Othello Loyalty Treachery and Betrayal Quotes

Nobody; I myself. Farewell.
Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. In her final words before dying, Desdemona proclaims her devotion to Othello and absolves him of her murder. Instead she blames her death on herself, despite knowing that she is innocent of the infidelity charges. She remains loyal to the end to her murderer husband, a sign of how much she truly loves him. Desdemona is responding to Emilia’s question: "O, who hath done this deed?"

OTHELLO: She’s, like a liar, gone to burning hell:
‘Twas I that kill’d her.
EMILIA: O, the more angel she,
And you the blacker devil!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Othello tries to justify his murder of Desdemona. His blindness causes him to see her as a cheat and liar now burning in hell for her sin, when she is the very opposite. Emilia the loyal handmaid of Desdemona is horrified. She immediately springs to the defense of her innocent mistress and bravely challenges Othello. Using contrasting metaphors, she compares Desdemona to an angel and brands Othello a black devil. She believes that Othello’s sense of right and wrong is reversed, seeing black and evil as good, and white and goodness as bad.

OTHELLO: She was false as water.
EMILIA: Thou art rash as fire to say
That she was false: O, she was heavenly true!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia shows her loyalty to Desdemona by immediately standing up for her mistress and challenging Othello’s statement that his wife was false. Protector of her friend’s honor, Emilia continues to defend the reputation of her mistress throughout this scene. Othello and Emilia use two similes as they trade blows – "false as water," "rash as fire." It is ironic that Othello should call his wife false, since he murdered an innocent woman on the most circumstantial and hearsay evidence.

Had she been true,
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,
I’d not have sold her for it.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Othello justifies himself to Emilia for the killing of Desdemona, because he believes that his wife was false. His love for Desdemona and sense of loss is apparent, as he says that he would not have traded a faithful Desdemona for a world of precious gemstones. This shows the conflict within Othello, whose world would have been perfect if his wife had remained faithful. It also demonstrates his blindness, since Desdemona was true to him.

Disprove this villain, if thou be’st a man:
He says thou told’st him that his wife was false:
I know thou didst not, thou ‘rt not such a villain:
Speak, for my heart is full.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia has shown blind loyalty towards her husband Iago. She demands that he speak up and prove false Othello’s claim that Iago told him about Desdemona’s infidelity. Still naively believing in Iago, she cannot accept that she could be married to such a villain. This is an example of dramatic irony, Iago’s villainy being already known to the audience.

IAGO: I told him what I thought, and told no more
Than what he found himself was apt and true.
EMILIA: But did you ever tell him she was false?
IAGO: I did.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Iago, responding to his wife Emilia’s questioning, shows how villainous he is. When asked by her to address Othello’s claim that Iago told him of Desdemona’s infidelity, Iago dodges the question. Iago’s reply, that he only told Othello what he himself knew was true, highlights Othello’s hamartia. Othello’s jealousy and his readiness to jump to conclusions based solely on Iago’s lies lead to his downfall. Iago’s skillful manipulation techniques are shown here. When Emilia again presses her husband if he told Othello that Desdemona was unfaithful, he admits that he did.

I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak:
My mistress here lies murder’d in her bed.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. After Iago warns Emilia to "charm" or hold her tongue, she bravely defies her husband and refuses to be silenced. No longer loyal to Iago, Emilia is intent on exposing his plot and role in the murder of Desdemona. Demonstrating her assertiveness, Emilia shows herself to be an early feminist willing to disobey the patriarchy and the social norms and be the voice of justice and the truth.

Villany, villany, villany!
I think upon ‘t, I think: I smell ‘t: O villany! –
I thought so then: – I’ll kill myself for grief: –
O villany, villany!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia cries out in grief and anger about her husband Iago’s villainy, leading to the murder of her mistress Desdemona by Othello. Distraught over the death, she shows her deep loyalty to Desdemona and her own strong character. In this final scene, Emilia emerges as the defender and protector of Desdemona’s honor, a role that should have been Othello’s. She is now realizing that her husband is not the man she thought he was and is ready to reveal the truth about him.

Nay, lay thee down and roar;
For thou hast kill’d the sweetest innocent
That e’er did lift up eye.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia lashes out contemptuously at Othello when he falls on the bed crying "O! O! O!," after murdering Desdemona. Whereas Othello abused and called his wife a whore and said she was false to him, her loyal friend Emilia describes Desdemona’s true character. The love and affection Emilia had for her mistress comes across in this tribute to her.

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.

She give it Cassio! no, alas! I found it,
And I did give ‘t my husband.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia puts her life on the line as she exposes her husband’s duplicity and lies that led to Desdemona’s murder. She asserts that Desdemona never gave her handkerchief to Cassio, revealing that she, Emilia, found it and gave it to Iago. Emilia’s heroic act is a victory over the Machiavellian and woman-hating Iago. It also shows her loyalty to Desdemona and the sisterhood.

O ill-starr’d wench!
Pale as thy smock! when we shall meet at compt,
This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven,
And fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl!
Even like thy chastity.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. When Iago’s treachery is exposed, Othello looks at the body of his wife on the bed and makes this speech. He uses a simile to describe Desdemona as white as her nightgown. Realizing his terrible error, he says that when they meet on Judgment Day her look will hurl his soul out of heaven and into hell. When he speaks about her body being cold, like her chastity, he is not referring to his wife being frigid or some kind of ice maiden. But rather Othello is saying that Desdemona died pure and chaste, she stayed true to him and was never unfaithful. Cold means dead here, it also signifies Desdemona’s purity, being the opposite of hot and lustful. It has been argued by some that Desdemona actually died a virgin and Othello never consummated his marriage to her.
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