Aim: Why does Emilia refrain from showing her true, independent personality?

Objective: Students will uncover Emilia's true personality and understand why she presents herself as a person so different from who she truly is.

Procedure:

1. Ask students what their first impressions of Emilia were and why (answers include the following: She was weak, under her husband's rule and from a low class. The reasons were because a)She is Desdemona's servant; b) She is married to a man who makes fun of women in Act 2 Scene 1; c)She steals the handkerchief for her husband).
2. Ask student when they began to see Emilia as different from their first impressions (Students all felt that Act 4 Scene 3 was the turning point when Emilia began to show her true colors. She spoke of Lodovico and how handsome he was and how she would surely cheat on her husband to be with him. She professes, to Desdemona's shock, that women should be able to cheat as men do).
3. Ask students what reasons Emilia would have for not exposing herself as the type of woman who openly expresses her feelings about women's roles (answers include the following: a)The time period she lives in would not accept such women; b) She would be shunned and have no husband to fulfill her personal desires; c) Society did not accept women like her).
4. Direct students to the Academy of American Poets website. Students should be divided into groups and given assigned poems to break down and analyze (they include the following: Borrowed Dress ; To My Dear and Loving Husband ; The Women Who Clean Fish ; "What Do Women Want?" ; 1939 ; Letter Home). Each group should circle and underline words/phrases/ideas that pertain to Emilia's true personality. Examples are provided for reference.