They are all but stomachs, and we all but food;
To eat us hungerly, and when they are full,
They belch us.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 3, Scene 4. Desdemona’s maid and friend Emilia expresses her view of the male-female relationship in the patriarchal society of the time. Using a crude and extended hunger metaphor, she tells her that men just use women to satisfy their sexual desires. She has a cynical and disillusioned view of marriage. Emilia’s warning about the depraved nature of men who eat their women and vomit them out indicates that there are issues in her marriage to Iago. It is also foreshadowing of the dangers both women will come to face at the hands of their men.