Othello Quotes Flashcards
(38 cards)
1
Q
“I am not what I am”
A
Iago, A1 S1, on stage with Roderigo
Tragic villain, appearance vs reality
- paradoxical statement
- irony in that he fundamentally admits his duplicitous and deceptive nature - embracing it
- use of blunt monosyllables emphasizes this concealed confession of villainy - to an Elizabethan audience who would be more accustomed to elaborate rhetoric, the stark simplicity and directness would signal a dangerous clarity of Iago’s malicious intent under the facade of “honest Iago” - dramatic irony as Roderigo cannot see this - hidden blasphemy - God’s statement in the Bible ‘I am what I am’ - juxtaposes Iago against God, characterizing him as the later established “demi devil” and introducing him as the tragic villain to an Elizabethan audience where the vast majority would have adhered to Christian beliefs
2
Q
“Thou hast practised on her with foul charms”
“If she in chains of magic”
“Enchanted her”
A
Brabantio, A1 S2
Otherness, tragic hero, reputation
- accusing Othello of using witchcraft to attract Desdemona - associated with black people in this era as well as other othered groups - belittling Othello - highlights the racial divide - Brabantio was interested in Othello’s stories (“her father… questioned me the story of my life”) - fascination is disposed - O set up to fall due to othering throughout play, before destruction of “noble” character
- dramatic irony - O is painted as the tragic villain, however audience knows that Iago has ‘cast a spell’ to blind characters from his deceit (“work on, my medicine”)
3
Q
“She wished that heaven had made her such a man”
A
Othello, A1 S3
Women and gender roles, tragic V, love and marriage
- men had more freedom than women - highlights D’s lack of exposure to the world as she was eager to marry for freedom (“A moth of peace… the rites for which I love him” , “let me go with him”)
- their relationship was built off of fascination (“she loved me for the dangers I had passed”) - no grasp on reality and the criticism they would face in an Elizabethan era
- Othello’s othering and accusations - led to insecurities - inevitable destruction and tragic downfall
4
Q
“I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband”
A
Desdemona, A1 S3
Women, tragic V, death, fate
- Desdemona as a paradox
- in being brave/faithful in patriarchal society and defying her father (“profess due to the Moor” - shifting her alliance), she is actually transferring her ‘ownership to another man’ (“I won your daughter” - Othello , “jewel” - high asset to trade)
- despite this act of bravery, she is subsequently “obedient” to O and is portrayed as naive to the audience (“how am I false?”) - her first dialogue is “my noble father” (introduced as obedient - shows how her loyalty shifted from B to O)
- there’s only so much power a woman can have in a patriarchal society - D’s power of loyalty and act of bravery is weaponized against her (“commend me to my lord” - after O has “smothered” her) - her death at the hands of men yet she is still “obedient” to O (“violence and scorn of fortunes” - contradicts naivety - awareness of her position in patriarchal society - inevitable violent death is fated)
5
Q
“A moth of peace… the rites for which I love him”
A
Desdemona, A1 S3
Love and marriage, women, war
- “moth” - D’s attraction to the light (O) as he gives her freedom - contrasts Iago’s previous light imagery which presents O as a villain (“black ram” “white ewe”) - if he goes to war, D will be a moth in the dark (without freedom) - her dependency on him in a patriarchal society led to her downfall as she only had freedom with him
- “rites”- a practice within religion - her love is as important as a rite - informs audience how intense D’s love is for O
6
Q
“You rise to play, and go to bed to work”
A
Iago, A2 S1
Women, tragic villain
- “play” “work - misogyny - implies that women are lazy in all matters other than sex
- the audience gets insight on Iago’s plan - framing Desdemona as unloyal (with Cassio) with reliance on misogyny in patriarchal Elizabethan society
7
Q
“How am I then a villain to counsel Cassio to this parallel course directly to his good?”
A
Iago, A2 S3, soliloquy
Tragic villain, deception, fate
- rhetorical question - I’s attempt to convey his ‘perspective’ that he is good to the audience - attempt to also blind the audience to his malice
- satirical tone - no remorse - Machiavellian character
- “parallel course” - I has moved C from one course of life to another (disturbed fate) - mirror’s O’s corruption of character by I’s “devil” like character
8
Q
“She shall undo her credit with the Moor… I turn her virtue into pitch”
A
Iago, A2 S3, soliloquy
Women, tragic villain, tragic V, love and marriage, motive
- “she” - often not referred to by name - pronouns go from “fair lady” to “strumpet”
- “credit” - believes D must exchange her feminine characteristics as credit in order to stay in the relationship - a ‘tool’ for patriarchal benefit
- symbolism of the handkerchief - “credit” that is an indicator of trust - D will lose possession of it - colour imagery - “virtue” (light/white pure and innocent) to “pitch” (dark/black - corrupt and deceitful) - Iago’s intentions to frame Desdemona as impure/disloyal, stripping away her purity and innocence characterization in the eyes of Othello (“white ewe”, “virtuous Desdemona”) to someone evil (“Devil!” - Othello A4S1, “strumpet” - stripped of purity)
- “Out of her own goodness make the net that shall enmesh us all” (Iago A2S3) - weaponizing her purity which becomes her demise - tragic as innocents are the ones who receive death
- no longer possesses motive (eg “suspect the lusty Moor hath leapt into my seat”, “make me his lieutenant”) - he just wants to destroy as he is not targeting “virtuous Desdemona” who is innocent
- Iago is relying on the misogyny of the time to mistreat D (“Perjured woman” Othello A5S2) –
9
Q
“Thy solicitor shall rather die than give thy cause away”
A
Desdemona, A3 S3
Tragic V, women
- determined and stubborn to make Cassio’s case known to Othello
- irony as this does lead to her death - Othello’s jealousy (“for the love I bear to Cassio” “Devil! [Striking her]”)
- naive as she believes she had authority, but O gave her that power and he can take it away (takes away her agency through death “smothers her”)
10
Q
“Excellent wretch!… when I love thee not chaos is come again!”
A
Othello, A3 S3, on stage with Iago
Women, love and marriage, fate
- “Excellent wretch” - oxymoronic exclamative - his love for D intense but his fatal flaw of jealousy overpowers - shows conflict of thoughts
- “when” not ‘if’ - their love is so consuming (built on fascination) it is fragile - inevitable downfall of their relationship, where “chaos” is bound to occur - shows the ease of which Iago can act as a catalyst for this destruction (“pour this pestilence into his ear”)
11
Q
“O beware, my lord, of jealousy… the green eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on”
A
Iago, A3 S3, on stage with Othello
Jealousy, tragic villain, deception
- dramatic irony
- metaphor - personifies O’s tragic flaw of jealousy as a “green-eyed monster” that I is exploiting
- could also be seen that Iago is referring to himself, as jealousy is his motive
- “meat” - I is dehumanizing O - alludes to O’s destruction of “noble” character and transformation to a “devil” like character, due to I’s manipulation
12
Q
“Trifles light as air… the jealous confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ”
A
Iago, A3 S3, soliloquy
Tragic villain, jealousy, love and marriage
- “light as air” - flimsy, unsubstantial nature of I’s “ocular proof” of the handkerchief (“handkerchief… you did bid me steal” Emilia) - mere doubt is enough to fuel O’s jealousy - I knows this (“unbookish jealousy”)
- “proofs of holy writ” - Biblical reference - shows importance - I knows O will overestimate the handkerchief’s significance in Desdemona’s ‘infidelity’
13
Q
“This hand of yours requires a sequester from liberty”
A
Othello, A3 S4, on stage with Desdemona and Emilia
Women, love and marriage, tragic V
- “sequester from liberty” - O wishes to take away D’s freedom as her hand “argues fruitfulness” (Biblical reference of ‘be fruitful and multiply’ - implied D is having sex with other men)
- contrasts her gaining freedom through marrying him (“she loved me for the dangers I had passed”)
- patriarchal society - men are in control of women’s freedom and agency (illustrated through her death)
14
Q
“There’s magic in the web of it”
A
Othello, A3 S4, on stage with I, D and E
Othering, tragic hero/downfall, love and marriage
- “magic” - O previously claimed in A1S3 there was no use of witchcraft to attract D (“she loved me for the dangers I had passed… this is the only witchcraft I have used”), however now he places importance on the handkerchief which symbolizes magical powers his mother used to “subdue [his] father” and if D were to “lose’t or give’t away” there’d be “perdition”
- succumbing to B’s previous accusations - O’s insecurities (influenced by othering and jealousy) stripping him of his “noble” character - Shakespeare illustrates this to audience as seeing a black man discuss magic on stage was a bold dramatic choice in the Elizabethan era - “web” - Iago is portrayed as a spider - complex web of deceit he has spun to fool the characters
15
Q
“They eat us hungerly, and when they are full they belch us”
A
Emilia, A3 S4, on stage with D
Women, tragic villain, love and marriage
- E acts as a dramatic foil to D, highlighting her naivety (tragic V) through a wisdom gap
- E is aware of the cruelty of men in a patriarchal society, possibly through her marriage with I (A3S3 - “you have been so earnest to have me filch it” “what’s that to you?” - uses E to be in possession of handkerchief for plot to succeed), whereas D is blindly loving and optimistic to O (A4S1 - “I am glad… to see you mad” “Why, sweet Othello?”) - despite their differences, both die at the hand of men - women are doomed to fail in a patriarchal society
16
Q
“Not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they are jealous. It is a monster begot upon itself”
A
Emilia, A3 S4, on stage with D and C
Jealousy, tragic villain
- although people may state excuses for jealousy, jealousy has no cause but itself - jealous people are inherently jealous
- calls into question Othello’s innocence in his manipulation by I, as he allowed “ocular proof” that was unsubstantial and “light as air” to become jealous - recalls I’s “green-eyed monster” personification of jealousy
- “The noble Moor is true of mind, and made of no such baseless as jealous creatures are” (Desdemona A3S4) vs “Is this man not jealous?” (Emilia A3S4) - contrast in responses
- Emilia’s awareness of O’s jealousy emphasizes D’s blindness to it (“something, sure, of state…he’s indicated falsely” - Desdemona A3S4)
17
Q
“The Moor already changes with my poison”
A
Iago, A3S3, soliloquy
Tragic villain, death, ending, othering
- motif of poison - metaphorically used as a catalyst for the destruction Iago causes due to its physical purpose of destruction
- “first are scarce found to distaste but… burn like the mines of sulphur”
- metaphor- “burn like the mines of sulphur” - hellfire - consuming passion of jealousy
- shows the gradual destruction of O’s “noble” character and how O and characters were blind to I’s plot and the ongoing destruction until the climax which entailed the tragic deaths - link to A5S2 - “this is thy work. The objects poisons sight, let it be hid” (Lodovico)
- result of I’s poison is the tragic deaths of O, D and E (work=their corpses)
- L wishes to hide the result - emphasizes the deadly, silent nature of poison, used to symbolize I’s villainy- “Did you… poison this young maid’s affections?” (Senator, A1S3)
- poison = villainy - dramatic irony as O was painted as a villain who poisoned Desdemona’s “affections” to deform the natural (their love went “against all rules of nature” as it was natural inclination for a white woman to marry a white man in Elizabethan era)
- “Did you… poison this young maid’s affections?” (Senator, A1S3)
- although O and D were fated to tragic end (their love went “against all rules of nature” in that era), Iago acted as a catalyst, with the motif of poison acting as a catalyst to this destruction, due to its physical properties of destroying living things/nature
18
Q
“His unbookish jealousy must construe poor Cassio’s smiles… quite in the wrong”
A
Iago, A4S1, in an aside
Jealousy, appearance vs reality, tragic villain, fatal flaw
- I’s plot to exploit O’s fatal flaw of jealousy as he knows the power of jealousy - he is also a victim of sexual jealousy - “I do suspect the lusty Moor hath lept into my seat” (soliloquy, A2S1)
- O’s jealousy will impede his ability to distinguish between appearance and reality (eg “they laugh at that win!” Othello A4S1), altering reality to fit the doubts Iago has planted (“abuse Othello’s ear”, “she did deceive her father in marrying you”)
- “I put the Moor… into a jealousy so strong that judgment cannot cure” - destructive power of jealousy consumes O’s mind
19
Q
“My wayward husband hath a hundred times wooed me to steal it… I nothing, but to please his fantasy”
A
Emilia, A3S3, soliloquy
Emilia as a paradox:
- despite her strong-willed nature (“her tongue oft bestows on me”), in comparison to D, she is obedient/serves her husband
- she doesn’t know what he will do with the handkerchief “heaven knows, not [her]” (possible destruction of O and D - “she’ll run mad when she lack it”), she just wants to please him - patriarchal society and obedience
20
Q
“If to preserve this vessel for my lord… be not a strumpet, I am none”
A
Desdemona, A4S2, to Othello
- swears on her faith that she is innocent and won’t have sex with anyone but Othello
- confinement of women in a patriarchal society - strict categorization - if D were to have sex with another man, she’d be labeled a “strumpet”, despite her character as “virtuous Desdemona” - Madonna-Whore Dichotomy
21
Q
“Heaven pardon him” , “Hell gnaw his bones!”
A
Desdemona and Emilia, A4S2
Women, tragic victim
- contrast in emotions using religious imagery
- would’ve clearly portrayed Emilia as an opinionated character using hell imagery, especially a woman against a man
- Emilia acts as a dramatic foil to D - emphasizes D’s innocence and role as the tragic V
22
Q
“Willow, willow, willow, - Moor she was chaste”
A
Emilia, A5S2
Women, deaths, tragic V
- D recounts story of Barbary - “she was in love, and he… did forsake her… she had a song of ‘willow’… she died singing it”
- foreshadows her and Emilia’s deaths - immanency - “sing willow, willow, willow”
- ties E and D together despite their differences as dramatic foils
- D was “chaste” (“no, by this heavenly light) E contrasted this (“I might do’t as well i’ th’ dark”) - Madonna-Whore dichotomy
- yet both die at the hands of men - their differences don’t matter in a patriarchal society where women who’s reputations have been destroyed by men (“strumpet”, “villainous whore”) are fated to tragic endings
23
Q
“Against all rules of nature”
A
Brabantio, A1S3
Othering, tragic hero, fate, downfall, love and marriage
- believes O and D’s love defies natural order as it was natural inclination for a white woman to marry a white man in Elizabethan era
- others O due to his race - “Very nature will compel her to some second choice” (Iago, A2S1, dramatic monologue) - Iago knows that he can plant doubt in O’s mind about D by exploting O’s insecurities surrounding his othering/race, as B claimed their relationship was ‘unnatural’ and the senator (“poison” her “affections”) from the beginning of their marriage
- “Nature erring from itself” (Othello, A3S3, soliloquy) - O ‘s doubting himself and thinking similarly to Brabantio’s accusations - shows O’s slow destruction of character as a result of Iago’s “poison”
- “Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion without some instruction” (Othello A4S1) - O believes it is natural order that D is disloyal as they’re relationship was bound not to last (insecurities due to othering)
- “Haply for I am black and have not those soft parts of conversation” (Othello A3S3 - soliloquy - doubts)
24
Q
“She loved me for the dangers I had passed / And I loved her that she did pity them”
A
Othello, A1S3, dramatic monologue
Love and marriage, women, tragic V
- shows the equality in their love at the beginning of play (“she loved me”, “i loved her”), but their relationship was too subversive in an Elizabethan society to last
- relationship built off of fascination and pity - fleeting emotions - not a strong, substantial foundation to last through hardships - “I did thrive in this fair lady’s love / And she in mine” (Othello, A1S3, dramatic monologue)
- equality at beginning
- change of D’s pronouns from “fair lady” in act 1 to “strumpet” to act 5 - highlights the inevitable downfall of their marriage
25
“Not another comfort like to this succeeds in unknown fate”
Othello, A2S1, dramatic monologue
Love and marriage, fate, downfall
- O believes their marriage is at its peak - foreshadows that he turns it into something that can now be/will have to be disposed of (“O curse of marriage” A3S3)
- contrasts D who claims it will continue to “grow” (“our loves and comforts should increase”)
- “His unkindness may defeat my life but never taint my love” (Desdemona A4S2)
- D’s consistency vs O’s fulfillment creates a foreboding atmosphere due to these contrasting claims - dramatic irony as audience knows that Iago is plotting to destroy their marriage
- metaphor - love is indestructible - O lets it get destroyed
- emphasizes contrasting claims
26
“When I have plucked the rose I cannot give it vital growth again”
Othello, A5S2, soliloquy
Love and marriage, tragic V, tragic hero, othering
- nature imagery
- through killing D, he is defying nature as she is presented as a “cunning’st pattern of excelling nature” (one of a kind woman - emphasizing her goodness that he is destroying)
- religious imagery - “rose”, “growth” - he is defying God as nature is generally understood as God’s creation in the Bible - presents O as villainous - ultimate act of siding with Iago (continually portrayed as a “devil” like character throughout play)
- sense of reason and logic in Os dialogue - a glimpse of his previous character but for poor reasoning - highlights the tragic change of circumstances
- “All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven… arise, black vengeance, from the hollow hell” (Othello A3S3)
- O destroying his character along with his love for D - moving his allegiance from ‘heaven’ to ‘hell’ - mirrored throughout play from his shift in trust from D (“virtuous”) to I (“demi-devil”)
- light vs dark imagery - “black vengeance” - mirrors act 1 (“black ram”) - O adhering to racial stereotypes emphasizes his destruction of character/morals and downfall as tragic hero
- “The more angel she, and you the blacker devil” (Emilia A5S2)
- cyclical - light vs dark imagery to show O’s downfall - he was set up to fall from start of play due to othering
27
“In Aleppo once, where… a turbaned Turk beat a Venetian… [I] smote him — thus!” [Stabs himself]
Othello, A5S2, dramatic monologue
Background, love and marriage, death
- dies whilst reflecting on a violent story in his past
- this is what drew D to him with a “greedy ear” and began their love story - cyclical structure (“the battles, sieges, fortunes that I have passed”, “she loved me for the dangers I had passed” A1S3 - dramatic monologue) - his adventurous background is a connection to D that begins and ends their love story - emphasizes the inevitable tragic downfall of their love as it was built off of fascination
- “greedy ear” - personification - he eagerly listened and wanted more
- O’s attempt to reconnect with D in death after the violence he has just enacted upon her - unsuccessful
28
“Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving”
Iago, A2S3
Reputation, tragic V, tragic villain, appearance vs reality
- dishonesty of reputation
- dramatic irony - Iago’s reputation as “honest” is false - Lodovico (a powerful member of Venice) believes I is a “very valiant fellow” before end revelation of him as a “notorious villain” who told “a lie, an odious, damned lie!”
- irony - in contrast, Iago attacked D’s reputation (which acts as a catalyst for O’s downfall) where she was painted from a “fair lady” to a “strumpet” - unfairly destroyed
29
“Othello, thou was once so good, fall’s in the practice of a cursèd slave”
Lodovico, A5S2
Reputation, otherness and background, downfall, tragic hero
- O is set up to fail despite having a “once so good” reputation as his otherness defines him throughout play
- light vs dark imagery in act 1 vs act 5 (“black ram” , “you the blacker devil” - cyclical - defined due to race throughout regardless of destruction of “noble” character)
- emphasized through reference to “slave” (A1S3 - “sold to slavery”)
- “fall” - emphasizes his tragic downfall
- Iago aware of O’s “constant, loving, noble nature” (A2S1, soliloquy), making him an easy target due to his otherness
- religious imagery
- “cursed slave” - devil imagery - emphasizes tragic downfall
30
“Reputation, reputation, reputation! … I have lost the immortal part of myself”
Cassio, A2S3
Reputation, power, tragic V, tragic hero
- the importance of reputation, despite its falsehood (“immortal part of myself”)
- however, despite the unfairness of his LoR, as a noble white man, C’s loss of reputation differs from D and O who are a part of othered groups (due to gender and race)
- despite Cassio’s loss of reputation to a “drunk” (and disloyal in the eyes of O), he gains power back and “rules in Cyprus” at the end of play, whereas, D dies with the false label as a “whore” and O dies as a murderer still labeled as “the Moor” - inevitable tragic downfalls/deaths
31
“That death’s unnatural that kills for loving”
Desdemona, A5S2
Tragic V, love and marriage, death
- it’s unnatural to be killed for loving - highlights D’s naivety to the chaos occurring in O’s mind/around her - role as tragic V (“a guiltless death I die” - last breaths fatally wounded)
- irony - although she is aware of her imminent “death” - her “scorn of fortunes” and tragic fate
- (“this deed?”) “I myself… Commend me to my kind lord” (Desdemona A5S2) - still obeying O and taking blame - sacrificing her reputation in pursuit of saving O’s)
- “unnatural” - O now believes their love is “against all rules of nature”
32
“Lord! Lord!” [He smothers her]
Desdemona, A5S2
Death, women, tragic V
- climax - act of O killing D
- silencing of women
- like E, D dies at the hands of a man through an act that silences her from speaking the truth
- dies whilst obeying O (“Lord”) - shows her consistent love for O throughout play, which emphasizes the drastic change of O’s love for D - highlights his change of character and downfall
33
“I will chop her into messes! Cuckold me!”
Othello, A4S1
Love and marriage, tragic V, downfall, violence
- turning point - solidifies O’s tragic decision that
- extreme juxtaposition in dialogue about D - violent and patriarchal implications
- “chop” her into the wife he wants - possibly who he thought she was (“My lord: your true and loyal wife”, “I am obedient”) - calls into question the equality of their love at start of play - the foundation of this was possibly O knowing he was the active participant/dominant person in the relationship
- “cuckold me!” - ‘how dare they?’ - tone of disbelief as to D and C defying him - hubris
- “my bloody thoughts with violent pace shall ne’er look back” (Othello A3S3) - male rage and violent thoughts against D due to her ‘defiance’
- calls into question O’s former “noble” character as he resorts straight to violence without reasoning/talking to D or sufficient “ocular proof” (“she’s gone, I am abused, and my relief must be to loathe her”)
- silencing of women in patriarchal society - Iago relied on the misogyny of the time
- “I’ll tear her all to pieces!” (Othello A3S3) - D is a victim of male rage
34
“Get me some poison” , “Strangle her in her bed… she hath contaminated”
Othello and Iago, A4S1
Tragic villain, tragic hero, downfall, women, tragic V, violence, death
- shows Iago’s evil nature - unnecessary hands-on approach to murder in response to O’s suggestion of “poison” - sadistic pleasure with no sufficient motive
- Shakespeare reminding audience that despite O’s downfall/destruction of character, Iago is still the tragic villain who has caused this - reference back to “poison” emphasizes this - O has been consumed by Iago’s “poison”
- “get me some poison” - O’s irrationality through resorting straight to violence and death - possessive views
- “in her bed she hath contaminated” - foreshadows
- patriarchal Elizabethan society - possible infidelity = death (“this is the fruits of whoring”) - emphasize how D is a male rage and the society she inhabits
35
“Worthy general… the duke and senators of Venice greet you”
Lodovico, A4S1
Setting, downfall, tragic hero, jealousy, appearance vs reality
- L’s introduction (has come “from Venice”) takes the audience out of the chaos in Cyprus that they were immersed in, to the setting as a whole from Venice
- highlights the drastic change in O’s character as he is described as “worthy”, mirroring his description as “noble” in Venice in act 1, which Iago corrupts through exploiting his “unbookish jealousy”
- “general” - reminder to the audience that O still has a high-ranking position of power in society (“the duke does greet you, general” Cassio A1S2), yet he has allowed his emotions and Iago to consume him - shows the dramatic irony of the situation and the satirical nature of the situation as someone of such power has allowed jealousy to consume them - emphasizes his tragic downfall and fatal flaw
- L acts as an external voice of reason - L’s dialogue emphasizes how O’s dialogue is now charged by emotion rather than reason
- “This would not be believed in Venice… is this the noble Moor” (Lodovico A4S, response to strike)
- setting change: Venice to Cyprus - Cyprus was seen as exotic and symbolizes the wilderness, whereas Venice symbolizes civilization and order (“What tell’st thou me of robbing? This is Venice” - Brabantio A1S1 - Venice was a safe, well-respected era)
- O fell victim to the chaos in Cyprus
- highlighted through O’s responses near start vs end - logic and reasoning vs jealousy and irrationality - “in wholesome wisdom he might not but refuse you… but he protests he loves you” (Emilia, A3S1, Cassio’s drunkenness) vs “they laugh that win!” (Othello, A4S1, believing C is laughing because he won D, example of how “jealousy shapes faults that are not” due to I’s manipulation - “see how he prizes the foolish woman your wife!”)
- “Is he angry?” (Desdemona) “Maybe the letter moved him” (Lodovico) A4S1
- D has the same unawareness as L to O’s drastic change in character despite being in Cyprus - emphasizes her blindness as the tragic V
- L’s logical and reasonable tone
- “[Gives him a letter]” - in tragic genre, letters traditionally symbolize fate - emphasizes O’s tragic fate of death due to this downfall of character
- “I am deceived in him” (Lodovico A4S1) - consolidation of O’s changed character
36
“No more moving? … What’s best to do? … She’ll sure speak to my wife … what wife?”
Othello, A5S2, soliloquy
Tragic hero, downfall
- great use of rhetorical questions - shows his state of confusion and panic as he believes he has killed D - contradicts his previous determination in killing her - unstable mind
- “Let her rot and perish… the world hath not a sweeter creature” (Othello A4S1) - conflict of thoughts - highlights downfall of character
37
“Poor Desdemon, I am glad thy father’s dead”
Gratiano, A5S2
Death, setting
- first time audience hears of B’s death is the end of play - shows the magnitude of chaos and emotionally charged dialogue in Cyprus that they became so separated from affairs in Venice
- “The woman falls, sure he hath killed his wife” (Gratiano A5S2, E’s death)
- lack of emotion in response to death from character other than those who were in Cyprus - shows audience how emotionally charged Cyprus’ dialogue was
- “The Moor hath killed my mistress! Murder, murder!” Emilia A5S2, D’s death)
38
“In your letters… speak of me as I am”
Othello, A5S2
Reputation, tragic hero, fatal flaw, jealousy
- O wants to be remembered as “noble” as he is in the belief that he was “one not easily jealous, but… perplexed in the extreme”
- O still has power as he shapes how he’d like to be remembered
- forces audience to not have a black and white view of morality - reminder of his character before manipulation
- but, lack of responsibility taken for fatal flaw of jealousy shows hubris - “an honorable murderer… naught I did in hate, but all in honor”
- “I that am cruel am yet merciful, I would not have thee linger in thy pain” - believes he is doing justice - highlights hubris (factor of his jealousy - “Cuckold me!”)
