The relationship between Desdemona and Emilia in Othello Anonymous 12th Grade

In his 1604 play ‘Othello’, William Shakespeare criticizes the damaging effects of patriarchy during the Jacobean era, using the relationship between Desdemona and Emilia as a route to expose the corrupting influence of men. The male characters’ misogyny within the play as well as the rigid gender roles placed on women lie at the root of the tragedy within ‘Othello’, leading to the ‘uncompensated suffering’ that Kastan deems necessary. Whilst not being labelled a feminist, Shakespeare warns his audience of the dangers of the outdated patriarchal system through the illustration of Desdemona and Emilia as the collective embodiment of women in society, and it is the prejudice these characters experience that triggers the ‘inescapable trajectory towards the tragic action’.

Shakespeare portrays the relationship between Desdemona and Emilia as the only representation of true love within ‘Othello’, and it is the absence of toxic masculinity between these two characters that allows for their bond to be upheld until the very end of the play. Kernan’s argument that ‘Desdemona is Shakespeare’s word for love’ corroborates Bradley’s view that Emilia does not show ‘any sign of having a bad heart’, and thus validates the relationship between...