Answer:
The characters of Desdemona and Emila are two contrasting women who are together but opposites in their ways.
Explanation:
In William Shakespeare's tragedy play "Othello", Desdemona and Emilia are the only female characters shown. Moreover, they have a lot of lines, which is somehow significant for in Shakespeare's times, women were thought to be lower to men. They constitute the important theme of female gender characterization n the story.
Desdemona is the wife of Othello, a black moor. She loves her husband very much, which is evident in her rebellious decision to marry him despite her father Brabantio's protests. She is shown as a submissive wife, even accepting her own fault for her death. But then, we see her rebellious streak in her decision to go against the wishes of her father in marrying Othello. She acts independent at first but then as the story progresses, she became more and more dependent, unable to even make a stand.
Emilia is the wife of Iago, the villain in the play. She is also the attendant to Desdemona. She at first appears to be a submissive wife, doing whatever was asked of her. She did not question anything that her husband does, even assisting in stealing the handkerchief of her mistress so that her husband will use it in his plan to wrongly accuse Desdemona of infidelity. But when she actually realizes that Othello, through Iago's plan, had killed Desdemona, she began to see the monstrosity of her husband's character. She no longer is the submissive wife. She accuses Iago of the murder and told him that she will tell everyone of his act, even if she's to lost twenty lives. She also chastises Othello when he actually believed the accusations of Iago about Desdemona's infidelity.
