Emilia may be considered to be a minor character in Shakespeare's Othello, she does seem to play a major role in the play. Emilia, the wife of the villainous Iago is a confusing character to follow throughout the play. Not only is she the wife of the villain, but her character is also the mistress of Desdemona. Shakespeare does a good job of incorporating her hot/cold character into the play before her death at the end of the play.
Throughout much of the play Emilia's character takes a backseat role before she makes her presence felt in act three. She is the attendant for Desdemona who had been secretly married to Othello before the start of the play, but is also the wife of Iago. (Her character is finally introduced to the audience in the middle of act two.) By the end of act two it is obvious that she is just a pawn in her husbands scheme. He convinces her to speak to Desdemona on the behalf of Cassio. Iago in his devious scheme never thinks twice about using his wife to set his plan in motion, which proves to be one of his downfalls. This may be because Iago suspects that his wife has slept with Othello, though he has no proof and is unwilling to confront either on the subject. Emilia who appears loyal to Desdemona, before her loyalty suddenly switches to her husband (when she gives him the handkerchief) has now established herself as an unknowing accomplice to her husband. She later betrays Desdemona again, when she lies of the whereabouts of the handkerchief. .
As mentioned before Emilia serves more as a pawn in Iago's scheme, but she begins to become an elusive character as the play continues. Her Jekyll and Hyde actions seem to only confuse the audience and help seal the long-term fate of Othello, Desdemona and herself. Her loyalty towards her husband is bizarre considering he has asked her to steal Othello's handkerchief as many as a hundred times. Emilia later tries to convince Othello that Desdemona is leading a faithful life, but he believes it to be a lie.
