How does this quote from Othello relate to character/plot development in the play?
Posted by admin in Finance Sunday, 6 November 2011 02:25 2 Comments
Act 4 scene 2
Emilia:
“Hath she forsook so many noble matches
Her father and her country and her friends
To be called, ‘whore’? Would it not make one weep?”
PS quote is talking about Desdemona
Thank you in advance!
Othello interrogates Emilia about whether Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Emilia insists Desdemona is innocent. After Othello has another fight with his wife, during which he calls her a whore, Emilia tries to comfort Desdemona. She says Othello is acting just as crazy as Iago did when Iago thought that she and Othello were having an affair. Iago tells her to shut up.
From Shmoop
Emilia is perceptive and intelligent enough to use Othello’s insecurities and doubts against him while seeming helpful. She is not malicious in her desire to destroy Desdemona and Othello’s wedding; instead, she does so out of unrequited love for her mistress.
After Othello calls Desdemona a whore, Emilia rages, “Hath she forsook so many noble matches, / Her father and her country and her friends / To be called ‘whore’? Would it not make one weep?” (IV, ii, 146-148)
Her anger at Othello is honest—she repeatedly shows her devotion to Desdemona throughout the play—but it also is meant to incite Desdemona against Othello. She emphasizes all that Desdemona gave up for love, only to be treated like a prostitute.
Emilia laments, “I would you had never seen [Othello]” (IV, iii, 19) because of how he seems to view her as a treasure he acquired and has lost rather than as a human being.