There are a couple of lines from Emilia that I have been pondering. In Act 4, Scene 3, line 85, Emilia says: “But I think it is their husband’s faults if wives do fall.” The speech talks about how woman can sometimes be treated by their spouses and ends with “Then let them use us well: else let them know, the ills we do, their ills instruct us so.”
I have been pondering about how we treat others. How easy it is to hurt others when we focus on ourselves and don’t consider how our actions harm others. It is not just words or lack of words; our actions are very important.
In this play there are a lot of reactions. Reaction of people to Iago’s words. Iago is the ultimate bad guy; a vicious manipulator that for some reason is out to pull everyone one down. Why were people unwilling to see this, I am not sure. The play is called Othello, but it is more about how people react to Iago. But is that not just like a manipulator? The spotlight is not on the manipulator but someone else. We find ourselves trusting the wrong people and not relying on the evidence that we could collect for ourselves. As in this play, Othello had the ability to gather his own information. He was a general. With that title comes responsibility and experience, yet he did not use that when he was struggling with his weakness.
As Oliver DeMille asks: How are we like Othello? How are we showing our price or lack of security in who we are? Shakespeare wrote to a Christian audience where pride seems to be a weakness in many of us. What weakness do we need to reform or guard against so that we do not fall prey to the Iago’s of this world?
Othello turned to Iago instead of Desdemona to gather information about Desdemona. This becomes even more alarming in that Othello and Desdemona are married. There was obviously a very big imbalance in their relationship. Outside of our relationship with God, our spouse should be our highest priority. The damage Iago caused could have been minimized if Othello had put his relationship with Desdemona above his reputation. Three people would still be living: Othello, Desdemona and Emilia.
Ephesians 5:25 (KJV) reads: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”. Emilia seems to warn us what can happen when we get our priorities out of order. In particular when we say we love someone, but our actions don’t match our words, we can find ourselves in a very hallow relationship. Hopefully not as destructive as Othello’s and Desdemona.
I have been pondering about how we treat others. How easy it is to hurt others when we focus on ourselves and don’t consider how our actions harm others. It is not just words or lack of words; our actions are very important.
In this play there are a lot of reactions. Reaction of people to Iago’s words. Iago is the ultimate bad guy; a vicious manipulator that for some reason is out to pull everyone one down. Why were people unwilling to see this, I am not sure. The play is called Othello, but it is more about how people react to Iago. But is that not just like a manipulator? The spotlight is not on the manipulator but someone else. We find ourselves trusting the wrong people and not relying on the evidence that we could collect for ourselves. As in this play, Othello had the ability to gather his own information. He was a general. With that title comes responsibility and experience, yet he did not use that when he was struggling with his weakness.
As Oliver DeMille asks: How are we like Othello? How are we showing our price or lack of security in who we are? Shakespeare wrote to a Christian audience where pride seems to be a weakness in many of us. What weakness do we need to reform or guard against so that we do not fall prey to the Iago’s of this world?
Othello turned to Iago instead of Desdemona to gather information about Desdemona. This becomes even more alarming in that Othello and Desdemona are married. There was obviously a very big imbalance in their relationship. Outside of our relationship with God, our spouse should be our highest priority. The damage Iago caused could have been minimized if Othello had put his relationship with Desdemona above his reputation. Three people would still be living: Othello, Desdemona and Emilia.
Ephesians 5:25 (KJV) reads: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”. Emilia seems to warn us what can happen when we get our priorities out of order. In particular when we say we love someone, but our actions don’t match our words, we can find ourselves in a very hallow relationship. Hopefully not as destructive as Othello’s and Desdemona.
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