Othello is riddled with abuse, manipulation, lies, and deceit; another victim of abuse in this play is Emilia. Emilia is Iago's wife and even though we do not necessarily see physical abuse until her murder by Iago at the end of the play, emotional abuse is made evident throughout the play. Iago talks down to her, degrades her, and plays with her emotions just as he does with everyone else in the play. The fact that she is his wife has no effect on his monstrous demeanor towards her. She is almost like a child vying for a father's affections in every aspect of her actions towards Iago. She goes to any length to try and win his affections and in so doing unwittingly causes the death of her friend in the attempts to please him. Once Iago's fiendish plot is discovered she has one stitch of bravery and stands up to him, defending her friend's honor, which costs her her life. Oddly enough, not only is she another tragic victim in the play, she is also the only hero.
The play Tartuffe is quite opposite of Othello and Oedipus the King. Tartuffe is a comedy and the other two plays are tragedies, so the characters in this play have a different motivation throughout the story line. They are meant to make you laugh, laugh at the characters, the circumstance, or even at something in society. There are still victims but not to the devastating degree of Oedipus and Othello. In this play Dorine plays a faithful servant, she is boisterous and opinionated, and somewhat street wise. She is not an outright victim in the play, she is not taken advantage of or abused in any way, however she is still a servant, still under someone else's rule, the rule of the 'man' of the house. Despite the fact that she gets away with being a bit saucy, she is still a servant, one step above a slave. So, to this degree she is a victim, a victim of her circumstances.
Elmire is another female character in Tartuffe. She is a strong willed, strong minded 'alpha' female.
