Othello quotes Act 4

Question 1

Confronting I about that unauthorised kiss A4S1

Answer 1

will you think so… not meaning any harm= stichomythic- fast paced- interrupting each other
Think so Iago? What?= breaking the agency of pairs - Q+A=Q+Q
unauthoriz’d kiss = starts repeating Iago’s words to him= insanity/ disbelief = mid action means I is in control
O uses I’s lexis = hypocrisy against the devil, devil their virtue tempts and they tempt heaven = blasphemy/ contemporary aud. hate Othello
uses interrogatives e.g. what hath he said?= relying on I for the story
raven… infected house= foreshadowing

Question 2

the epilepsy/ seizure A4S1

Answer 2

repetition of lie= ambiguity( dishonest, down)
nature = insecure about race
handkerchief- confession…= hyper fixated, lost his talent for speech

Question 3

aftermath of the epilepsy A4S1

Answer 3

a horned man’s a monster and a beast= dehumanising, women responsible for men’s actions/ I’s lexis
strumpets plague= one woman is disloyal = spreads to other women
it is a creature= cont. aud. would agree= dehumanises prostitutes

Question 4

Othello’s reaction to Cassio’s “confession” A4S1

Answer 4

His vice?= women as the problem= intoxicate men and make them addicted Madonna/ whore complex= a fine woman, a fair woman, a sweet woman! vs let her rot, perish and be damned
she will sing the savageness out of a bear= post colonialism= struggles with his self image = she is too good for him

Question 5

Othello slapping Desdemona A4S1

Answer 5

I am glad… to see you mad.= projecting insecurities onto D, using her own words before the … and feeding his own words after
she can turn, and turn and yet go on= turn on him / change her love from on man to another/ shows how powerless women are as O talks about what he can make D do / repetition = lost his speech gift?

Question 6

Emilia and Othello talk A4S2

Answer 6

let heaven require it with the serpents curse= bible ref. Adam + Eve = tempt D into damnation and victimises men again by dragging them into women’s sin
For if she not be honest, chaste and true…= triplet, admiration , pleading, mimics O’s persuasion in A1, way of showing respect

Question 7

Othello’s reaction to Emilia

Answer 7

She says enough; yet she is a simple bawd that cannot say much= shows difference between male relationships and fem/ male relationships = less trusting more hesitant, shows power difference in speech
a closet, lock and key, of villainous secrets= male opinion of female friendships, all women cannot be trusted

Question 8

Othello confronts Desdemona after slap A4S2

Answer 8

Upon my knees= praying, sees him as god , confession, submission to men / O’s power , at his mercy (shows she still trusts him)
the devils themselves should fear to seize thee = D belongs to the devils because of the cheating, can only steal those who they own spiritually, she has fallen, Eve and the fall of women
Had it pleased heaven to try me with affliction…= internalised racism/ Iago’s influence , thinks heaven is against him
Turn thy complexion there… insecure about race, imperative= dominance, implied stage direction= complexion as ocular proof

Question 9

one key quote from the confrontation in A4S2

Answer 9

thou young, rose-lipped cherubim, Ay, here look, grim as hell!
young= insecure about age A3S3
rose-lipped= sexualises her appearance, synecdoche
Cherubim= oxymoron, 4 different faces= deception, sarcastic tone (contrasts A1-3) Ironic, Love/pure/angelic
Ay= no more terms of endearment

Question 10

Desdemona’s reaction to the confrontation A4S2

Answer 10

It is my wretched fortune= blames herself, doesn’t blame him, loyal to him, thinks this is out of anyone’s control, no gov. in Cyprus so have to assume higher being
heaven pardon him= sympathy for even the manipulator, pathos, shows D as a selfless woman

Question 11

Desdemona and Emilia talk

Answer 11

duologue = very innocent, no transpiring, paints an innocent picture of women and doesn’t frame them as enemies
How foolish are our minds!= very light hearted tone, contrasts I+O relationship, aware of how men look down on them
That there be women who abuse their husbands in such a gross kind? = presents D as ideal image for women in aud. , pathos , naïve,
Its a great price for such a small vice = shows difference in generation and class, views sex as a way to get things not something sacred hence why its small