Emilia Quotes

DESDEMONA: Be thou assured, good Cassio,
I will do All my abilities in thy behalf.
EMILIA: Good madam, do: I warrant it grieves my husband,
As if the case were his.
DESDEMONA: O, that’s an honest fellow.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. We see a striking example of dramatic irony here, as the scene opens with Desdemona’s assurance to Cassio that she will advocate for him to Othello. Both women believe that Iago is sincere in his dealings with Cassio. They are unaware, but the audience is, of Iago’s treachery, how he despises Cassio, and makes use of him to revenge himself on Othello.

I am glad I have found this napkin:
This was her first remembrance from the Moor:
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Woo’d me to steal it; but she so loves the token,
For he conjured her she should ever keep it,
That she reserves it evermore about her
To kiss and talk to. I’ll have the work ta’en out,
And give ‘t Iago: what he will do with it
Heaven knows, not I; I nothing but to please his fantasy.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Emilia shows blind loyalty to her husband Iago when she steals Desdemona’s handkerchief for him. But that will later change when she discovers Iago’s treachery and she abandons her loyalty to him for the sake of truth and justice. Emilia’s speech to the audience marks the beginning of the important handkerchief plot, in which a seemingly harmless item will be used by Iago to bring about the demise of both Desdemona and Othello.

DESDEMONA: Where should I lose that handkerchief, Emilia?
EMILIA: I know not, madam.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 4. As predicted by Emilia in the previous scene, Desdemona is worried about the missing handkerchief given to her by Othello. The handkerchief is precious and to Othello symbolizes fidelity. Emilia lies to Desdemona by saying she knows nothing about this, when in fact her husband asked her to steal it for him. Her misguided loyalty to the scheming Iago will have tragic consequences.

They are all but stomachs, and we all but food;
To eat us hungerly, and when they are full,
They belch us.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 4. Desdemona’s maid and friend Emilia expresses her view of the male-female relationship in the patriarchal society of the time. Using a crude and extended hunger metaphor, she tells her that men just use women to satisfy their sexual desires. She has a cynical and disillusioned view of marriage. Emilia’s warning about the depraved nature of men who eat their women and vomit them out indicates that there are issues in her marriage to Iago. It is also foreshadowing of the dangers both women will come to face at the hands of their men.

Jealous souls will not be answer’d so;
They are not ever jealous for the cause,
But jealous for they are jealous: ’tis a monster
Begot upon itself, born on itself.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 4. Emilia is more cynical than the trusting Desdemona and believes that Othello is so consumed by the "monster" jealousy he will never accept his wife’s innocence. Emilia talks about jealousy as a form of madness. The "monster" metaphor for jealousy echoes Iago’s warning that it is the "green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on."

I durst, my lord, to wager she is honest,
Lay down my soul at stake: if you think other,
Remove your thought; it doth abuse your bosom.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 2. Desdemona’s maid Emilia, wife of the nefarious Iago, vouches for Desdemona’s honesty to Othello. Standing up for the sisterhood against the corrupt brotherhood, she stakes her soul on her mistress’s goodness. This is after Othello, his mind poisoned and corrupted by Iago, questions Emilia about Desdemona and Cassio’s relationship. Emilia shows her loyalty to Desdemona and commitment to protecting her reputation.

If any wretch have put this in your head,
Let heaven requite it with the serpent’s curse!
For, if she be not honest, chaste, and true,
There’s no man happy; the purest of their wives
Is foul as slander.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 2. Desdemona’s loyal handmaid Emilia criticizes Othello for doubting his wife’s fidelity. She describes Desdemona as the perfect model woman and wife – "honest, chaste and true." Ironically the very perceptive Emilia is right on the nail in questioning if Othello’s suspicions are the result of a "wretch" planting deceptive ideas into his head. She asks God to curse such a person like He cursed the Devil serpent in the Garden of Eden. Little does she know yet that the "wretch" is her husband Iago. Emilia the feminist highlights the subjugation of women within marriage. Using a simile, "foul as slander," she argues that the purest of wives can can be slandered and their reputation ruined by a husband like Othello. The sisterly bond beween Emilia and Desdmona symbolizes the importance of female solidarity in a male dominated society.

I will be hang’d, if some eternal villain,
Some busy and insinuating rogue,
Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,
Have not devised this slander; I’ll be hang’d else.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 2. Emilia bets her life that some villain dreamed up the slander on Desdemona’s reputation that she was a whore who cheated on Othello. Ironically everything she says turns out to be true. While she doesn’t know it yet, her husband Iago is the villain who has fed this lie to Othello. She will also die at Iago’s hand, so foreshadowing her death with her own words.

The Moor’s abused by some most villanous knave,
Some base notorious knave, some scurvy fellow.
O heaven, that such companions thou’ldst unfold,
And put in every honest hand a whip,
To lash the rascals naked through the world!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 2. Emilia is a very perceptive woman who is convinced that some evil person has poisoned Othello’s mind against Desdemona. She calls on heaven to give whips to the honest people to punish the evildoers and serve justice on them. It is ironical that while Emilia correctly voices her suspicions that some villain is plotting the entire thing, the culprit and puppet master Iago is standing right beside her.

Who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch? I should venture purgatory for ‘t.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 3. Emilia and Desdemona are discussing marriage and adultery in this scene. Emilia says that she wouldn’t cheat on Iago for any cheap trinket or gown, but she would if she gained the world and it made her husband a king. If the reward was right, she would risk purgatory for it. This highlights the different moral code she has to the virtuous Desdemona, who is devoted to Othello.

But I do think it is their husbands’ faults
If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties,
And pour our treasures into foreign laps,
Or else break out in peevish jealousies,
Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us,
Or scant our former having in despite;
Why, we have galls, and though we have some grace,
Yet have we some revenge.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 3. Emilia refuses to condemn a wife for being unfaithful, but instead blames the husband for driving her to promiscuity. Using "treasures" as a metaphor for lovemaking, she says that unfaithful men neglect wives sexual needs and pour the seed that is rightfully theirs into other women. Or they impose restrains on wives out of jealousy, or physically abuse them. So women seek revenge by cheating too. Emilia is speaking about the role of women to Desdemona, whose husband Othello is consumed with jealousy and hit her in an earlier scene. Believing strongly in female equality,she is highlighting the double standard women face in male-female sexual relations.

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. What is it that they do
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is: and doth affection breed it?
I think it doth: is ‘t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too: and 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.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 3. This speech by Emilia is often referred to as her "feminist speech." In it she breaks down gender barriers and challenges the sexual double standard that exists regarding gender and fidelity. When it comes to married men having affairs, she believes that what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Wives share the same senses, palates, frailties, affections and sexual desires as men, she points out. In her plea for women’s liberation and equality in marriage, she warns that husbands should treat their wives well. Otherwise the bad things wives do, they will have learned them from their husbands. Emilia’s speech mirrors Shylock’s famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech in The Merchant of Venice. It is also about double standards, Shylock arguing that if it’s right for one group to behave in a certain way, then it’s right for all groups.

Nobody; I myself. Farewell.
Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. In her final words before dying, Desdemona proclaims her devotion to Othello and absolves him of her murder. Instead she blames her death on herself, despite knowing that she is innocent of the infidelity charges. She remains loyal to the end to her murderer husband, a sign of how much she truly loves him. Desdemona is responding to Emilia’s question: "O, who hath done this deed?"

OTHELLO: She’s, like a liar, gone to burning hell:
‘Twas I that kill’d her.
EMILIA: O, the more angel she,
And you the blacker devil!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Othello tries to justify his murder of Desdemona. His blindness causes him to see her as a cheat and liar now burning in hell for her sin, when she is the very opposite. Emilia the loyal handmaid of Desdemona is horrified. She immediately springs to the defense of her innocent mistress and bravely challenges Othello. Using contrasting metaphors, she compares Desdemona to an angel and brands Othello a black devil. She believes that Othello’s sense of right and wrong is reversed, seeing black and evil as good, and white and goodness as bad.

OTHELLO: She was false as water.
EMILIA: Thou art rash as fire to say
That she was false: O, she was heavenly true!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia shows her loyalty to Desdemona by immediately standing up for her mistress and challenging Othello’s statement that his wife was false. Protector of her friend’s honor, Emilia continues to defend the reputation of her mistress throughout this scene. Othello and Emilia use two similes as they trade blows – "false as water," "rash as fire." It is ironic that Othello should call his wife false, since he murdered an innocent woman on the most circumstantial and hearsay evidence.

I care not for thy sword. I’ll make thee known,
Though I lost twenty lives. – Help! help, ho! help!
The Moor hath kill’d my mistress! Murder! murder!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia shows great courage after Othello’s murder of Desdemona, when Othello draws his sword to silence Emilia. Despite the danger to herself, she declares that she will bring Othello to justice by outing him and his crime. Even if he kills her twenty times she will speak the truth about him, she vows.

Disprove this villain, if thou be’st a man:
He says thou told’st him that his wife was false:
I know thou didst not, thou ‘rt not such a villain:
Speak, for my heart is full.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia has shown blind loyalty towards her husband Iago. She demands that he speak up and prove false Othello’s claim that Iago told him about Desdemona’s infidelity. Still naively believing in Iago, she cannot accept that she could be married to such a villain. This is an example of dramatic irony, Iago’s villainy being already known to the audience.

IAGO: I told him what I thought, and told no more
Than what he found himself was apt and true.
EMILIA: But did you ever tell him she was false?
IAGO: I did.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Iago, responding to his wife Emilia’s questioning, shows how villainous he is. When asked by her to address Othello’s claim that Iago told him of Desdemona’s infidelity, Iago dodges the question. Iago’s reply, that he only told Othello what he himself knew was true, highlights Othello’s hamartia. Othello’s jealousy and his readiness to jump to conclusions based solely on Iago’s lies lead to his downfall. Iago’s skillful manipulation techniques are shown here. When Emilia again presses her husband if he told Othello that Desdemona was unfaithful, he admits that he did.
    • 1
    • 2
Close