To add to the previous editor's comments, Emilia's
loyalties shift from her husband Iago to her mistress
Desdemona.
We see Emilia stealing the handkerchief for Iago
in Act 3. It's an harmless act, she thinks, and she has no idea what her husband
intends to do with it. She also has no idea that her husband is a villain. She is too
quick to think his failings are the general failings of all men, not just her husband:
"Methinks it is the husband's fault if wives do fall," she tells Desdemona. So, when
Desdemona frantically searches for her handkerchief, Emilia stands by
silently.
However in Act 5, when Emilia discovers her dying
mistress, she threatens to expose her murderer to the world. "I care not for thy
sword," she tells Othello who has threatened her when she is about to make his act
public. This is a powerful act of courage. She defies Othello--her superior, a man, an
armed man. When Iago tells Emilia to be quiet, Emilia tells those around that "Tis
proper I obey him, but not now." She tells the truth about the handkerchief and says to
Iago, "Perchance I'll never go home again."
The one person
Iago misjudged was his wife. He assumed that she would be his loyal, faithful, and
submissive wife. In the end, Emilia valued her friendship with Desdemona and the truth
more than her vows to her husband.
" . .. speaking as I
think, I die, I die," Emilia's last words are to placed by her mistress's side. She has
given her life to exonerate Desdemona.
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