Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Emilia the Coward - Othello
Upon further reflection of the play I find I don't really like the character of Emilia. I think she is a coward. She seems far to unquestioning for me. Of course she plays the "I didn't know what he intended" card in the end, but it seems to me that she didn't really look to hard at what she was doing. What did she think Iago wanted her to do when she stole the cloth? I believe that in her effort to be a loyal wife to Iago she purposefully didn't think about what she was being asked to do, so that she wouldn't have to think about the consequences of her actions, until the end when the consquences are right before her. When her good friend Desdemona is murdered because she couldn't bear to think about what she was doing she is finally shocked out of her cowardliness by shame and comes clean. This is why I think she is a coward. Agree or disagree?
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I both agree and disagree. Actually, I think the character of Emilia entirely depends upon the actor and the director. The character could easily be played as a coward, consumed by shame and guilt, or she could just as easily be played as a conniving, self-centered woman who instigates much of the violence herself. Or she could be portrayed as a strong woman and true friend who is suppressed by a villainous husband who is tricked despite her best intentions. I think Emilia could even be portrayed as one of the very few truly innocent and well-meaning “good guys” of the play, if a director chose to interpret the play in this way. I wonder what Shakespeare intended for Emilia. Did he write the character with a specific personality in mind, did purposely create an extremely ambiguous character open to interpretation, or did he overlook these issues entirely, and just not care enough about Emilia to put serious thought into the character formation of a mere female? No matter how she is played, I find the character of Emilia to be extremely interesting.
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