J.L. Austin through Emilia’s Speech in Othello: Powerfully Feminist or Just Ironic? Amanda Abere College

Emilia’s monologue in Othello is the closest to a feminist manifesto that Shakespeare has written, as well as revered as one of the most powerful speeches in the play. As the wife of the villain, Iago, her hidden bitterness boils over when she says that husbands are usually to blame when their wives cheat on them. In the film version of Othello, directed by Oliver Parker in 1995, the role of Emilia is played by a woman, which revives the power of her speech. While the film’s illocutionary force makes a larger impact, especially for a more modern audience, J.L Austin, author of How to Do Things with Words, would deem the speech infelicitous due to its inability to happen and the culture of the time.

In both the play and the film, Desdemona asks Emilia if there are women who abuse their husbands in such an obscene way by committing adultery. Emilia answers yes, for cruel husbands are to blame. She believes when husbands abuse their wives, both physically and emotionally, women will stray. Then, Emilia breaks the fourth wall: “Let husbands know/Their wives have sense like them” (act 4, scene 3, lines 104-105). The first part of the utterance is performative utterance because it conveys no information, and performs the action of...