Othello the Moor of Venice

Critical Focus on Act 4

Scenes 1, and 2
Character of Othello?
Estimating a character / a leader?

Qualities of Othello as an individual?

As a husband? As a military leader?
Intelligent in what ways? How intelligent?
To what extent does he think critically?
Is he logical / rational?
Othello’s wisdom - How wise?
 A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence. -
David Hume
 It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is
no ground whatever for supposing it true. - Bertrand
Russell
 One of the things that should be taught in schools
must be the habit of weighing evidence, and the
practice of not giving full assent to propositions which
there is no reason to believe true. - Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell

 What is wanted is not the will to believe, but

the wish to find out, which is the exact
opposite.
 A condition of rational doubt would be
desirable;
 To address the problem of the inherent
irrationality and credulity in the world
Iago in soliloquy on Othello
1.3 p45

He holds me well;

The better shall my purpose work on him.

Iago in soliloquy on Othello p47

The Moor is of a free and open nature,

That thinks men honest that but seem to be
so,
And will as tenderly be led by th’nose
As asses are.

1.3.397-400
Iago 1.3 p43

 ’Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our

bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are
gardeners.

 These Moors are changeable in their wills…

 The food that to him now is as luscious as locusts,

shall be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida. 1.3
p43
Iago to Roderigo
in Act 1, Scene 3 p43

If sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt

an erring barbarian and supersubtle Venetian

be not too hard for my wits and

all the tribe of hell,

thou shall enjoy her.

Michel de Montaigne
writing in one of his essays in1580

 It is perhaps not without reason that we consider

credulity and the readiness to be persuaded
to be signs of simplicity and ignorance.
 For I was once taught, and I think, that belief is like
an impression made upon the mind, and that the
softer and less resistant the mind, the easier it is to
impress something upon it.
 That is why children, the common people, women,
and the sick are particularly apt to be led by the ears.
Othello-Desdemona relationship

 Iago suggests there is something unnatural in

Desdemona’s flouting of the established social
hierarchies of ‘clime, complexion and degree’ to
marry a black man
 ‘Clime’ (location); ‘complexion ‘(skin-colour);
‘degree’ (class);
 Desdemona’s act indicates as Iago declares:
‘Foul disproportions , thoughts unnatural!’
3.3.235-238 p129
Poetic Drama (Dramatic Technique)
Quantity of a line; Short Lines

 Iambic Pentameter: A line of ten syllables;

Five beats, first unstressed, second, stressed;
 When there are fewer than five iambic feet, made up of
ten syllables in a line, in an otherwise regular poetic
speech;
 Reason for the missing beat of two syllables?
 May be because of a demand within the situation; or
within the character for this silence;
 It may be that a movement is needed, or that the thought
overwhelms the speaker for that moment;
Note the short lines in the
following; critical significance?

 Iago: ‘I do not like the office.’ 3.3 p141

Contains how many beats?
 Only three; not five
 I do / not like / the office
 Iago: ‘I could / not sleep.’
 Contains two beats
 Iago: ‘One of / this kind / is Cassio.’
 Contains three or four depending on pronunciation of
‘Cassio’
Critical Significance of these
Shorter Lines

These short lines seem to point to the fact that Iago is

intentionally giving Othello
Extra time; Why?
So that Othello can better absorb the
implications of what Iago is saying;
They are deliberately calculated in this way;
Iago is keeping Othello on the hook,
And he is closely observing the effect he is
having on him at this moment in time;
Iago thus manipulates Othello also
by how he manipulates Rhythm

Later in this scene 3 of Act 3

We hear Othello exclaim:
‘O, blood, blood, blood!’

How many beats? (Rhythmic Movement)

Three; Why? Purpose? Intention?
The three beats indicate an overcharging of emotion
Iago’s last line: ‘I am / your own / for ever.’
Its simplicity also underlines the irony of the lie;
And Iago’s relief at the success of his hard work.
Note Symbolism of Light and Darkness

 Acts 1, 2, and 5 are set in the darkness of the night

 Act 3 and Act 4 are set in broad daylight
 Critical significance [Linked to Appearances]
 Note: In the scenes of Act 3 and Act 4
Iago’s deceptions take place; Why ?
 Symbolically suggests Othello should be able to
see through matters more clearly;
 Dramatic Effect: This intensifies the irony
Fifth stage of Iago’s malice

 Act 4 Scene 1 begins with the entry of

Othello and Iago in the middle of a
conversation [Recall Scene 1 of Act 1]
 Dramatic technique / a stage device
to concentrate attention upon crucial
dialogue in a realistic way
 We have seen Othello grow in jealousy in the
belief in his wife being guilty of adultery;
 From the first uneasiness at Iago’s hints
to the savage insistence on the handkerchief
 But the growth has not been steady
 Othello has had moments of return to near sanity
 And until the end there will be other moments
when he remembers the purity and love which
Desdemona once represented to him;
 Dramatic Effect?
 Creates and sustains suspense
Plot summary of this scene

 Opening of this scene shows Iago working Othello

up to a further peak of jealous rage
 Begins with suggestions of an illicit love affair
between Cassio & Desdemona
 Then comes Cassio’s ‘confession’ of his conquest
of Desdemona
 Another of Iago’s fabrications (like Cassio’s dream in
Act 3 Scene 3)
 Iago supplies sufficient details engineered to cause
Othello to collapse into incoherence
Plot summary cont (note symbolic
significance of this conversation)

 Upon Othello’s recovery Iago has a further

daring scheme ready, intended to finally
satisfy Othello
 that Cassio and Desdemona really are lovers
 Othello is to stand by, UNSEEN,
while Iago engages Cassio in conversation

 Note: Othello can see Cassio’s gestures but

he cannot hear exactly what is being said
 Othello therefore misinterprets
the conversation, as Iago intends him to do
 Othello comes to believe that Iago and Cassio
are discussing Desdemona
 But they are in fact talking about Bianca in
grossly unflattering terms
Dramatic Effect?
 Meanwhile how all this appears to Othello
works him up into an anguished rage
 Lodovico, a kinsman of Brabantio, arrives from Venice,
bringing news that Othello is to be recalled from Cyprus
 And that Cassio is to replace him as Governor
 Desdemona recounts to Lodovico what has happened
between Cassio & Othello
 And innocently mentions the ‘love’ she has for Cassio
 At which point Othello strikes her publicly;
 Lodovico recalls the noble Moor of earlier days
 And laments the transformation he witnesses in him
 And turns to WHOM? To Iago of all people for an explanation
Dramatic purpose of Act 4 Scene 1

 To win over pity and sympathy for the hero

 To revive Othello’s anger
 To show the depths of jealousy and violence
to which Othello has descended
 To highlight the outrage upon Desdemona
 To highlight Iago’s malice
 To intensify audience hatred of Iago
 To introduce a necessary moment of relief
Dramatic effect?? Theatrical effect??

 Pity and sympathy for Othello

 Othello is undergoing the most horrible torture.

 Of what kind? Form?

 Mental torture; psychological

Interpretative analysis

 In Othello, we see the grand simplicity of the

barbarian; or would you agree???
 With his love a rapture of chivalry and fond
protectiveness;

 Fatal flaw arises not of injured personal pride;

It is the
anguish of despair for human purity and truth???
The Individual,
Humanity and Society

 Shakespeare shows how a marginalized

individual like the Moor, Othello, comes to
believe he is somewhat less than human
 And in striving to embody the dominant notion of
humanity in Venetian society
 He comes to lose his way in the world
 Despite initially seeming different from other
Moors, Othello ultimately embodies the
stereotype of Moorish lust and violence
‘Are you a man?’

 Othello becomes a jealous, murderous husband of a

Christian high society lady, the daughter of a
senator no less;
 Why does Othello do so?
 Is Othello returning to his essential nature?
 Is he hard-wired, fated and hence predestined to play
out the script of wife-murderer? Or asked in more
modern terms—
 Is he genetically programmed as a man, or as a Moor?
Iago asks him, ‘Are you a man?’
 Of course, Othello does contribute to his own
destruction?
 But what of Iago’s psychologically induced tortured
punishment? Does he deserve it?
 The audience may feel he meets with punishment
out of all proportion to what he has done
 What again of his qualities?
 We know he has admirable, great qualities
 That he has achieved much in military affairs
 That essentially he is of noble character
 And so? Any strong reservations?
 But he has allowed himself to be debased by a
humiliating passion; How much debased?
 To a level not far above that of the animal
 In fearing for him, we also even fear for
ourselves. Do you know why this may be so?
 Being a tragedy, it is meant to involve us
 And excite emotions of fear and pity [Effects]
 Othello seems to suffer for the virtues he has;
 His nobility of mind;
 Defect? Too self-centred?
 With his jealousy aroused, do you not think he dwells
too long on his own lost pride?
 Thus excluding other considerations; such as?
 The possibility of his wife’s innocence…
 Othello had a choice?
 The choice of believing in Desdemona’s innocence,
 but Iago…???
 thus for Othello, is
choice therefore impossible?
 Could we then say therein lies the essence of this
tragedy?
Let us look more closely at
Othello in this scene and his horrible
transformation…

 Recall again qualities we associate with Othello?

Such as what?
 His courage, honesty, nobility, dignity?

And what about now?

 An infected mind; And near psychological exhaustion
 No longer demands proofs
 Iago’s gross image of a “kiss in private” [L-4]
is enough to convince him
 Argument is now a tedious process for him
 Yet he tries hard to endure the torture
 And to reason things out (textual evidence?)
 As Othello declares: A wife should be
“protectress of her honour” L-14
 Othello appears forgetful?
 Iago reminds him, and keeps prodding him
about the matter of the handkerchief
 Othello snaps back “I would most gladly have
forgot it!” [L-19]
 Each fresh verbal stroke of Iago debases him
 Notice Othello jumps to conclusions long before Iago
finishes a sentence or fills in the point of Cassio’s
“blab— ” [re Cassio’s urge to talk…of his ‘affair’]
 All his dignity, nobility, and authority dissolve and he
is shaken not by words, but by images
 “Noses, ears, and lips”

 Note: Stage Directions [Falls in a trance]

 Iago: With her? On her. What you will.
 Othello: Lie with her? Lie on her? We say lie on her
when they belie her. Lie with her – Zounds,
that’s fulsome. Handkerchief – confessions –handkerchief!
To confess and be hanged for his
labour – first to be hanged, and then to
confess. I tremble at it.
Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing
passion without some instruction. It is not words that
shake me thus. Pish! Noses, ears, and lips. Is’t possible?
Confess – handkerchief! O devil!
 Note Othello’s preparedness to faithfully
follow all Iago’s instructions
 To become an eavesdropper

Critical thinking question:

 Does he come across as a tragic figure?
 We see him hide, crane his neck, and strain
his ear to listen to talk between Iago and
Cassio
 Critical significance of his dramatic actions?
 Recall Othello was so frank, and open in all his
dealings
 But Othello is now prepared to be
 “most cunning in my patience” [L-91] so that he can
hear all
 Emerging from his hiding place with one thought?
 “How shall I murder him, Iago?” L-167
 Slow or fast?
 “I would have him nine years a-killing” L-175
In what state is his heart now?
Turned to stone; convinced of Desdemona’s
unfaithfulness
So when shall her murder take place?
At once:
“…let her rot and perish, and be damned
tonight, for she shall not live” L178-179
 Conjures up in his mind a picture of what he is
about to murder:
 “O world hath not a sweeter creature…so
delicate with her needle…an admirable
musician…O she will sing the savageness out of
a bear…Of so high and plenteous wit and
invention…and then of so gentle a condition”
L180-190
 Othello at this point is out of his mind with these
torturous thoughts;
 And he wants vengeance—HOW?
 “I will chop her into messes.” L197
 He is now so corrupt and debased in mind
 he is even ready to change his plan and
accept Iago’s instead—
 Iago: “Do not with poison, strangle her in her
bed, even the bed she had contaminated”
L204-205
 Even when he speaks of her murder he thinks
of himself not as a murderer but what?
An agent of JUSTICE:
 “the justice of it pleases, very good.”
 We note his display of anger when he hears
Desdemona express her happiness at the
news of Cassio’s appointment. Does what?
 Note stage action: He strikes her…
 Symbolical significance?
 Even hints publicly at her promiscuity? How?
 “Ay, you did wish that I would make her turn. Sir, she
can turn, and turn, and yet go on,
And turn again”
Note, tries to vindicate striking her…How?
 By calling her “devil”: ‘O
devil, devil! if that the
earth could teem with woman’s tears, Each drop she falls
would prove a crocodile. Out of my sight!
 Critical significance of these words and actions???
Dramatic Effects

 Othello is in the labyrinth of the monster Iago

 And now he also is similar to
the demi-devil who ensnared him

 Othello’s degradation, his debasement is

complete

 The audience’s sense of pity for Othello deepens

What of Iago? Intensifying hatred

 Iago now aware of his own imminent danger

 There is the possibility his plan could be
discovered [TEXTUAL EVIDENCE?]
 Recall Othello’s words to Iago:
“Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore”
 But Iago plays his role calmly and steadily
 Tantalizes Othello with disconnected phrases
and enigmatic laughter
More graphic, grosser Imagery

 He is bolder in the vivid images of this

relationship which he presents to the tortured
mind of Othello
 And brutally direct and realistic sounding in
his description of Desdemona’s allegedly
immoral behaviour…
 “To kiss in private….naked with her friend
abed”
Tone;
also Iago’s presence of mind

 Iago is elated by his own success:

“Work on,
My medicine, work: thus credulous fools
are caught”
 The unexpected entrance of Cassio at this moment is a
challenge to Iago’s presence of mind

 Note he cleverly switches from gloating and moralizing to

pretended concern for his master
 He inventively tells Cassio the trance is epilepsy
Manipulating Rhythm

 “The lethargy must have its quiet course”

 Why ‘quiet’?
 Stressing the need for ‘quiet’ is to get rid of Cassio and
return to inflicting further torture on Othello
 Seeing Othello’s rage flag, concocts a fresh plan
 Iago provokes Cassio to speak scurrilously of Bianca

 One challenging problem for Iago here?

 Must somehow prevent Cassio from mentioning the name,
BIANCA
Following the movement of the
dialogue

 Iago’s plan continues to work well

 But he is not yet altogether satisfied
 He must keep Desdemona in Othello’s mind
 He does so by reminding him of the handkerchief
 Once again he turns the knife in the wound
 Iago says that Desdemona gave the handkerchief
to Cassio; and then next he says:
“he hath given it to his whore”
 In doing so he steers Othello to ultimate destruction
In thinking over this scene?

 There is immense horror to be seen in Iago

(very much apparent in this scene)
 Behind Iago’s action we see only the working
of his own dark, devilish mind
 Some critics maintain he had a grievance
which justified some of his actions???

 They being what???

Grievances accounting for his
motivations for malice

 1) That Iago had been passed over for promotion;

 2) That both Othello and Cassio had

illicit relationships with his wife, Emilia
Critical question to ask re- point 2:
 If suppose the second point were true, how
come we do not hear Iago express indignation
about his wife?
 Some critics maintain that Iago had not an
innate love for cruelty for its own sake
 Rather that he had a love for POWER
 This allows him to be master of the destiny of
others
 What is your theory to account for Iago’s evil
machinations???
Act 4 scene 2 a room in the castle
The Brothel Scene

 To introduce the Brothel Scene;

(So called because Othello questions Emilia as though
she were the keeper of a brothel)
 To accentuate the nobility of Desdemona
 To link up the machinery of the plot [this scene functions to
tie up loose ends of the plot thus far]
 To prepare the audience for the downfall of Iago
 To show the progress of Othello’s degradation
 To show Othello is more anxious to obtain evidence of
Desdemona’s guilt than her innocence
 To highlight the character and function of Emilia
Othello’s ideas and language
(Entry point through language)

 This scene marks an even more extreme

stage in the degradation of Othello
 who is by now thoroughly corrupted
 His corruption is underlined by his use of
ideas and language previously characteristic
of Iago (note the language of corruption)
 Othello has taken over Iago’s role as he
blackens Desdemona’s character
Desdemona perceived as a
prostitute

 Othello treats Desdemona as a harlot;

 She cannot comprehend the reason for his

attitude or his anger

 Then Othello indulges in self-dramatization

and self-pity seeing himself as the very
pattern of the betrayed husband;
Diction; repetition of the word
‘whore’ the language of corruption

 Emilia: ‘…the purest of their wives.’

 Othello: This is a subtle whore.
 Are you not a strumpet?
 Was this fair paper, this most goodly book
Made to write ‘whore’ upon?
 Damn thyself; false as hell
 Impudent strumpet
Recall Iago on Reputation 3.3

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,

Is the immediate jewel of their souls,
Who steals my purse, steals trash; ’tis something,
nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
Desdemona about Othello in 3.4
Noble Moor; and Base Moor

Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse

Full of crusadoes. And, but my noble Moor
Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness
As jealous creatures are, it were enough
To put him to ill-thinking.
p147
 Desdemona’s denials of guilt inflame Othello’s
anger; (stage directions: Raises his voice) ‘I took
you for that cunning whore of Venice’ p193
 Calls Desdemona a strumpet and Emilia a
procuress;
 He feels that he must make her admit that she is
the wanton he believes her to be.
 ‘Heaven truly knows that thou art as false as hell.’
Desdemona:
I hope my noble lord esteems me honest.

Othello: O ay, as (honest) summer flies are in

shambles, That quicken even with blowing. O
thou weed Who art so lovely fair, and smell’st
so sweet That the sense aches at thee, would
thou hadst never been born.
Cold Irony

 It is this monstrous ‘fact’ which

 In this last full conversation with his wife before
her murder in Act 5
 That finally drives Othello from heart-break,
through disgust and anger,
 To the cold irony when he declares
 I cry you mercy then. / I took you for that
cunning whore of Venice / That married Othello.
Desdemona (earlier and now)
Making cross connections

Roderigo (to Brabantio, about Desdemona) in 1.1.132-

136 p11
Your daughter, if you have not given her leave,
I say again, hath made a gross revolt,
Tying her duty, beauty, wit, and fortunes
In an extravagant and wheeling stranger
Of here and everywhere.

The Individual in conflict with Society

Emilia critically questions 4.2 p195
Note the use of enumeration

Hath she forsook so many noble matches,

Her father, and his country, all her friends,
To be called whore?
Would it not make one weep?

[Issues related to the Individual and Society]

Parallelism

 Desdemona is reduced to a pitiful wreck through the

vile abuse of her character by the only person she
really and deeply loves
 (We recall) in the previous scene, [4.1]
Iago has enjoyed his cruel triumph over a
helpless, suffering Othello
 In this scene Othello enjoys a similar triumph over a
helpless Desdemona
 Both episodes dramatically parallel each other, to what
dramatic effect?
Parallelism (making connections)

 Desdemona pleads with Iago to help her

to win back her husband’s love
 But she is met only with the same cold
merciless response as greeted Othello when
he cried out for understanding from Iago
 Her kneeling to heaven at this point to
confess her fidelity parallels Othello’s similar
action in Act 3, Scene 3 when his motive was
to seek divine sanction for his revenge
Irony of this scene oft times intense

 Of all people, Desdemona to ease her torment,

who does she go to /
turn to for assistance?
 Iago (Implications?)
 For help to win back Othello’s love
 Irony
 Bitter irony
 When Iago enters to observe the suffering
Desdemona
Desdemona to Iago

O good Iago
What shall I do to win my lord again?
Good friend, go to him; for, by this light of
heaven, / I know not how I lost him. Here I kneel:
/ If e’er my will did trespass ‘gainst his love /
Either in discourse of thought or actual deed, /
Or that mine eyes, mine ears, or any sense, /
Delighted them in any other form, / Or that I do
not yet, and ever did,
And ever will – though he do shake me off
To beggarly divorecement – love him dearly
Comfort forswear me! Unkindness may do much;
And his unkindness may defeat my life,
But never taint my love. I cannot say ‘whore’:
It does abhor me now I speak the word;
To do the act that might the addition earn
Not the world’s mass of vanity could make me.
Emilia stumbles on the truth of
Othello’s bitterness

 Emilia is now convinced that Othello’s jealousy

has been inspired by some self-seeking knave—
 ‘some eternal villain / Some busy and insinuating
rogue’ has ‘abused’ Othello with foul slander of
Desdemona pg 197
 Dramatic Irony?
 The rogue in dramatic ironical terms stands
beside her in the form of her husband
 This scene serves to illuminate character

 We see Othello maddened by grief and

jealousy

 Devising a fantastic playlet through which he

acts out his fears that Desdemona is a
prostitute
 And her attendant Emilia, the brothel Madam
 With himself as the visiting stranger throwing
coins for the services they have rendered
 ‘There’s money for your pains.’ p193
 It is a horrific scene
 With Othello the only player
 And the ladies completely defenseless against
his cruel epithets
Cruel epithets; foul imagery

Recall the noteworthy choice of imagery of

 ‘foul toads’
 ‘o, ay, as summer’s flies’ and ‘o thou black
weed’ that accompanies Othello’s words

 The scene in powerful dramatic terms shows

further the extent of Othello’s degradation
Change; Transformation

Emilia:

Here’s a change indeed. [p193]

Recall the words of Iago at the end of 1.3

‘It is engendered. Hell and night

Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.’