Finding Identity In Othello And The Joy Luck
Finding one’s identity is a necessary part of life. Before one can know where he/she belongs, one must know who he/she is. Though this sounds simple, finding one’s identity is not an easy task. In many cases, someone may have an obstacle blocking him/her from truly finding his/her identity. But, in the end, everyone hopefully has figured out who they really are. On their journeys to find their identities, Emilia from Othello by William Shakespeare and June from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan both discover their true selves by overcoming and standing up to the obstacles holding them back. Emilia and June are both held back by something in their lives. Emilia is held back by Iago because he constantly puts her down. Iago tells her that she talks too much and that she needs to be quiet, saying, “in faith,” she speaks “too much” (2.1.104). He also blatantly abuses her when he says Emilia “[is] a foolish wife” (3.3.304). When Iago says destructive things like these to Emilia, she does not have a chance to form her own identity. She is always reminded of what Iago thinks of her and therefore internalizes those ideas. June is held back by her many failed attempts to be a prodigy. Her mother spends endless amounts of time training June to “be a Chinese Shirley Temple” (Tan 132), to …show more content…
Emilia begins to question the behavior of men (but not yet Iago) when she stands up to Othello. When Othello starts to rudely interrogate Emilia about Desdemona’s fidelity to him, Emilia defends Desdemona saying, “she is honest… If you think other, remove your thought” (4.2.12-14). She finds her voice and realizes that she should use it to stand up for justice. She also knows that someone has “devised [the] slander” (4.2.133) against Desdemona, but fails to realize it was Iago. Therefore, she has also fails to recognize the abuse in her own marriage and has still not found her own
Similarities Between Keep Ya Head Up And Othello
751 Words | 4 PagesFor example, in Act 5, Scene 2, Emilia states, “' 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.” Emilia’s retaliation against Iago is a clear act of empowerment.
Theme Of Responsibility In Othello
629 Words | 3 PagesDuring her moment of truth, Emilia accepts punishment for her naivete towards her husband 's evil plot and redeems her damaged character. Distraught from Desdemona 's death, Emilia asks Iago if he really has done what she fears, she declares “Disprove this villain if thou be’st a man” On the surface, Emilia is telling Iago that he is to tell Othello what he did if he “man” enough to publicly acknowledge his true evil, as much of his treachery is sneaky and underhanded. Additionally, asking Iago if he “be’st a man” also insinuates that Iago is not a man, but rather a malicious demon that is not human. Later in the scene, Iago tells Emilia to go home and she replies with “T’is proper I obey him, but not now Perchance, Iago, I will never go home” To be “proper” is to be suitable or appropriate. Emilia is expected to follow all of her husband 's commands yet when Emilia says that she will never go home she means that she will never take orders from her husband again now that she knows the atrocities he committed.
Analysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan
1369 Words | 6 Pages“Two Kinds” a short story out of Amy Tan’s book “The Joy Luck Club” is a representation of the pressures immigrant children face from their parents. In the story, we follow a young girl named Jing-Mei as she embarks down the road to becoming a Prodigy. Her mother believed that “you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (Tan). For Jing-Mei that meant her mother believed she could become instantly famous. “Of course, you can be a prodigy, too”, her mother told her (Tan).
Comparsion Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello
678 Words | 3 PagesBoth Emilia and Desdemona have a battle against the men. Previously shown, they both go about it in different ways. But in the end both die from love. Desdemona repeatedly told Othello that she was not guilty of being a “strumpet”, but because of the lies Iago told him, he killed her. While she was taking her last breaths she replied to Emilia 's question, “Nobody.
True Friendship In Othello
876 Words | 4 PagesSpeaking of which, Iago only becomes Othello 's lieutenant solely due to the suspicion he plants in Othello 's mind, proving how even this friendship isn 't pure. Iago is at the center of all relationships pulling the strings. Moreover, the truth between Emilia and Iago 's so-called matrimony is seen as Emilia confides in Desdemona about men, "They [men] are all but stomachs, and we all but food; They eat us hungerly, and when they are full, They belch us" (3.4 121-123). Not only does this explain the root of the men 's wants in amorous relationships, but it demonstrates the true intentions of all the men in the play in relation to the women in the play. Although Othello does not have any examples of friendship, one must make affirm that life is filled with people unlike the characters in
Iago And Marxist Criticism In Shakespeare's Othello
992 Words | 4 PagesIn this quote Iago’s choice of words shows how he sees her, as his possession. This is why Marxist criticism is the criticism that best describes Iago, he is the true definition of a Marxist character. He likes that sense of power that he has over her and their marriage. Iago doesn’t care about the relationship that he and Emilia have but he cares about what come with the thought of marriage. Typically in a marriage the man is who pays the bills, runs the household, and makes the wife stay home.
The Influence Of Identity In Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed
704 Words | 3 PagesSomeone 's identity defines who they are. There are no two identities that are the same. , Everyone is unique in different ways. Finding oneself may take time and might not be exactly what you are expecting. In the novel “Milkweed” by Jerry Spinelli, the protagonist Jack assumes many identities but ultimately does not know who he is.
Theme Of Confidence In Othello
1126 Words | 5 PagesDesdemona asks Emilia if women who cheat on their husbands actually exist. When Emilia replies that she would consider doing it if she got enough out of it, Desdemona says, “I do not think there is any such woman” (4.3.83). Despite the evidence right in front of Desdemona that people are willing to have affairs, she still holds her belief that no one would ever do such a thing. Desdemona tells Iago and Emilia that, “Unkindness may do much, / and his unkindness may defeat my live, / but never taint my love” (4.2.159-61). She even admits that she may end up dead, but that it won’t affect her love and trust in Othello.
Thesis Statement For Othello
494 Words | 2 PagesEmilia was also involved in the problem which ended her life in a matter of minutes. Once Iago had no other than to confess Othello finally realized what a big of a mistake he had committed. He as well decides to end his life by stabbing himself. Othello, being one of the main characters in ‘Othello’, had been tricked and deceived by Iago, Emilia’s husband.
How Othello's Character Changes
844 Words | 4 PagesOthello starts to believe Iago’s lies about his friends and wife, leading Othello to change his behavior towards his closest allies. Iago instigates a fight between Cassio and Montano, and Othello must take charge of his soldiers, he says: Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter, Making it light to Cassio. Cassio, I love thee But never more be officer of mine. (2.3.210-213) Othello makes the decision to fire Cassio, and things get worse when Iago makes his wife, Emilia, steal Desdemona 's handkerchief.
Iago's Psychopaths In Othello
757 Words | 4 PagesHis detachment towards the characters then drives him to do sinister deeds on to them, ultimately causing his downfall. Emilia, Iago’s own wife is another character to which he is detached from. In Act Five, scene two, Iago kills his wife for telling
The Role Of Women In Shakespeare's Othello
1592 Words | 7 PagesWhile Desdemona is a remarkably strong character, Emilia also displays independence unmatched by any other female in Othello, and there are multiple details of Shakespeare and his time that may have prompted such a portrayal. In Elizabethan England, many women worked behind the scenes of productions, like Shakespeare’s, as uncredited authors and editors (Crowley). Due to their anonymity, nobody can be sure that women were involved in Shakespeare’s plays nor Othello in particular, but there is a genuine possibility that female writers did have leverage. This may have had to do with how Emilia was portrayed as resilient from the time of Desdemona’s death all the way until her own, standing up for herself regardless of the ridicule it caused her (Iyasere). In fact, it even killed her in the end.
Betrayal In Othello
1477 Words | 6 PagesHe ends up uses all the money Rodrigo gave him, for himself. Not only that, but Iago ends up killing Roderigo, he says, “if Roderigo lives, he’ll expect me to give back all the gold and jewels I swindled him out of as gifts to Desdemona, that must not happen.” Iago stabs Roderigo, and puts all the charges on him. Emilia is Iago’s wife as well as Desdemona’s maid, he lacks attention and sympathy towards her. It is very obvious that he does not care about her.
Masculinity In Othello
1010 Words | 5 PagesThroughout the play we observe Emilia’s character change, and how she suffered the consequence of challenging the system. Shakespeare’s Othello, utilises a range of dramatic techniques to showcase how women where portrayed during early modern England, as tools, chaste and naive. The antagonist, Iago takes this to advantage to manipulate his wife to unintentionally take a part in the moral dissembling of Othello. The idea where women were being victimised is presented when Iago utilises his power and authority to
Othello Act 3 Scene 3 Analysis
982 Words | 4 PagesIago’s powerfully disruptive insinuations torment Othello to fall precipitously into his intricate trap, believing in the prospect of Cassio and Desdemona’s fictitious affair. Through the use of linguistic techniques such as elliptical speech, subservient vocative choices and a hesitant tone, Iago is able to construct artful innuendoes to deceive and manipulate Othello. Supplementary to linguistic techniques, dramatic techniques such as dramatic irony reinforces Iago’s role as a two-faced villain, who is making a pretence of being Othello’s loyal ensign. Eventually, Iago’s villainy nature sows a seed of doubt in Othello that germinates into the murder of Desdemona. Through the characterisation of Iago as a notorious villain, Shakespeare is able to hold Iago’s actions accountable for the play’s tragic downfall, establishing a sense of powerlessness amongst the
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