Othello by Shakespeare is written at a time when the society was very patriarchal. Men view women as objects and not subjects in the relationship. The female gender is bound to be loyal and praise with submission men with their womanhood. Contrary to this cultural practice, Shakespeare presents strong women characters with a view and interest to defend the womanhood. Emilia one such woman pays her submission except but with true intention to speak the truth. Her perceptions as she expresses herself through the play indicate her feminism. According to Gunew (13), feminism is the socio-political movement that defines women rights and advocates for the social equality. Based on the portrayal of her character traits, Emilia is a feminist character of Othello.
Emalia as a Feminist
Emalia is a voice of the other women in the play. Although she seems a minor character in the play, Shakespeare uses her to rejuvenate the dying hopes of other women like Desdemona. Both of them are married and loyal to their husbands. However, Emalia understands other women. She considers their feelings and empathizes with their sufferings as they are exposed to by the male folk in this patriarchal society.
“Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them; they see and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour,
As husbands have...have not we affections,
Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?
Then, let them use us well; else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.” (Shakespeare IV.3. 108)
In this conversation with Desdemona for instance, she advocates for the women rights. She feels that men should understand women as equally sensible people. Women have emotions that they need tendered because they get happy and angry equally. Actually, the last line of this quote suggests Emalia’s belief that they only behave badly as a response to the ills they receive from their men. In this regard, we see her unapologetic nature and defensive trait. Her feministic opinion makes her strongly defend other women, Desdemona for this matter. According to Callaghan (23), feminist women come strong in emotion to bridge the inequality that exists between them and the men folk. In any situation especially that they deem chauvinistic, the women will go against the odds and dangers to defend their fellow women (Callaghan 24).
Emalia is realistic and practical. In act 3 scene 4, she says,
“Tis not a year or two show us a man.
They are all but stomachs, and we all but food:
They eat us hungrily, and when they are full
They belch us.” (Shakespeare III.4.104)
In her realism, Emalia responds to Iago when he says, 'You shall not write my praise' Shakespeare II.1.116). Emalia is too realistic to tell the men folk what exactly she feels about them. The society is very patriarchal and the men treat the women harshly and with contempt. Othello for instance accuses Desdemona for infidelity. She feels that she has to reconcile through her submission and take the wrong. Contrary, Emalia gives her position publicly and denounces men for they are just but ‘stomachs’ that consume ‘food’ and belch them out. Her contempt shows the feministic attitude with which she perceives men. It is also worth to note her metaphorical use of language. It adds on the belittlement with which her responsive perception receives men.
Furthermore, Emalia uses her reservation to explore and expose immorality among the men folk when she feels it is the right time (Callaghan 52). In act four scene two for instance, she admits that she had suspected Iago’s interest in Othello especially when he gave she gave him Othello’s handkerchief.
“Villainy, villainy, villainy!
I think upon’t: I think I smell’t: O villainy!
I thought so then: I’ll kill myself for grief!” (Shakespeare V.2.187)
She perceives it as such a bigger sin that it deserves death. According to Modleski (35), she has suppressed her annoyance and suspicion over the matter, a typical nature of a submissive woman. Her strong belief in the precious nature of women makes her feel that she cannot bear the shame and frustrations she endures in the face of Iago. Her feministic opinion makes her feel that she deserves to die rather than face the immoral man folk.
Conclusion
Emalia is truly a feminist especially in relation to Iago’s cynicism and Othello’s lack of understanding. She comes out to share her skeptical and critical opinion about men. Moreover, she talks with a lot of pragmatism in her defense for the woman folk. As we have seen in the cited scenes above, we can thus assert deductively her feminism throughout the play. She is the female voice Shakespeare ironically uses to defend the women and voice their frustrations in a chauvinistic society from which the play is set.
Works cited
Callaghan, Dympna. A feminist companion to Shakespeare. Vol. 97. John Wiley " Sons, 2016: 22-58
Gunew, Sneja, ed. Feminist Knowledge (RLE Feminist Theory): Critique and Construct. Routledge, 2013: 13-36
Modleski, Tania. Feminism without women: Culture and criticism in a" postfeminist" age. Routledge, 2014: 23-40
Shakespeare, William. Othello: The Moor of Venice. Macmillan International Higher Education, 1916: 1-220
