Act 5 Scene 2

Question 1

Scene 2 Summary

Answer 1

• Othello plans to kill Desdemona
• He begs her to pray for forgiveness
• He kills her as Emilia arrives
• The news of the fight between Roderigo and Cassio is revealed to Othello
• Emilia discovers that Desdemona is dead
• Emilia realises Iago is behind everything
• Iago stabs Emilia as the generals arrive at the scene; she dies next to Desdemona
• Othello uses storytelling to try justify everything before he dies as he stabs himself
• Iago vows to never speak of his reasoning

Question 2

‘I’ll not shed her blood nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow’

Answer 2

Othello - Reinforces his insecurity and the idea that Desdemona is angelic and pure

Question 3

‘Yet she must die else she’ll betray more men’

Answer 3

Othello - Trying to justify it to himself as a noble act as he is a general because deep down he knows it is wrong to kill her

Question 4

‘I would not kill thy unprepared spirit’

Answer 4

Othello - He still loves her despite his anger towards her as he refuses to let her die without seeking forgiveness

Question 5

‘Heaven have mercy on me’/’Amen with all my heart’

Answer 5

Desdemona/Othello - Some semblance of the love they used to share as in a different context this would be a sweet gesture between the two of them

Question 6

‘Your eyes roll so’

Answer 6

Desdemona - Othello’s madness is depicted as monstrous

Question 7

‘That handkerchief which I so loved and gave thee thou gavest to Cassio’

Answer 7

Othello - Presents it as a fact because it is far too late to ask; Desdemona’s rebuttal will mean nothing

Question 8

‘Thou art to die’/’Then Lord have mercy on me’

Answer 8

Othello/Desdemona - Othello keeps changing his mind regarding whether she should or shouldn’t die and Desdemona knows that she will die anyway and focuses on religious salvation rather than worldly

Question 9

‘Send for him, let him confess the truth’/’No his mouth is stopped’/’My fear interprets, is he dead?’

Answer 9

Desdemona/Othello - The revelation that Cassio is dead (a mistake on Othello’s part as he is not) forces Desdemona to know she is in mortal danger

Question 10

‘Kill me tomorrow, let me live tonight’

Answer 10

Desdemona - A frantic scene on stage as she becomes desperate and tries to reason with him so she can find a way out

Question 11

‘But while I say one prayer’

Answer 11

Desdemona - She attempts to revert back to his original offer of praying to buy her time but he kills her instead (He smothers her which is a painful and long process)

Question 12

‘What wife? I have no wife’

Answer 12

Othello - To Emilia; he is in a state of shock and confusion so emulates his madness

Question 13

‘Falsely murdered’

Answer 13

Desdemona - Defends Cassio with her last breath as she promised

Question 14

‘sweet mistress speak’

Answer 14

Emilia - Loyal friend above everything

Question 15

‘Who hath done this deed?’/’Nobody, I myself, commend me to my kind lord’

Answer 15

Emilia/Desdemona - Loyalty and love highlighted even as she dies because she will never implicate Othello as she recognised that he was tricked

Question 16

‘She’s like a liar gone to burning hell’/’More the angel she and you the blacker devil’

Answer 16

Othello/Emilia - Othello attempts to deny the fact that Desdemona was innocent as he begins to realise she is

Question 17

‘She was false as water’/’She was heavenly true’

Answer 17

Othello/Emilia - Juxtaposing views of Desdemona, Emilia is right but Othello will always be believed over her because she is a woman

Question 18

‘Thy husband knew it all’/’My husband?’

Answer 18

Othello/Emilia - Realisation slowly hits her that this is because of Iago

Question 19

‘You told an odious damned lie’

Answer 19

Emilia - Defies her husband in front of the generals in defence of Desdemona

Question 20

‘I will not charm my tongue I am bound to speak’

Answer 20

Emilia - Her defiance will only anger Iago more

Question 21

‘Tis proper I obey him but not now’

Answer 21

Emilia - The final straw for dealing with Iago was this elaborate plan but the resentment has been building up for years

Question 22

‘I am glad thy father’s dead, thy match was mortal to him and pure grief’

Answer 22

Gratiano - Desdemona’s only real crime was the betrayal that led Brabantio to his death

Question 23

‘She with Cassio hath the act of shame a thousand times committed’

Answer 23

Othello - Hyperbolic to try justify his revenge

Question 24

‘Villainous whore’

Answer 24

Iago - Emilia is threatening the success of his plan and he already hates her leading to his outburst (slip in his persona)

Question 25

'Lay me by my mistresses side'

Answer 25

Emilia - After Iago stabs her; more loyal to Desdemona than he ever was to her wife (Sings the willow song as her lost love was Desdemona

Question 26

'That with this little arm and this good sword'

Answer 26

Othello - Synecdoche; very poetic in speech as he tries to save his reputation with storytelling one last time

Question 27

'Cursed, cursed slave, whip me ye devils'

Answer 27

Othello - Does not repent; wants to be sent to hell and antithesis of Desdemona's death

Question 28

'If thou be'st a devil I cannot kill thee'

Answer 28

Othello - Madness seeps back in as he stabs Iago; tragic as Iago doesn't die for his crimes and is just injured

Question 29

'Tis happiness to die'

Answer 29

Othello - Doesn't mind dying and it is a relief for him because he cannot live with what he has done; happy ending for him potentially

Question 30

'Demand me nothing; what you know you know, from this time forth I never will speak a word'

Answer 30

Iago - One final act of cruelty; he denies Othello one last thing - the right to know why all of this happened in the first place

Question 31

'Your power and command is taken off and Cassio rules in Cyprus'

Answer 31

Lodovico - Final nail in the coffin; Cassio comes out the best from the situation and Iago couldn't taint him fully

Question 32

'I took by the throat the circumcised dog and smote him thus'

Answer 32

Othello - In death he tries to justify why he wasn't an inherently bad person and how he attempted to assimilate (Kills himself with the dagger Lodovico is implied to have handed him)

Question 33

'This heavy act with heavy heart relate'

Answer 33

Lodovico - Puts it into perspective and makes the audience really think about what they have just seen and the fact that this has to be explained without Iago's version of events; everyone who could attest to what he said/did and allow them to piece it together is dead because he never directly had Cassio do it