She says enough; yet she’s a simple bawd
That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,
A closet lock and key of villanous secrets
And yet she’ll kneel and pray; I have seen her do ‘t.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 4, Scene 2. Othello responds to Emilia’s defense of Desdemona’s virtue by dismissing her a whore and a bawd, a woman in charge of a brothel. Othello has been so brainwashed by Iago that he doesn’t accept rational evidence from Desdemona’s handmaid. Using a metaphor – "a closet lock and key of villainous secets" – he accuses her of being a villain and deceiver. This scene shows that Othello has no regard for the words of a woman, preferring to believe Iago’s lies rather than Emilia’s truthful account about Desdemona’s fidelity.