Act 4 Scene 2 Flashcards
Scene 2 Summary
- Othello questions Emilia about Desdemona and Cassio’s relationship
- Desdemona begs to know what she has done to offend him
- Desdemona questions Iago to find out what is wrong with Othello out of desperation
- Roderigo gets increasingly suspicious of the fact that he pays Iago but nothing has come of it
- Iago assures him that he’ll be with her soon, indicating the end of his plan approaching
‘Yes you have seen Cassio and she together?’/’But then I saw no harm’
Othello/Emilia - Othello takes an accusatory stance out of desperation but Emilia stands firm out of loyalty to Desdemona
‘If any wretch have put this in your head let heaven requite it with the serpent’s curse’
Emilia - Opposes Iago unknowingly but unafraid to speak her mind
‘Upon my knees what doth your speech import’
Desdemona - Resorts to begging and a physical action that mimics praying
‘Swear thou art honest’/’Heaven doth truly know it’
Othello/Desdemona - The semblance of a fight between a couple the audience once viewed as perfect; sympathy for Desdemona as she doesn’t have a clue what is happening but wants to prove herself to her husband in unwavering faith
‘The fountain from which my current runs or else dries up to be discarded thence’
Othello - Still evidently loves her because he still feels he will die from her betrayal
‘Alas what ignorant sin have I comitted’
Desdemona - Uses religion as her saviour as she becomes exasperated but unwilling to give up on him out of love
‘Are you a strumpet?’/’No as I am a Christian’
Othello/Desdemona - They oppose each other as Othello is irrational and Desdemona provides logic to the argument
‘I took you for that cunning whore of Venice that married with Othello’
Othello - Back to third person as he is in peak madness; emphasises the danger they are both in and is a great insult to Desdemona contrasting ‘gentle Desdemona’/’Honey’/’Fair warrior’
‘Call thy husband hither’
Desdemona - Last desperate attempt to figure out what is going on by asking Iago which is ironic
‘Am I that name Iago?’
Desdemona - Can’t even bring herself to say whore so it is unreasonable to suggest that she would ever be one
‘Hath she forsook so many noble matches, her father, her country, and her friends to be called whore?’
Emilia - Reminder of the sacrifices Desdemona made of her life built on Venetian Western Christian norms to be with Othello when this is how he decides to treat her
‘The Moor’s abused by some most villainous knave’
Emilia - She is clearly very intelligent and it creates frustration within the tragedy that she has figured it out but not all the way
‘O good Iago what shall I do to win my lord again?’
Desdemona - Asks Iago who she surely knows is a poor husband but thinks his loyalty to Othello will supersede this
‘I have wasted myself out of my means’
Roderigo - Reminder that Iago’s villainy extends across different plots and characters as Roderigo is bankrupted by Iago
‘If thou the next night following enjoy not Desdemona take me from this world’
Iago - Knows completely that the plan will be finalised and all will be dead by this time so he can lie as much as he wants
