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Women in Othello
Each of these women is treated as a second-class citizen in the play, and yet they all love their men unconditionally and without any question, even when the males' behavior is highly questionable. They are loyal and loving, and yet, the men all reject their love in one way or another. In this, they are all similar and Shakespeare treats them as "generic" women characters, creating loving women who are treated poorly by their men and put up with this treatment without protest.
Emilia is dissimilar in that at the end of the play she shows her strength and stands up to Iago and actually brings about his downfall. She dies in the process, but she shows her courage and strength before she succumbs, and in effect, thumbs her nose at Iago, who often treated her with disrespect and discourtesy. Desdemona is also dissimilar because at least for part of the play, Othello professes his love for her and his contentment with their relationship. He says, "As heu's from heaven! If it were now to die, 'Twere now to be most happy; for, I fear, My soul hath her content so absolute, That not another comfort like to this Succeeds in unknown fate" (Shakespeare 828). Therefore, she is the most beloved of the three, at least until Othello loses his faith in her and her fidelity, and so, she has a better relationship with her husband through a portion of the play.
While the women are all important to the central action and theme of the play, they actually play very minor roles throughout the scenes. Desdemona appears the most and is a central character, but the men dominate the play, and Shakespeare uses the women as a love/hate interest and to add the motive for jealousy to the play. The men create all the action (and all the misunderstandings). It seems if Shakespeare had left the play in the women's hands, they would have worked out a more viable solution and understood what was going on much quicker.
References
Shakespeare, William. The Works of William Shakespeare Gathered into One Volume. New York: Oxford University Press, 1938.
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