When Brabantio complains to the Duke that Othello bewitched his daughter, Othello shows his respect to the Duke of Venice. This is the ruler of Venice. Also the respect to the Duke of Venice is what the Elizabethan admires. Othello says:
“ Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors.
My very noble and approv’d good masters”
Eva Chen
November 2003
This shows Othello’s respect to the Duke, he is polite. He is noble and disciplined. He is the hero for the country, because he is doing his duty, he accepts the obligation to go to Turkey.
When Desdemona is brought in to settle the matter, Othello explains how he and Desdemona fell in love. He tells the audience the true story of his life. He has been a soldier during his life.
“ I ran it through, even from my boyish days.”
He is the survivor of Cannibals. Because an accidents on sea battle. This shows he is very clever and strong. The audience admired Othello. He also tells the audience about Anthropophagi, “ the men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulder”. It means that he has met Anthropophagi who is tribe monsters heads under arms. But he is not fighter of it. It shows his brave. It makes the audience admires him.
During the speech, we know that he is a good speaker. He persuades even the Duke. This is what the Elizabethan admire in public.
“I think this tale would win my daughter too.”
In Act 2 Scene 1, the audience admires Othello, because he survived a storm at sea when he came from Venice and the people of Cyprus welcome him with cannons. This shows the people respect him.
This scene set at night in a foreign country where it is dangerous, because maybe he will be assassinated in Cyprus. This makes the audience have more sympathy for him. Also, Othello needs to worry about his soldiers, especially Cassio, because he easily gets drunk. So the soldiers are dangerous. They are in a foreign country and they do not think about the security.
I feel sympathetic toward Othello because he does not have many good helpers. He promotes Cassio, it seems that he trusts him and recognizes his qualities. However, he still needs to worry about him. Moreover the first night when they arrived in Cyprus, he gets drunk with the soldiers. He does not even consider security. Also, he needs to worry about his soldiers who are not concerned about their safety. It is shown from when they first get to Cyprus, they drunk together. In addition, Iago is the most dangerous person near Othello. He is just like a fox, crafty and clever. Iago hates Othello, as Othello does not promote him, he wants to retaliate. He says, “ I will make Othello as an ass.”
Eva Chen
November 2003
But as for Othello, he trusts Iago, he says “honest Iago”. May be some audiences will say that Othello is a fool and gullible. But this is how Shakespeare shows Othello is innocent and nice. He trusts
people. This makes the audience more admiring of and sympathetic towards to Othello.
Moreover, that night for Othello is the “most happy” night, because it’s his wedding night, it’s a honeymoon for him and Desdemona, but at this moment, the alarm bell disturbs him; maybe at that moment he is at height of his happiness. He’s in sexual jealousy and anger; it makes the readers more sympathetic towards him.
In Act 3, Iago asks Desdemona to persuade Othello to give Cassio his position again after Othello has sacked Cassio for his drunken fight.
Perhaps she thinks that Cassio has been a loyal servant, perhaps she respects Cassio, and perhaps she wants to help Cassio, it shows she’s young, innocent and kind.
In Act 3, Othello loss his temper and acts aggressive because of his love. If he has true love Desdemona, he will not easily believe Iago and he will trust her.
In Shakespeare’s time, soldiers slept together in the same bed, because they were poor. Iago tells all lies to Othello that he was
“ In bed with Cassio lately”, because he “ being troubled with a raging tooth, he could not sleep”. And then he hears Cassio say:
“let us be wary,
let us hide our loves.”
This makes Othello much more angry.
And then Iago says that Casssio “ gripe and wring ” Iago’s hand, and then kisses him hard. This makes Othello more and more angry.
“ That grew upon my lips, then laid his leg over my thighrn and sigh’d, and kiss’d…”
Iago tells Othello that Cassio has started to have sex with Desdemona. Iago makes up a disgusting story because he wants to increase Othello’s anger.
I feel this is just a sad story. On one hand, I hate Iago as he is an evil person, he lies to Othello, and he invents a disgusting story. He makes Othello hate Desdemona. He causes the tragedy. I also feel angry towards Othello. He is stupid and he easily trusts Iago who says that Desdemona betrayed him. He is too innocent. He trusts Iago too
Eva Chen
November 2003
easily. If he loves Desdemona very much, how he can believes that Desdemona is in love with Cassio? How he can say that he is going to kill Desdemona?
In Act 5 Scene 2, Othello enters Desdemona’s bedchamber on the same night as he swears revenge in Act 3 and 4.
Desdemona is “ in bed asleep”. It seems peaceful and calm. Othello is coming in calmly, slowly and quietly with a prop candle. This is very different from the way he is in Act 3; he is not full of passion and anger. Othello thinks he is a priest. This makes the audience feel sorry for Desdemona and Othello. It gives the audience a peaceful and calm impression.
“ I will not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, smooth, as monumental alabaster”
The first thing he sees is Desdemona’s pretty face, he loves her “ whiter skin”. It is
“ Smooth, as monumental alabaster”. He is calm at this moment; he does not want to see any blood. He does not want to “ shed her blood, scar that white skin”.
He “ kisses her” gently. He is obviously in love with her. Then he compares her to the candle flame. Desdemona is his light, his “ promethean heat”, he cannot live without her, he needs to treat her carefully or she will lose her life. Also he compares her to a rose, it is his love; it smells is good and sweet. “ I’ll smell it on the tree.” He “ kisses her”.
But after he kisses her, he tears falls, he says, “ I must weep”. He wants to kill Desdemona. The audience all feel sorry for him. We hope he is going to leave or Desdemona will go on sleeping and feel there will not be any blood. But the fact is Desdemona wakes.
“ Who’s there? Othello?”
This is her first word when she wakes up. She is frightened and scared, but Othello should feel happy, because Desdemona’s fist word when she wakes up is “Othello”. It means that she loves Othello. She respects him for calling him “my lord”.
Othello asks Desdemona if she “ pray’d to-night?”
As he loves her, he wants her to go to the heaven. At this moment, he is still calm. But the death is coming. He thinks Desdemona has done something wrong “ crime”, when he thinks Othello does any
“Crime”. He becomes very angry,
“ I would not kill thy conprepared spirit, I would not kill thy soul.”
He begins lose his temper and he screams, “ kill” twice. But he still tries to control himself when his “eyes roll”, through we know that Othello is sadly out of control.
At the end of Act 4, Iago kills Roderigo who was Iago’s friend before, but their friendship has broken up. So Roderigo finds out that Iago is an evil, sinful and wicked person. Then at Act 5, Othello calmly executes Desdemona as the act of justice, after her supposed adultery. When Desdemona denies her adultery with Cassio. Othello becomes very angry and strangles her. Emillia runs in the bedroom with news of Rederigo’s death and Cassio’s hurt. He shouts “ murder” when she finds Desdemona is dying and the guards enter the room. Iago silences his wife by stabbing her and shows no feeling for his crime. Iago is taken away by the guard to be tortured and executed. Othello makes a very noble speech about himself
“ who loves not wisely but to well”. He kills himself with a dagger. The audiences feel admire and sympathises towards him as he regrets killing Desdemona.
