What Emelye Wants...

After what seems like a lifetime of dialogue and plot development between Arcite and Palamon, I am so happy to have finally heard Emelye's voice in Part 3. Up until this point, the whole debate over Emelye has been between two males who she knows nothing about. Her monologue to Diana was finally the first time we, as readers, hear what Emelye wants and her thoughts on this tug of war for her heart. She has no designs of becoming a wife or bearing children. She's content to serve her goddess, be one with nature (which is exactly what we saw her doing in Part 1) and just live out her days holding onto her virginity. It's not a lot to ask for. I already liked Emelye, and felt sorry for her in the previous Parts, but I really respected her when she beseeches Diana to give her to a man who desires her most. I think, considering the circumstances and her fate regardless of winner, her mind was in the right place in asking for a man who truly wants her as a woman, rather than a man who wants her as a trophy.