Throughout Act 3 Scene 4, Desdemona has significance in emphasising Othello’s tragedy from before his breakdown and after his rebirth. Her role is mainly to be a tool for Iago to manipulate Othello’s tragedy; however as an individual character she is a reminder for the audience of Othello as a general of Venice before his breakdown in Act 3.
As a character that seems to have little contact with Iago, she begins to use language of “jealous creatures” and “monster”, a motif of Iago’s “green-eyed monster” in describing jealousy shows that his manipulation has extended even to Desdemona to emphasise his ability to change characters’ perceptions. Also, her lying to Othello about the losing handkerchief is an illustration of the deceit and dishonesty that Iago uses for manipulation, emphasising Othello’s tragedy as Desdemona reflects his rebirth into Iago’s ideals.
However, despite a slight change in language, Desdemona’s character does not change much to what the audience see her as in Act 1. Unlike some other characters, Desdemona still appreciates her sentimental values over materialistic values. Referring to the handkerchief, “I had rather have lost my purse full of crusadoes”, contradicting Iago’s value of money and possession to remind the audience of Othello’s original ideals. Also, “my lord is not my lord” highlights that Othello is a changed man and that she does not recognise his attitudes. Therefore, Desdemona’s role in emphasising Othello’s tragedy is to contrast his character before and after his rebirth.
During Desdemona and Othello’s conversation in Act 3 Scene 4, fragmented verse is used to quicken the pace of speech. Specifically, lines 47-52 “Lend me thy handkerchief/Here my lord/ That which I gave you/ I have it not about me/ Not?/ No faith, my lord” where the two finish each other’s lines off, the speed of dialogue becomes rapid to increase tension and foreshadows an eruption of emotions after such a build-up. Therefore, Desdemona emphasises Othello’s tragedy as she highlights his loss of patience with her in comparison to their easy-flow of conversations before his breakdown.
The handkerchief is significant in this scene for its symbolism as a turning point in the play. As Desdemona loses the handkerchief, Othello is made more suspicious as she tells him “I say it is not lost”, firstly causing him to lose his patience at her rejection of bringing it to him but also, as she persistently talks of Cassio, ignorantly leads Othello to the conclusion that she has given it to Cassio (not lost). Therefore, Desdemona’s role in emphasising Othello’s tragedy in Act 3 Scene 4 is to add tension to Othello’s already-suspicious mind, building up to the doubt and loathing he develops of his wife from jealousy.
Holly and Emma
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Iago - Act 4 Scene 1 (a)
Iago seems to be commanding Othello's imagination to conjure up images of infidelity early in this scene. "Lie with her? Lie on her? We say lie on her when they belie her. Lie with her! Zounds, that's fulsome! Handkerchief- Confessions- handkerchief!" Most of this is exclamatory, reinforcing Othello's shock and disbelief. We soon see that his sentences become incomplete and incoherent through repetition which indicates a breakdown. He is barely in control of his senses- thus, Othello has a fit. Iago enjoys his power of watching the Moor suffer. It is ironic that Iago call his poisonous influence "medicine" and it is cruel that Iago should tell Othello to "bear your fortune like a man" while torturing him with thoughts of those who make other men cuckolds every night. He intends to attack Othello's manhood.
Furthermore, we see that Othello is reduced to asking questions instead of commanding. "How shall I murder him, Iago?" He is in Iago's control despite the fact it is difficult for Othello to submit to his ensign's view. He gives in as his shocking words "I will chop her into messes! Cuckold me!" highlight egotism and savagery- Iago has turned Othello into the stereotype of a primitive black man described in Act 1 Scene 1. Othello initially intends to poison Desdemona; this proves that he has adopted Iago's characteristics. Iago then persuades him to strangle Desdemona which is much more aggressive and physical. The act of strangling someone intense and takes a lot of nerve to do it. Disturbing as it seems, Othello agrees to this. Iago is successful in his objectives throughout this scene.
When Cassio enters the scene we see that Othello uses "asides" which represents an alienation; Othello has been removed and eavesdrops on Iago and Cassio's conversations which makes him seem almost like an outsider. Iago's deliberate innuendos within this conversation agitate Othello- he is now torn between his wife's sweetness and her treachery.
By Yusuf and Joseph.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Othello - Act 3 Scene 3
Act 3 Scene 3 is the pivotal scene in Othello. It begins with Othello feeling in control and content with his marriage; it ends with him on his knees, believing his wife to be a whore and ready to murder the person who was previously his personal choice for second in command.
In our lessons on Act 3 Scene 3, we focussed on various elements to see how the scene functions.
1) Tipping Points - We discussed how the Scene and various aspects of the Scene can be viewed as a tipping point - the moment at which there is a change of state, at which an inbalance is caused - in a variety of ways: in Othello's own way of behaving; in how Iago's previous mindset becomes reflected (or balanced) in Othello's and then descends further; in how something insignificant can prove the final addition that makes the whole 'balance' of a conflict change; in how several key events which will help form the tragedy happen for the first time in this Scene.
2) Dialogic Form and Function - We looked at the FORM of adjacency pairs (where speech operates as turn-taking, with the previous speech makes clear the expected response from the next speaker) and non-sequiturs (breaking from the expected form by introducing something completely unexpected) as part of communication between two people. We also looked at four FUNCTIONS of speech - Declaratives (deliver information), Interrogatives (request information), Imperatives (direct to a course of action), Exclamatories (express emotion, not fully formed information). We used these to track Iago and Othello's dialogue to see how they express themselves, how it changes, and the interplay between the two characters
3) Intentioning - Acting works around objectives (what a character wants) and motivation (why they want it). Intentioning replaces the actual communication with what the character is trying to achieve through it. We used this technique to track how Iago & Othello communicate with each other.
4) Imagery - From the imagery that Iago has been using in the first half of the play, we identified the worldview that he has from the use of this imagery. As we observe Iago's manipulation of Othello to tragic effect, we noted how examples of Iago's imagery start to appear in his speech.
5) Key Words - We compared and contrasted Iago & Othello's 2 conversations in the Scene, noting the frequency of words and how they change and considering the importance of "thinking" turning into "seeing".
6) Stagecraft - We looked in particular at the 2 elements of stage direction which end Iago & Othello's conversation together, considering intepretations and how the emphasise Othello's tragic downfall.
7) Influences - To evaluate the character of Othello and consider his culpability for his own tragedy, we charted the information he is given access to (regardless of the intention behind it). From this, we discussed how and why Othello reaches the conclusions he does, and to what extent we sympathise with him.
Please feel free to make an insightful, intelligent, fully thought out comment on any of these areas, and please feel compelled to make one by the end of this week.
The following people need to do this (names removed when a suitably fantastic comment is added):
Mr. Nussbaum
In our lessons on Act 3 Scene 3, we focussed on various elements to see how the scene functions.
1) Tipping Points - We discussed how the Scene and various aspects of the Scene can be viewed as a tipping point - the moment at which there is a change of state, at which an inbalance is caused - in a variety of ways: in Othello's own way of behaving; in how Iago's previous mindset becomes reflected (or balanced) in Othello's and then descends further; in how something insignificant can prove the final addition that makes the whole 'balance' of a conflict change; in how several key events which will help form the tragedy happen for the first time in this Scene.
2) Dialogic Form and Function - We looked at the FORM of adjacency pairs (where speech operates as turn-taking, with the previous speech makes clear the expected response from the next speaker) and non-sequiturs (breaking from the expected form by introducing something completely unexpected) as part of communication between two people. We also looked at four FUNCTIONS of speech - Declaratives (deliver information), Interrogatives (request information), Imperatives (direct to a course of action), Exclamatories (express emotion, not fully formed information). We used these to track Iago and Othello's dialogue to see how they express themselves, how it changes, and the interplay between the two characters
3) Intentioning - Acting works around objectives (what a character wants) and motivation (why they want it). Intentioning replaces the actual communication with what the character is trying to achieve through it. We used this technique to track how Iago & Othello communicate with each other.
4) Imagery - From the imagery that Iago has been using in the first half of the play, we identified the worldview that he has from the use of this imagery. As we observe Iago's manipulation of Othello to tragic effect, we noted how examples of Iago's imagery start to appear in his speech.
5) Key Words - We compared and contrasted Iago & Othello's 2 conversations in the Scene, noting the frequency of words and how they change and considering the importance of "thinking" turning into "seeing".
6) Stagecraft - We looked in particular at the 2 elements of stage direction which end Iago & Othello's conversation together, considering intepretations and how the emphasise Othello's tragic downfall.
7) Influences - To evaluate the character of Othello and consider his culpability for his own tragedy, we charted the information he is given access to (regardless of the intention behind it). From this, we discussed how and why Othello reaches the conclusions he does, and to what extent we sympathise with him.
Please feel free to make an insightful, intelligent, fully thought out comment on any of these areas, and please feel compelled to make one by the end of this week.
The following people need to do this (names removed when a suitably fantastic comment is added):
Sadia |
Saher |
Latia |
Lucy |
Breshna |
Moena |
Mr. Nussbaum
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