These Women

"DESDEMONA. I have heard it said so. Oh, these men, these men!
Dost thou in conscience think -- tell me, Emilia --
That there be women do abuse their husbands
In such gross kind?
EMILIA. There be some such, no question.
DESDEMONA. Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?
EMILIA. Why, would you not?
DESDEMONA. No, by this heavenly light!
EMILIA. Nor I neither by this heavenly light.
I might do 't as well i' the dark" (Othello, IV.iii.58-65).

Let's talk about the relationship between these two characters.  They've definitely developed a close friendship that they can be as open to each other with this, but they also illustrate themselves as foil characters.   I know this because Mr. Costello said so on the last test we took.  I think the handkerchief incident reflects this well.  Desdemona accidentally dropped the handkerchief when she was helping Othello out of loyalty to him -- Emilia stole the handkerchief out of loyalty to Iago, not to Othello.

It took me a few rereads to realize that Emilia is essentially admitting in Act IV, Scene iii that she's (at the very least) open to the idea of cheating on Iago.  While it seems unlikely that she would do so with Othello -- a gullible but honorable man -- it doesn't seem like there would be anything holding her back from doing so.  Maybe Iago has some grounds when he is suspicious of Emilia; whether or not he has grounds to hate Othello to the extent that he does is debatable.

However, Emilia makes a good point later on: "I do think it is their husbands' faults / If wives do fall" (IV.iii.82-3).  Maybe that's not always the case, but I'm going to put myself in Emilia's shoes.  I'll be the first to admit that I love Iago's character, but if I were married to him, the idea of cheating on him would seem appealing.

So, getting back to the topic of foil characters, this dialogue between Emilia and Desdemona reveals another crucial difference in their characters.  Desdemona would never be disloyal to Othello, but Emilia would "venture Purgatory" to abuse her relationship with Iago.

Also, "these men, these men!" reminded me of an episode of The West Wing called "The Crackpots and These Women": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTuXSdFjQSg