Scene 2 – Key Scene Extended Commentary More accusations (lines 156–208)


Emilia defies the Moor’s accusation, ‘Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil’. In a dramatic exchange, she defends Desdemona’s honour. Othello intimidates her, as he did his wife, ‘Thy husband knew it all’. Like everyone else, Emilia has been completely unaware of Iago’s true character up until this moment. She condemns him immediately, ‘He lies to the heart’. Outraged by the murder of her mistress, Emilia continues to confront Othello, telling him that Desdemona was ‘too fond of her most filthy bargain’. Her emotional attack echoes the simple, clear voice of the real world, ‘O gull! O dolt!/ As ignorant as dirt!’ Othello threatens her again, but Emilia has finally found her voice and declares, ‘I care not for thy sword’. She shouts for help once more, determined to reveal Othello’s guilt, ‘I’ll make thee known/ Though I lost twenty lives’.


O, she was heavenly true!


Emilia Act 5 Scene 2, l.162


The truth emerges (lines 209–284)


When Iago arrives, Emilia refutes all the charges against Desdemona as an ‘odious, damned lie’. She insists on being heard, ‘let me have leave to speak’. Othello still accuses his wife, ‘she was foul’, and clings desperately to the flimsy ‘evidence’ of the handkerchief. Emilia, despite Iago’s attempt to stop her, reveals the full truth about what has happened, ‘that handkerchief thou speakest of/ I found by fortune and did give my husband’. She continues, ‘He begged of me to steal it’. Iago calls her a liar. Emilia rounds on the Moor again, calling him a ‘murderous coxcomb’. For the first time, Othello accepts that he was deceived and attempts to attack Iago, who manages to escape – but not before stabbing his wife. Montano and Gratiano go after the ‘notorious villain’.


Inevitable tragedy (lines 284–424)


With her dying breath, Emilia sings Desdemona’s ‘willow’ song, defending her mistress to the end, ‘Moor, she was chaste, she loved thee, cruel Moor’. As he looks at Desdemona’s lifeless body, Othello is filled with guilt and fears Judgement Day, ‘This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven’. He is petrified that he will be condemned to


ACT 5


If that thou be’st a devil, I cannot kill thee


Othello Act 5 Scene 2, l.331


169


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