Act 3, Scene 3 Flashcards
A3, S3: Emilia: “I warrant it grieves my husband / As if the cause were his”
Image of Iago being upset by what has happened to Cassio - link to how he uses this to manipulate Othello
A3, S3: Cassio: “Whatever shall become of Michael Cassio”
Cassio speaks about himself in 3rd person - sense of arrogance?
A3, S3: Desdemona: “If I do vow a friendship, I’ll perform it / To the last article”
Desdemona pledges her allegiance to Cassio in a way that is almost over the top - could be read the wrong way?
A3, S3: Iago: “Ha! I like not that”
Othello: “What dost thou say?”
Iago: “Nothing, my lord; or if - I know not what”
- Iago is deliberately vague to force Othello to come up with his own ideas - he says something then refuses to elaborate
- Othello completes Iago’s line - shows his urgency/stress
A3, S3: Iago: “That he would sneak away so guilty-like, / Seeing you coming”
Iago allows Othello to speculate about what is happening to bait him into a response
A3, S3: Desdemona: “I have been talking with a suitor here, / A man that languishes in your displeasure”
Referring to Cassio with a double meaning - Othello will infer the meaning of lover, not someone who pleads
A3, S3: Desdemona: “Good my lord, / If I have any grace or power to move you”
Shows her subservience and weakness
A3, S3: Othello: “Not now, sweet Desdemon, some other time”
- “Sweet” shows affection - implies he is still relatively calm
- He is still fairly cold to her - this is the first time they interact while Othello is jealous/worried - they complete each others’ lines through this section with Desdemona asking a question but Othello dismisses her quickly
A3, S3: Desdemona: “But let it not / Exceed three days”
Desdemona gives Othello a limit - she is in control because of her feminist power
A3, S3: Desdemona: “When I have spoke of you dispraisingly - / Hath ta’en your part; to have so much to do / To bring him in?”
Double meaning which suggests Cassio took his part in Othello’s relationship - leads Othello to take Desdemona’s words more suspiciously, especially since this would ‘explain’ why she spoke negatively
A3, S3: Othello: “Whereon, I do beseech thee, grant me this / To leave me but a little to myself”
Othello wants to be left alone - surprising since they were recently married
A3, S3: Othello: “But I do love thee; and when I love thee not, / Chaos is come again”
He was self assured and confident in act 1 but now he is less convinced as he sees himself in chaos and turmoil internally
A3, S3: Iago: “But for a satisfaction of my thought; / No further harm”
Ironic that this comes from Iago, it also shows his manipulation
A3, S3: Othello: “Is he not honest?”
Iago: “Honest, my lord?”
Othello: “Honest? Ay, honest.”
Ironic tripling of honest, as well as them completing each other’s lines
A3, S3: Othello: “Alas, thou echoest me, / As if there were some monster in thy thought / Too hideous to be shown”
This could be a reference to the “green eyed monster”, Iago being a monster, or Othello himself being a monster - this implies Iago is a manifestation of Othello’s worry and inner problems
A3, S3: Iago: “My lord, you know I love you”
Direct contradiction and explicit lie - manipulation is clear
A3, S3: Iago: “Men should be what they seem; / Or those that be not, would they might seem none.”
Immediately tries to persuade Othello to stop believing Cassio, but subtly
A3, S3: Iago: “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”
Iago discusses the importance of reputation, directly contradicting what he said to Cassio, and this idea is one he has actually taken from what Cassio says. He also references how he takes money from Roderigo
A3, S3: Iago: “O beware my lord of jealousy; / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on”
Metaphor for jealousy that gives a sense he is speaking from personal experience - implies that Iago wants Othello to suffer the way he does/has - Othello isn’t innately jealous, but Iago is?
A3, S3: Iago: “But O, what damned minutes tells o’er / Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet fondly loves”
Alternates positive and negative verbs, juxtaposing them. Perhaps indicates Iago’s own internal conflict/disorder, but also what he intends to impose on Othello
A3, S3: Iago: “Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; / Wear your eyes thus, not jealous nor secure”
Acts as though he is giving Othello advice, rather than the one causing his doubt
A3, S3: Iago: “In Venice they do let God see the pranks / They dare not show their husbands”
Reinforces the idea of Venice being two faced, as well as referencing Iago once more. Perhaps another way that it is implied that Othello doesn’t really understand the way that Venetian society operates because of how they exclude him from the inner circle of their society
A3, S3: Iago: “She did deceive her father, marrying you; And when she seemed to shake, and fear your looks, / She loved them most”
Implies Desdemona could easily lie to Othello, and this is what Brabantio said to Iago, which is something Iago wants to remind us of
A3, S3: Iago: “I am to pray you not to strain my speech / To grosser issues, nor to larger reach / Than to suspicion”
Trying to act as though he doesn’t want Othello to look too deeply into what he has said - ironic
