Act 3/4

Question 1

Emilia in scene 1 of Act3 vs in Act 5

Answer 1

• Emilia is Iago’s stooge
• she comes on stage after Iago, suggesting that her movements and actions have been directed by him

Question 2

irony in Act3Sc1

Answer 2

• Cassio hires musicians to serenade Othello and Desdemona but Othello sends them away
• Cassio could not be more wrong about the ‘kind and honest’ Iago who is working against him in this scene.
• Iago openly talks to Cassio about deceiving Othello: the deceit he discusses openly here is a microcosm of the true secret deceit he engages in (?)

Question 3

Iago beginning to interpret events for Othello

Answer 3

“I cannot think it / That he would steal away so guilty-like / Seeing you coming”

Question 4

Othello’s confirmation bias Act3Sc3

Answer 4

“If more thou dost perceive, let me know more” - Othello asks Iago to search for more evidence that confirms his assertions.

Question 5

Iago uses Othello’s own hamartia against him to build trust and understanding

Answer 5

“I confess it is my nature’s plague / To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy / Shapes faults that are not”

Question 6

parody of wedding vows

Answer 6

“I am bound to thee for ever”

mirroring works to create contrasts and cohesion within the play.

Question 7

the polysemy of the handkerchief

Answer 7

• in Desdemona’s hands it is a symbol of love, faithfulness and loyalty. Her offer to bind Othello’s aching head with it displays wifely concern.
• in Iago’s hands it becomes a sinister object; it is a symbol of abuse and the misuse of power.
• simultaneously a love token and a symbol of destruction

Question 8

structure/ pace in Act3Sc3

Answer 8

• perhaps the most pivotal scene in the play
• a long scene that moves swiftly, creating a sense of claustrophobia
• Othello enters and exits twice but wherever he goes he cannot escape Iago’s foul words and his own foul thoughts
• Iago dominates the one-to-one dialogue between himself and Othello; he speaks more words and has more ‘turns’
• they begin to finish each other’s lines

Question 9

madonna/whore complex line Act3Sc3

Answer 9

“She’s gone, I am abused”

Question 10

Desdemona and the clown in Act3Sc4

Answer 10

• Desdemona is not only her husband’s and Iago’s victim
• she is also at the mercy of the clown, whose riddling shows how words can be misconstrued
• her powerlessness not only mirrors the previous scene but also perhaps perpetuates the representation of a woman being completely dominated and diminished by male society. she is made to appear a fool by the clown.
• Desdemona’s falsehood in the past scene (generally) is not criticised by audiences but is rather understood and sympathised with. she was, perhaps, only trying to protect herself from harm

Question 11

Desdemona being equally ‘abused’ by Cassio and Emilia

Answer 11

• Emilia knows what has happened to the handkerchief but fails to defend or help her mistress
• Cassio selfishly accepts further help from Desdemona (though tbf I don’t think he knows that Othello is angry)

Question 12

Emilia in relation to the handkerchief

Answer 12

a test of her loyalty: she initially chooses loyalty to her husband over her mistress.

Question 13

Cassio in relation to the handkerchief

Answer 13

he treats the handkerchief as carelessly as he treats Bianca. it is, perhaps, a symbol of how the ‘great Arithmetician’ is actually an abuser and user of women, not unlike Iago.

Question 14

mirrored interrogations (Act3Sc4 vs Act1Sc3)

Answer 14

Act1Sc3:
- Othello is interrogated by the senate on his relationship with Desdemona and whether he used “spells and medicine” to seduce her
- Othello and Desdemona defend each other and their love.

Act3Sc4:
- Desdemona is interrogated by her own husband on the subject of her fidelity
- Othello takes Desdemona’s warm hand as tangible proof of unfaithfulness
- Desdemona essentially has no way to prove herself innocent; the interrogation here is uneasy and unequal. Othello has all the power, while Desdemona has no choice but to obey her husband’s commands.

Question 15

Othello’s degradation Act4Sc1

Answer 15

• his fit is a symbol of his degradation
• he is degraded by Iago as well as himself
• Othello switches to prose in this scene, and this signals his debasement
• there is a dichotomy in his speech as he frequently uses Christian imagery (‘The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven’) as well as bloody and violent imagery (‘I will chop her into messes!’)
• strikes Desdemona and accuses Lodovico of wanting to sleep with her
• Exit line: ‘Goats and monkeys!’

Question 16

Reasons as to why Othello may not evoke much sympathy from audiences Act4Sc2

Answer 16

• repetition of ‘whore’ and ‘strumpet’ indicate how far removed he is from the noble hero of the first two acts
• even if he speaks poetically and with a measured tone at times his speech is peppered with vile and cruel images
• he insults both Desdemona and Emilia when he attempts to offer Emilia money, as if she were a brothel keeper, as he believes she has assisted Desdemona in her wantonness.

Question 17

Reasons why audiences may continue to sympathise with Othello Act4Sc2

Answer 17

“I cry you mercy then, / I took you for that cunning whore of Venice / That married with Othello”

Desdemona’s presence is painful for Othello - so much so that he distances himself from what he is saying through referring to himself in the third person. this helps Othello to justify his words and actions.

Question 18

Desdemona’s willow song Act4sc3