EMILIA: ‘Twill out, ’twill out: I peace!
No, I will speak as liberal as the north:
Let heaven and men and devils, let them all,
All, all, cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak.
IAGO: Be wise, and get you home. [He draws his sword]
…Gratiano: Fie, your sword upon a woman!
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Here Emilia determines to tell the truth despite Iago’s threats and command to her to be quiet. In a simile she vows that she will speak as freely as the north wind blows. The loyalty shown by Emilia to her husband earlier in the play has now completedly transferred to Desdemona. This is after she realizes Iago’s role in her mistress’s death and Othello’s ruin. We see a complete change in gender roles and power dynamics in the Emilia-Iago relationship. This woman shows phenomenal courage by becoming the voice of truth and justice in this final scene to stop her husband’s evil. Sadly she will pay the ultimate price for it.
