act 5 scene 2 Flashcards
othello:
‘it is the cause, it is the cause, my soul’
remember what she did - convincing himself
still loves her
othello:
‘i’ll not shed her blood, nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow and smooth as monumental alabaster. yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men’
white and snow connote purity and chastity.
shakespeare appears to depict othello as the victim of a trap through his reluctance to murder her yet his belief that he must as a sacrifice/duty to humanity.
perceives himself almost as jesus.
links to patriarchal control, characters as victims of societal attitudes which force them to behave in a certain way. however is this an attempt to conceal his own interest as the cause of his tragic fall is ultimately his own pride and jealousy. shame in this? monumental connotes funerals.
what was he actually in love with?
he can’t bring himself to ruin desdemona’s image
othello:
‘put out the light, and then put out the light’
his desire for certainty reinforced. her death will be absolute.
sacrifice must be set in stone and recognised, links to the idea of a sacrifice for society or alternatively a way of him salvaging his tarnished status in being supposedly cuckolded
life, truth
othello:
’ i know not where is that promethean heat that can thy light relume’
prometheus stole fire from heaven in order to bring life to a piece of clay.
othello uses this analogy to show that desdemona’s life cannot be so easily restored
desdemona:
‘that death’s unnatural that kills for loving’
you can’t kill someone you love
strong christian morals
tragic waste
desdemona:
‘and you have mercy too!’
already too late
didn’t communicate
shakespeare shows the dangers of relationships
innocence - her allegiance to othello is sworn and her conscience is free. her love is pure and equal amongst mankind - she loves him as she does everyone else. kind and caring nature. she confesses she never gave him the token of love which is used as evidence against her.
othello:
‘what i intend to do a murder, which i thought a sacrifice. i saw the handkerchief’
desdemona can’t say anything
trapped by the patriarchy - pathos
man’s raw intentions
significance of calling desdemona a “perjured woman” implies that by denying the allegations against her, she has lied under oath.
desdemona’s supposed false testimony has dire consequences for othello’s interpretation of her death. whereas he sees her execution as necessary and therefore “a sacrifice,” if she is actually speaking the truth it would make him a murderer. the uncertainty she causes in him turns his heart to stone.
further evidence of the critic a.c bradley’s view who believed othello was no longer wanting to kill her out of vengeance
othello:
‘o balmy breath, that dost almost persuade justice to break her sword.’
convinced that what he is doing is ‘justice’. (the sword and scales were emblems of justice (trad. female) scales weigh evidence; sword punishes)
othello puts off what he feels he must do - ‘one more’ kiss. He still loves her. but could the kiss also be a sign of his betrayal, reminiscent of judas’ “kiss of death” in the bible?
balm is a medicine or soothing ointment, which suggests that kissing her may cure him of his desire to kill her, or cure their relationship
once again, it is her beauty that ‘dost almost persuade him’ not her fear and pleading for her life (which only makes him angrier). it shows that he doesn’t value her as a person, only as entertainment.
legal language links to the social significance of her death, the murder as a performance for othello to recover his masculinity. Ironic as there has been no fair trial, desdemona has had no voice.
othello:
‘my wife, my wife! what wife? i have no wife. o insupportable! o heavy hour!’
regrets killing her - consequences of jealousy and manipulation
lost rationality - chain of being
no longer has the validation and affirmation she brings him as an outsider
no remorse or guilt
desdemona:
‘nobody; i myself. farewell’
trapped by the patriarchy
tries to save othello
creates even more pathos from the audience through desdemona’s undying love that she continues to feel for othello highlighting her devotion towards him, it could also convey many character tragic flaws that desdemona truly has.
her subversive nature is highlighted here and the fact that desdemona blames herself could actually show that she has come to the realization that going against societies conventions and desiring a marriage that would have been portrayed as negatively towards the contemporary audience is her downfall.
tragedy lies in shakespeare conforming to these racist social conventions
othello:
‘she’s like a liar gone burning to hell: ‘twas i that killed her!’
proudly declares that he has killed his wife moments after denying having any knowledge of her death
further evidence of the tumultuous state of his mind but also that in denying having done any wrong, his strong conviction and belief that he is in fact merely and agent of justice
structure of the sentence, with the admission of guilt at the end, suggests that othello sees this as the least important piece of imformation; that desdemona’s lie is a greater evil than his killing her.
emilia:
‘my husband?’
disbelief that iago did it
doesn’t want to know
anagnosis - realises truth
doesn’t think he’s capable of such deceit
becomes the voice of the audience in this scene; we must have an outlet for our feelings of outrage.
the repetition of this quote is highly charged; emilia is as reluctant as desdemona to believe her husband is not what he seems.
could also show emilia coming to realization of the character that she truly believed iago to be but had constantly been denying to herself.
iago:
i told him what i thought, and told no more than what he found was apt and true’
devil’s trick
people blamed the devil on the day of judgement for actions
devil didn’t force them
highlight Iago’s villainy, it does emphasize the fact that othello in reality really did concoct his own downfall. iago gave othello very little fuel to go by his claims and yet, othello readily let his jealousy get away with him..
emilia:
‘villainy, villainy, villainy!
repetition
angry - women would never get away with it
if you’re ‘perfect’ and this happens, then there’s no escape
patriarchy traps everyone
guardian of desdemona’s honour, a role othello should have assumed.
emilia’s castigation of othello reminds us how far the noble moor has fallen and the cruelty of her words might perhaps represent some kind of poetic justice. othello recognises the justice of emilia’s description when he reiterates her words, ‘o fool, fool, fool!’
emilia:
’ i will not charm my tongue. i am bound to speak’
refuses to be silenced by her husband, which is unheard of in a patriarchal society such as this, and admirably speaks out strongly against the injustice of desdemona’s murder. desdemona herself, by contrast, refuses to speak against her husband and is subjugated to him.
the woman who does not speak against her husband and embodies the patriarchy ends up dead and the woman who does speak out ends up dead
