Act 3 scene 3 begins with Desdemona, Emilia and Cassio. Cassio has fallen for Iagos trap and taken his advice and has gone to Desdemona for help. Desdemona being unaware of the situation continues to be the kindhearted character she began the play as and assures Cassio she will do her best to help.
On the contrary to Desdemona’s consistent character her spouse changes from the much-loved character he once was to a crass crude man. You can clearly see his innocence deteriorate with the time he spends with Iago. Iagos words are like acid to Othello, burning his sane brain cells, intoxicating his heart like poison.
To enable his scheme to work Iago uses various tactics throughout this scene. He controls the conversation between him and Othello; using very little speech; he asks all of the questions, however does not answer any: because of this Othello becomes frustrated, it is as if our frustration is mirrored in Othello’s. Iago says one thing, however manipulates Othello into believing another. One extremely effective tactic is the one in which Iago’s words become Othello’s feelings; for example Iago says
“O, beware my lord of jealousy, it is the green ey’d monster which
doth mock the meat it feeds on”
If you analyse this quote it is highly relevant to the conversation as a whole. It could be used for both Iago and Othello. Iago was previously jealous of Cassio (over lieutenancy) which consequented with this scene. However he is describing the situation at this present time perfectly “Green ey’d monster” personifies jealousy which Othello is beginning to feel. However if you interpret it in this way Iago could be the “monster” which in his words “doth mock” (Othello’s love). Within Othello and Iago’s scene Iago is trying his utmost to depict Desdemona and Cassio together. He begins by saying
“Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, know of your love?”
Iago really knows the answer to this and is certain that Othello will say ‘yes’; it is at this point Othello has the image of Desdemona and Cassio together, and it is from here on in that Iago manipulates this ‘image’. There is a vast amount of ironic dialogue in this particular scene
Iago: “My lord, you know I love you”
Othello: I think thou dost. And for I know thou ‘rt full of love and honesty and weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them breath.
It could be argued that this is pregnant with ironic intent. This makes the reader feel as though they are carrying a burden (Iago’s lies) just as a pregnant woman would feel with her unborn child.
Turning points within the scene include when Iago informs Othello of the proof he has of Desdemonas affair (the handkerchief), resulting in Othello believing him. Due to his rage and anger at his wife he tells Iago how he wishes death upon his wife and ex lieutenant …and how he plans to do so. The scene builds to a dramatic end where Iago influences Othellos decision in murdering the innocent victims. It could be argued that Othello is a ‘weak character’ who is easily manipulated; this can be seen as a total paradox to his actual authority.
Iago and Othello are the two main characters in act 3 scene 3. When the two characters act alongside each other Iago leads all conversation and influences Othellos speech; Iago influences Othello into using vulgar, crude, beastial language. Because Iago is in control he uses quick speedy conversation to drill information into Othello.
Iago plays a large part in Act Scene 3. I f you analyse his part in detail you will notice a consistent use of crude vulgar language also known as beastial language. Iago begins as the only character to use this specific type of language however Othello (due to the repetitive use of it from Iago) also begins to use it. An example of each characters uses are: Iago when he describes Cassios and Desdemonas affair
“Prime as goats, hot as monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride”
Othello uses the phrase:
“Thou hadst better been born a dog”
As you can see beastial language portrays crude, earthy, and aggressive images.
In act 3 scene 3 Othello uses the phrase
“I love you, and when I love you not chaos will come again”
This quote later becomes relevant as in a way Othellos own words become an important part of the play when he thinks he has been cuckolded, he then creates chaos by killing her.
Other effective language techniques used in this scene include metaphors and similes an example of a simile is Iagos use of
“Burn like the mines of sulphur”
An interpretation of this could be him burning Othellos love for Desdemona.
An amazing simile comes from Othello when he describes his new view of his wife
“Her name that was as fresh as Dian’s visage, is now begrim’d and black as mine own face”
“Dian’s visage” is Othello referring to the face of Diana, the goddess of chastity. He then refers to his own “black face” using his creed as a contrast.
After thorough reading of Act 3 Scene 3 I found that in light of social and historical context there are an awful lot of difference in the 17th century (time Othello was penned) and today. Today a man whose spouse commits adultery is entitled to a divorce etc, however in those days it was believed that cuckolded men would grow horns; Othello uses the phrase
“I have a pain upon my forehead here”
to portray his belief of him being cuckolded. Another difference is the significance of a handkerchief. In those days they were a very personal article. In comparison to today a woman without her handkerchief is equivalent to a woman without her knickers!
However there are some similarities two of them being reputation and racism. Reputations like today are very important, people believe the better their reputations are the more respect they are given. Having said that they were more important in Shakespearean times. I found that the racism in the play highly offensive although you hear the same sort of things today. Although the phrases used “thick lipped” and “black ram” are very different to words used today they still mean the same thing and are used by the same sort of people for example Roderigo calls Othello ‘thick lipped” because he was jealous of him; racism is the roots of jealousy it’s what “small” people use against people they are jealous of.
There are a variety of themes within act 3 scene 3; the main being manipulation; mainly from Iago. Iago uses manipulation to his advantage by manipulating Othello into believing his wife is having an affair. He uses various tactics such as: suggestive questions; refusing to answer questions directly; affirmation of his love for Othello and he also reinforces Othellos own values. Another theme included in the scene is love and sexual desire. An example of this is Emilia. She steals Desdemonas handkerchief for Iago because she loves him. She shows sexual desire when she asks him what she will receive for the handkerchief; hinting sexual acts. Another is the theme of innocence; the innocent characters being the females. The two murders are of the two innocent wives who are murdered by their spouses. Desdemona (although believed to have had an affair) remained honest and innocent throughout the play. The other innocent character is Emilia .Although she did steal the handkerchief it was through love: she was also unaware of the consequences of her actions. On the contrary to innocence the theme of guilt is also included. After Othello has murders his wife he is riddled with guilt after he is told of is wife’s innocence. He feels so guilty he commits suicide .It is as though he believes in a life for a life.
In conclusion to my essay I have analysed the effect of the scene. I believe it to be the pivotal scene of the play. I t is like a see saw; hate on one end and love on the other. As the hate rises the love decreases.
The audience throughout the play believe Othello to be innocent and sympathize with him after other characters are racist towards him behind his back. They then believe him to be a fool and pity him for believing Iago. He is very naïve and makes the audience want to shout out as if it was a pantomime and tell him not to listen to Iagos “words of poison”; due to Iagos wicked ways the audience will probably want to ‘hiss’ and ‘boo’ at every opportunity. In relation to analysing ‘Othello’ as a performance it could be argued that Shakespeare created scenes of climax and resolution as he knows that the audience would be totally alert, because there were no microphones or ‘stop’ buttons: because we are so well aware our dramatic irony is screaming out for Othello to hear.
Audiences whom are aware of the ending means that the play comes across as very ironic: this has a dramatic effect on the audience meaning that they are resigned to the chaos and eternal damnation (perdition) that is the outcome of the play. This specific quote is of a very ironic nature
“Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul. But I do love thee! And when I love thee not chaos has come again”
this gives the audience a thought provoking statement where they have to analyse the paradox between love and chaos, this may enforce the reader to empathise with Othello and try and interpret his words like he does.
After spending a long time studying Othello I have come to the conclusion that all of Shakespeare’s plots for his plays follow a genetic pattern. All of them have a character trying to achieve a goal or ambition and in the end their hunger for their ambitions drives them to either murder or even suicide. For example in Macbeth, he wants to be king (ambition) so he kills Duncan (death); Romeo and Juliet want to fall in love and be accepted by their families (ambition) that results in two suicides (deaths) and then finally in Othello Iago wanted lieutenancy (ambition) consequences for his desire are two murders to two innocent wives and one suicidal act due to guilt (deaths). Have you ever thought about it?
