#6

       Shakespeare's Othello, is written in a time where females have no rights.  They are seen as a lower subset to men.  They are looked upon as not having the same passions or tendencies as men and when they do show such needs and desires, for example: sexual desires, they are castigated and looked upon as despicable.  This is why Emilia's statement on the desires of women is so out of the ordinary and can be looked upon as modern.  After being asked by Desdemona whether or not women are ever unfaithful towards their husbands, Emilia responds with,
             "Emilia: Yes, a dozen...[But I do think it is their husbands' faults If wives do fall...Let husbands know
              Their wives have sense like them.  They see, and smell,  And have their palates both for sweet and
              sour, As husbands have.  What is it that they do When they change us for others?  Is it sport?
              I think it is.  And doth affection breed it?  I think it doth. Is 't frailty that thus errs?  It is so too.  And
              have not we affections,  Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?  Then let them use us well.  Else
              let them know,  The ills we do, their ills instruct us so" (IV.III. 95-115).
Here Emilia claims that women and men are equal in their desires.  Emilia says that women are motivated to commit adultery in the same way that men are.  In addition, Emilia claims that a woman who acts in infidelity against her husband is spurred to it by her husband.  She further warns that men must be treat their wives well if they wish for  them to remain faithful.  Emilia's thoughts are ahead of her time.  She promotes good and equal treatment in marriage, something unheard of during her era.  Also Emilia recognizes that not all women are the coy and innocent beings society makes them out to be, rather they are human filled with all of the same desires as men.
      Desdemona's response is one that speaks for the thinking of the time period:
       "Desdemona: (God) me such uses send, Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend" (IV.III.116-117).
Desdemona aspires to the cult of domesticity, customary of her time period.  She wants to be a proper housewife no matter if her husband mistreats her or casts her off.  She does not believe in blaming a man for turning to infidelity.  Instead she believes it a woman's duty to hold true to her husband, this belief is also reflected in her initial disbelief at Emilia's answer when she says,
         "Desdemona: I do not think there is any such woman" (IV.III.94).
Desdemona's view of women contrasts Emilia's and reflects the contrast that women of Emilia and Desdemona's day battled against.  They were constrained to domesticity and fidelity to their husbands by society, in reality many sought freedom in all arenas and often felt driven to it because of mistreatment from their husbands.