Emilia (Othello) any basis in reality. After Desdemona's murder, Emilia first challenges Othello, disregarding his threats towards her, and then, after learning that her own husband instigated the murder, denounces his actions and reveals her own part in finding the handkerchief and passing it on (V.ii.230–231); for this she is stabbed by her husband and dies during the final act. In Orson Welles' troubled but critically acclaimed 1952 film "Othello", Fay Compton played Emilia opposite Micheál MacLiammóir's Iago. In a 1965 film, Joyce Redman portrayed Emilia with Laurence Olivier as Othello, Maggie Smith as Desdemona, and Frank Finlay as Iago. All four
Desdemona Moor commissions his ensign to bludgeon Disdemona to death with a sand-filled stocking. The two murderers then place her lifeless body upon her bed, smash her skull, and cause the cracked ceiling of the room to collapse upon her, giving the impression that the lady's skull was smashed by falling rafters. In the play's first act, Desdemona has eloped with Othello, a Moor in the service of the Venetian Republic. Before the Duke of Venice, his councilmen, and her father, she proclaims her love for Othello and defends her choice. Her father reluctantly accepts the union, but warns Othello that