The characters Emilia and Desdemona in Shakespeare's Othello exemplify the distinction between that of an ordinary, constant woman and a woman who dares to challenge the sexism of her time. But before delving into the parallels between these two characters, we need to know the story itself. Consumed by jealousy, a soldier in the Venetian army, Iago, enacts his revenge on his superior Othello for appointing an inexperienced man, Cassio, as his lieutenant in his place, and for allegedly sleeping with his wife Emilia. In Iago's fit for revenge, he manipulates everyone around him in subtle ways and, as a result, turns them against each other and ends up causing Othello to kill his wife and Iago himself to kill Roderigo, until his plot is not finally revealed, and he is sentenced to death. As a postcolonialist writing, Shakespeare's Othello highlights major gender and racial disparities, beliefs, and inequalities experienced during its Renaissance setting. The gender aspect is shown through the characters Emilia and Desdemona, the two women and wives in the story. To be more specific, Desdemona in the story acts as a common and constant wife – an ideal representation of the traditional values ​​of the time in which the story takes place – while Emilia acts as a rebellious and skeptical woman who is not afraid to defend her beliefs and itself as a whole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayDesdemona is, wholeheartedly, a representation of the ideal woman in terms of the stereotypical gender beliefs of her time. One quote in particular from Desdemona sheds light on her gender beliefs. The quote comes from a conversation about the role of women in society and the infidelity between Desdemona and Emilia, and is as follows: “Good night, good night. Heaven sends me such uses, not to choose evil from evil, but to repair evil! (Shakespeare 4.3.80-81). Desdemona, after responding to Emilia's argument that essentially women should be strong-willed, says this quote to show that she strongly disagrees with what she says and that she will learn not to follow the actions of resistant women that Emilia had claimed. It shows that she remains attached to the social norms of a woman and will behave accordingly, that is, she will be obedient, submissive and unpretentious. By thus conforming to society, he refuses to elevate himself from the role of subordinate despite having the potential to make a difference. However, this role as a submissive and subservient woman proves to be Desdemona's undoing, as later in the story she refuses to resist murder by her own husband and even places the blame for his death on herself in order to defend her husband. This excerpt clarifies Desdemona's situation as an inferior and abused woman (the subaltern) in the story: Desdemona is the classic abused wife. Davidson outlines this profile as follows: "Victims may exemplify society's old image of ideal femininity: submissive, religious, unassertive, accepting whatever her husband's life brings" (1978, 51). Furthermore, although her background may indicate some independence, the battered wife often views the male as superior and despises herself as inferior (Deats 36). Even if Desdemona remains in her realm of traditional and colonialist thought of patriarchal society, Emilia positions herself as a champion of a more radical approach, that of an independent and resistant woman. Emilia is the exact opposite of Desdemona. While Desdemona is Emilia's friend, Emilia remains in stark contrast to her. The following quote is a clear representation of the beliefs ofEmilia on women and her role as a woman, and refers to her resistance to being silenced by her husband for exposing his evil plot to manipulate everyone and cause destruction: “'Twill out, he'll come out.—I peace? No, I will speak as liberally as the north. Let heaven, men, and devils, let all, all, all cry shame against me, yet I will speak” (Shakespeare 5.2.231-234). willing to stand up for herself despite the beliefs of the time that women should vehemently obey their husbands and should not meddle in a man's affairs, elaborate on this quote, “when Iago orders Emilia to return home, she turns to the 'ex' Emilia, a psychologically slave wife for him, who would do anything to please him, because she had learned to be an obedience wife at this point, the 'new' Emilia has abandoned the conventional behavior of wife and was able to free herself from self-imposed restrictions.” Furthermore, unlike Desdemona, she is more of herself than society desires, and although she dies at the hands of her husband like Desdemona, she dies knowing that she has finally stood up to him. Unfortunately, Emilia can essentially be seen as the feminist heroine of the story. She exposes her husband's evil plot and clings to his belief as an independent and free woman even as he dies. However, her triumphant, if tragic, end led to a situation similar to that of Desdemona. Although both Desdemona and Emilia mirror each other, they still maintain some similarities that exemplify the enduring situation of female repression by men, regardless of the type of woman. Both women obeyed their husbands, both at one point in time and throughout the entire story. For much of the story, Emilia remained as faithful to her husband as Desdemona. Desdemona has demonstrated her loyalty throughout the story through her constant expressions of affection towards him and acceptance of his abuse and orders; Emilia demonstrated her loyalty by stealing Desdemona's handkerchief from the floor to give to her husband Iago, as he ordered, and carrying out her husband's plan by lying to Desdemona about the whereabouts of her lost handkerchief. Emilia is even more surprising in this case because, despite explicitly expressing her progressive beliefs about the roles of men and women, she is still obliged to follow her husband's command as imposed by the rigid socio-cultural traditions and beliefs around her during her time. . In essence, the world in which the story is set (Venice and its territories) is a patriarchal society in which “women must think of themselves as 'other' and of men as primary or 'subject'; banish ideas of self-sovereignty; rely on economic independence to ensure freedom; and give up challenging social models” (Dash 249). Due to this ongoing patriarchal culture, Desdemona and Emilia have been forced and reduced to subordinate positions. Also, as an added similarity, both Desdemona and Emilia were murdered by their own husbands. At first glance, this may seem only a very physical resemblance, which does not fall within the limits of idealistic thinking and correct Shakespearean criticism; however, one must note the meaning and symbolism posed by the murderous husbands in the story. Throughout the entire story, both Desdemona and Emilia are constantly dictated to and their voices suppressed by their respective husbands. As the story progresses, the evidence of sexist abuse also increases, until the abuse finally culminates in the total silence of the two women, that is, when they are killed. Such murders may serve to draw attention to the fact.