act 4

Question 1

strangle her in her bed

Answer 1

Act 4 scene 1
- iago tells Othello how to kill Desdemona
- he picks such an intimate, close way of killing
- their proximity will be so close, he chooses to do this so that Othello will feel responsible for his actions
- he can’t push them onto someone else/blame someone else or psychologically distance himself from what he has done allowing the guilt to manifest
- experiencing intense moral strain

Question 2

if any wretch have put this in your head

Answer 2

Act 4 scene 2
- Emilia explicitly says what has happened to Othello
- he could have realised that he has been a victim too
- but he is too consumed by his jealousy and does not realise

Question 3

ignorant sin

Answer 3

Act 4 scene 2
- she is genuinely trying to ask Othello, if he had just told her what he was accusing her of, then the whole problem would have been solved
- Othello’s lack of communication skills with his own wife lead to his downfall, he does not go about the problem in a rational way, instead her denial makes him more angry and he leads to his own downfall
- shows her true innocence

Question 4

it is my wretched fortune

Answer 4

Act 4 scene 2
- Desdemona accepts her destiny, passive and submissive against the power of others

Question 5

external villain….devis’d this slander

Answer 5

Act 4 scene 2
- Emilia identifies exactly what Iago’s doing!
- oblivious to the fact it’s her husband
- shows Iago’s true evilness, he can easily pretend to be an entirely different person even in front of his wife and shows no remorse
- shows his evilness within him, good example of Iago’s true evil intent

Question 6

I cannot say “whore”

Answer 6

Act 4 scene 2
- Desdemona is so pure and innocent it hurts her to even say the word

Question 7

never taint my love

Answer 7

Act 4 scene 2
- we see how devoted Desdemona is to Othello, yet how easily Othello let his love away
- even when Desdemona experiences real proof of Othello abusing her, she remains true to her feelings, but Othello gives up on their love for mere accusations
- shows who is internally stronger, Othello is physically stronger than Desdemona, but Desdemona is mentally more stronger as she doesnt let anything dissuade her from being in love
- however, they are still both flawed
- Desdemona lets herself become a victim of Othello’s murder because she is so blinded by love she can’t see his insanity, irrational
- Othello is the opposite; so easily persuaded to throw his love away he acts out irrationally

Question 8

I might do’t as well i’ the dark

Answer 8

Act 4 scene 3
- Emilia says she wouldn’t cheat on her husband in the light, but might in the dark
- strongly feminist viewpoint, she subtly acknowledges Iago’s abuse towards her, as she goes on to say it is the husbands fault if women are unfaithful, implying that iago is a bad husband

Question 9

I do think it is their husband’s faults if wives do fail

Answer 9

Act 4, scene 3
- Shakespeare uses Emilia as a construct of a feminist viewpoint
- if Desdemona had Emilia’s viewpoint, we perhaps would have seen a different ending
- Emilia’s view radically contrasts Desdemona’s view –> both of the women have the same fate in the play despite their differing views, shows the cruelty of treatment of the women in the novel
- Emilia dies bravely, as her own heroine knowing she exposed the truth of Iago’s betrayal, but Desdemona, even in death, refuses to betray her husband and takes the blame for her demise
- Emilia’s loyalty to her mistress makes her the strongest female character in the play

Question 10

the ills we do, their ills instruct us so

Answer 10

Act 4, scene 2
- Emilia says it is mens fault as their wives have learnt how to be unfaithful from them
- her speech acts as a warning against men not to be unfaithful against their wives or they will become a cuckhold