Topic > The theme of manipulation in Othello - 1293

At first glance it seems that Emilia chose to be loyal to her lady, Desdemona, rather than her husband, except that Emilia was the one who gave Iago the ammunition that they convinced Othello that Desdemona was unfaithful. While Desdemona was verbally abused by Othello for not knowing where the handkerchief was “[Emilia] [failed] to explain where it was when [the occasion] [presented itself]; and therefore she is a powerful agent in transforming Othello's doubt into a conviction of guilt and in hastening the death of his innocent lover” (Bowman). Thomas Bowman, author of In Defense of Emilia, states that Emilia had no choice, that Iago forced her to hand over the handkerchief, however Emilia could have hidden the handkerchief, or she could have returned it to Desdemona, but instead she told her husband of the handkerchief without ever receiving an explanation as to why he needed it. Iago would never have known that she was in the handkerchief position if she had refrained from informing him. Emilia's actions could have been forgiven if she had spoken openly about giving the handkerchief to her husband "if he had revealed where the memory was, the heart itself would have been removed from the body of Iago's damning evidence" (Bowman). He had the opportunity to redeem himself, but chose to remain silent about the whole affair “for sure