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[TriXie]

I dont think Emilia is as key a character as you think she is, because if she was dont you she would be less blind to Iago? The only reason she sees these things and Desdemona doesnt is because Desdemona is far to busy "playing innocent" to concern herself with anything but Othello, sure she is innocent but that extreme??? then why is it she had no problem disobeying her father?<br><br>besides at the end when she FINALLY decides to tell what she knows i think she did it to save herself and not to put Iago where he belonged or to avenge desdemona who she claimed to love because if she loved her she would have never betrayed her!!

[Brooke]

Perhaps, but all the main characters in plays seem to have a big part in the story flowing the way it did. She was definatly undersetimated though and I love that about her that she is such a realistic feminist.

[Unregistered]

I agree. Emilia is there to hold the story: to help finish the plot. Without her Iago would have never convinced Othello that Desdemona "cheated" on him with Cassio (which we know she did not...).

[Unregistered]

fully agree...... but how many times are females underestimated by males??? especially chauvaunistic males. not saying that males in general underestimate females in fact its usually the opposite way around but just think on that one....

[Unregistered]

I agree that Iago is a vital character to the plot, but Emilia is the truly domineering character of this story. After all, she is the one that pays attention to the little details and uncovers key bits of information that are used to incriminate Iago after Desdemona's death. Another good point: without Emilia there to find the handkerchief, Iago would be without the one item necessary to initiate his coup de grace. If Othello wasn't convinced completely, Desdemona might have lived and Cassio been reappointed. Who knows where the plot would have ended up if Emilia wasn't there to help the story along. <br><br>In short, <br><br>Emilia is the key character, and Iago underestimated her...<br><br><br>DOES ANYONE ELSE AGREE???

[cRaZy]

I fully agree with you, emilia is definitely the best female character in the play. She takes this whole gender ranking thing to another level. I loved the fact that she was the only one who had the guts to stand up to Othello and iago, when the time called for it. Desdemona is a pathetic twit with no personality; she is an everyday stereotypical Shakespearean female character. Emilia on the other hand has a brain, she thinks for herself, she knows what she’s talking about, this added to the brutality of her death, unlike Desdemona’s, I really couldn’t care less whether she lived or died, because even on her death bed she was still a subservient fool. Her disgusting fatal passivity [this would have been viewed as a lady like virtue back in the day] was sickening to a point where I actually wanted her to die. However I have to consider the context when this play was written and realise I can’t actually expect to see Desdemona act like how women would today, however emilia’s stance was highly impressive, and in my opinion making her one of the strongest female characters in Shakespearean plays.

[Minx]

i fully agree, well said CrAzY. i didnt really like Deza becoz she was so easily manipulated, and lik you said it was quite sickening at times that by the end scene i couldnt cares less if she died or not. although i dont think Shakespeare wrote it lik that, i think he would have wanted the audience to feel sorry for her but with our own context today we know that woman aren't as submissive and would but up a fight... in a way i think she (desdemona) has to be one of the most poorly written characters ever written, with exceptions to Frodo from The Lord of The Rings (such a weak character)...

[SkizaWWE]

Yea i agree but don't you think that even though her character was weaker than the others, it was overexaggerated by the fact that all the other characters seem to be so much stronger. I think this helps to further the idea of women being oppressed by men socially during this age that she feels she can't stand up to Othello though i found it odd she stood up to Iago when they arrived on Cyprus.

[tomatoes]

Emilia is a great character but I don't believe that she is a key character. If she was a key character she would be more of a rounded character. We only see one aspect of her in the play. She's Iago's wife and Dezza's friend. She definitely sees what's going on in the play but I don't think she puts it all together till the end. If she'd been able to predict what Iago was going to do I think she would have done something about it. After all, at the end of the play she exposed Iago, possibly to atone for giving him the handkerchief. If she'd realised before she wouldn't have given him the handkerchief and she would have exposed him.
Iago definitely underestimated her, he believed that she would do as she was told, either because she was afraid of him or for the simple fact that she was a woman and women were supposed to listen to men.
The key character in the play is Iago he is what makes the play happen. Without him there would be no play.