OTHELLO ACT 3 SCENE 3 Flashcards
Summary
- Iago sows suspicion in Othello’s mind until he is convinced Desdemona is unfaithful
- Emilia gives Iago the hankerchief
Themes
- Jealousy
- Deception
- Manipulation
Importance
- THE TURNING POINT OF THE WHOLE TRAGEDY
- We see all aspects of Iago’s plan coming to fruition
- We see Othello’s character change
- We learn what could potentially be Othello’s hamartia
Links to tragedy
- Climax
- Hamartia
- Treatment of women
- Blindness
Why does Shakespeare choose to open a scene once again in media res
We can never see the full extent of Iago’s manipulation and how embedded it is- we can only assume
Why is it important to open this scene showing the platonic and honest relationship between Desdemona and Cassio?
To show the full extent of Iago’s villainy- to show they are completely innocent
How does Desdemona set up her tragic downfall?
“My lord shall never rest, I’ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience; His bed shall seem a school” - once Iago sows the seeds of jealousy she will be screwed
“Cassio my lord? No, sure I cannot think it/That he would steal away so guilty-like?” Relevance???
Iago is being subtle sowing distrust- he is putting down the groundwork and allowing Othello to spiral out of control
Othello is hyperbolic here. How does it foreshadow downfall?
“Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul. But i do love thee; and when i love thee not, chaos is come again”
- his excessive emotions is due to his devotion to her. When that shifts, this is where we go into the main falling action of the tragedy
“If thou dost love me, Show me thy thought.”
- Although he’s using imperatives, Othello is giving Iago the opportunity to manipulate him- it is Iago who is in charge of this situation
How does Iago use dramatic irony in this scene
“Men should be what they seem.”
When is Iago actually honest in this scene?
- “As i confess it is my nature’s plague/To spy into abuses and oft my jealousy/Shapes faults that are”- this is his reasoning for wanting revenge (ironic)
When is Iago contradictory in this scene?
“But he that filches me from my good name.” - he had previously said to Cassio reputation doesnt matter- saying the opposite now
KEY QUOTE ABT JEALOUSY
“O BEWARE MY LORD OF JEALOUSY: IT IS THE GREEN EYED MONSTER WHICH DOTH MOCK THE MEAT IT FEEDS ON.”
- ironic: Iago is consumed by jealousy
- personification: makes it seem a destructive and menacing force
Othello still being the rational character we were introduced to
“For she had eyes and chose me… I’ll see before I doubt; when i doubt, prove.”
Iago being #fake
“I humbly do beseech you of your pardon/For too much loving you.” - contrast this to Act 1 Scene 1
2 quotes that show Iago is slowly breaking Othello down
- “I see this hath dash’d your spirits.” “Not a jot, not a jot.”
- “And yet how nature erring from itself-“ - caesura- iago is able to step in and put forwards his thoughts
Othello dealing with racial insecurity
“Haply for I am black.” - lack of self worth- blaming himself for her supposed infidelity, perhaps why he takes it so hard
Othello idolising Desdemona
“If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself, I’ll not believe it.” - celestial imagery- putting all of heaven and earth on Desdemona
What makes Emilia and Iago’s relationship uncomfortable to witness
Is he being playful with her (“You have a thing for me?) or is there something darker behind it (foolish wife- he suspects she’s been cheating)
Patriarchy in Iago and Emilia’s convo
- “A good wench! Give it me” (She is an object for him to command)
Imagery of poison
“The Moor already changes with my poison.” - proud of it (Machiavellian)
2 Quotes that show Othello is starting his descent into jealous rage
- “I had been happy if the general camp, Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body/So I had nothing known.”Hyperbole- he’s becoming irrational
- “Farewell the plumed troops and the big wars.” - believing his role is nothing without Desdemona (racial insecurity)
Juxtaposition of Othello’s character
“Villain be sure thou prove my love a whore… Give me the ocular proof” - he’s becoming coarse (turning into Iago) with his language yet still obsessed with rationality
