

Emilia lacks the wisdom or courage to confront Othello and confirm that Desdemona is an honest person. Her actions make the

During this time period, but less so now, the idea of a woman cheating was outrageous. The man would be thought of as less because he cannot control his wife. This double standard also goes so that if a man cheats, he is simply doing his duty. Women are to be obedient creatures yet when they have a thought that is undesirable they are slandered. The thought of cuckoldry impacts both Othello and Iago. For Iago, he uses it as a reason to ruin Othello's relationship with Desdemona. After being told that he is a cuckold, Othello becomes vulnerable to Iago's words. Men are seen as strong protectors however once they believe that they are being cheated on, they become weak and easily influenced by others' words while becoming their wife's worst enemy.

In addition, Emilia proves her underrated intelligence by standing up for what she believes is right. Desdemona, Othello's wife, and Emilia's relationship grows because of her great loyalty towards her. At the end of the play Emilia stands up for Desdemona because Othello kills her. She explains Desdemona's true love for him and would never do anything to hurt him, which proves Desdemona's innocence. Not only does Emilia stand up for Desdemona, but she also voices her opinion to Othello. Emilia shows no fear standing up to Othello to prove to him that his wife has always been faithful. At first Othello finds it implausible but then Emilia says, "Thou art rash as fire, to say that she was false. O, she was heavenly true!" (Shakespeare V: ii, 165-166).Women are looked at in Othello as unintelligent and unfaithful, but Emilia changes that stereotype by standing up to the men. From the start Emilia and Iago's relationship always seemed rocky. Emilia's confidence in herself shows that she is not afraid to stand up to her husband. Emilia realizes the danger she puts herself in when she stands up to Iago. In order to make things right, she does whatever it takes, even if that means ruining their marriage or taking her life.

At the beginning of the drama, Desdemona wants to marry Othello; even through her father doesn’t want her to. She makes the choice by herself in Act I, scene iii in an act of willfulness. However, in the final scene, when she is murdered, Emilia ask her, “O, who hath done this deed?” Desdemona says , “Nobody, I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell” (V.ii.133–134). Desdenona takes responsibility of her death because she wants to protect her husband.

She emphasizes as well that Othello's jealousy and irrational suspicion feeds on itself. Thus, it only takes a seed of doubt before it grows into an insuppressible obsession. With this in mind, Emilia's character is proven to be more complex since her warning displays her genuine concern for Desdemona yet her betrayal of stealing the handkerchief for Iago makes her loyalty to Desdemona questionable. Accordingly, this demonstrates that she follows Iago only because of her wifely duty, but her true loyalty resides with Desdemona. Notably, proving that Shakespeare's social commentary about Emilia's internal conflict is brought upon by highlighting the difficulty of being a woman during the Elizabethan era. Torn between society obliging her to devote her life to pleasing her ungrateful husband and her integrity of remaining loyal to the people she truly cares about, such as Desdemona, Shakespeare evokes to accentuate the sacrifices women in the late 1500s had to endure. Furthermore, Emilia's ambiguous loyalty best connects to the theme Appearance v. Reality. Her conflicting loyalty results from her duality both to Desdemona and Iago. On one side, Desdemona fully trusts Emilia and fails to see her crucial role in the handkerchief scheme. On the other, Iago underestimates his own wife. Despite her submissiveness, she's the only one who can ultimately cause Iago's downfall.

Daringly, Shakespeare opens this tragedy of love not with a direct and sympathetic portrayal of the lovers themselves, but with a scene of vicious insinuation about their marriage. The images employed by Iago to describe the coupling of Othello and Desdemona are revoltingly animalistic, sodomistic. [. . .] This degraded view reduces the marriage to one of utter

She has a loyalty to her husbands in all aspects of life, whether it is mental or physical. If Desdemona had been an emotional void then Iago would not have succeeded in his plan. This would have meant that she would not have lied to Othello about losing the handkerchief, which she did so as not to hurt his feelings. However Othello sees this as an attempt to deceive him and conceal the alleged truth about her affair with Cassio. Even her final words, indicate that she blames her death on herself, and not her jealous husband.

Desdemona adores her husband Othello just like Stella admires her husband Stanley. She chose to be with Othello even after the fact her father did not want her to be with him, because of the fact that he is a moor. Desdemona shows her loyalty to her husband even after the fact he killed her because of his jealously, “Emilia: O, who hath done this deed? Desdemona: Nobody; I myself.

Many crimes of passion are the result of jealousy. “Othello” shows readers how the jealousy of one or two people can result in violent actions and even death. In “Othello,” Roderigo was in love with Desdemona, who was already married to Othello. He teamed up with Iago, who possessed envy because Cassio had been promoted to the position Iago desired. Together, Iago and Roderigo plotted to destroy Cassio’s image and reputation as well as Desdemona’s marriage. As Iago began setting Cassio up, he began to develop feelings of his own for Desdemona. Iago and Roderigo’s actions resulted in numerous deaths throughout the play. First Iago stabs and kills Roderigo. Then, Othello’s jealousy leads him to smother Desdemona because she was “false with Cassio” (Shakespeare 767). After Emilia outed Iago, he pierced her with a knife, killing her. Lastly, Othello knifed himself. All of these deaths occurred because two men were desirous of things other people had. These acts exhibit the abominable effects jealousy can have on people’s

When Othello summons Desdemona and dismisses Emilia, “Leave procreants alone . . .; / Cough or cry hem if anybody come. / Your mystery, your mystery! . . .” (IV.2.28-30), he not only dismisses Emilia, accuses Desdemona of infidelity, and betrays his own insane bitterness, but he converts the marriage into a

And what is Desdemona's reaction to his husband changing behaviour? She remains the perfect wife, displaying silence and obedience as it was expected of a virtuous woman, and assuming her husband's abuse with outstanding resignation. She takes the form of Griselda in her pacient and quiet suffering because of the injustice of men, as do many other “Shakespeare's chaste women falsely accused of sexual misdemeanors”1, and dies an innocent lady. Even in her death she denies Othello's reponsability in her end. She lacks the verbal weapons that Emilia uses to vindicate the unfairness of her gender's situation, although she is still submitted to her husband and is also killed by him.

At this point the dramatic action has culminated into the final tragedy, Othello is at his most vulnerable and Iago’s machievellian manipulations combined with Othello’s insecurity about his identity and patriarchal notions have collided into catastrophic action. Desdemona is dead. Even after the cataclysmic tragedy has occurred, there is still a disobedience of the patriarchal authority that has transformed Desdemona into a lifeless victim. Emilia stands up for Desdemona who can no longer do it herself, she courageously defies the orders of the males who are commanding her to leave and go up to bed. Emilia refuses to obey them and is not frightened even when the men begin to draw their swords, she stands her ground and dauntlessly states: “I will not.” Even though it was moderately due to Emilia’s actions that these events unfolded, she manages to redeem herself by exposing Iago for the malicious deeds he committed but dies herself, a proud woman defying the patriarchal restrictions of her society. During this scene, the “Willow Song” returns strengthening the concept of women, regardless of status being able to share the same

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Desdemona is murdered by her husband, Othello, after he is convinced by Iago, without real evidence, that she is cheating on him. Iago manipulates Othello by triggering what he knows to be Othello’s values: reputation and honor. After this tragic murder, the question of who is truly responsible for her death is raised. Although Iago put the ideas that Desdemona cheated into Othello’s head, Othello is solely responsible for the murder of Desdemona as he is the one who physically killed her to protect his reputation despite being aware of her innocence.