In this scene, we start to see Othello change. Othello changes from a sweet, laid back man, to an agonizing being. His usual affectionate mode dies off and the audience becomes aware of his droopy weakened self. “I am bound to thee for ever” Othello was certain he was going to be with Desdemona for as long as he lived. Desdemona saw Othello as a caring and loving chap because he was so sweet. Yet, his persona changed” Why did I marry this honest creature doubtless sees and knows more, much more than he unfolds.” For one, the rhetorical question of “Why did I marry” shows Othello’s uncertainty of Desdemona’s faithfulness; his original devotion for his wife turns into hatred and dismal. Othello changes his language and begins to talk in an aggressive and darkening manner. For instance he says” Damn her Lewd minx” By saying this, he means she deserves to face death and because he used the word “minx” this refers to Desdemona doing something sexual and in spite of this, Othello clearly believes she has been sinful. Iago is shown to have really influenced Othello because he changes from such a calm and considerate man to a dark and deranged species of a man.
Iago is manipulative throughout the scene; he acts as if he is a saint and pretends to be sincere to Othello. Iago is perceived by the characters as a real loving gentleman but in the eyes of the audience, he is nothing but a cruel and ill at ease man. Because Iago finds it so easy to influence and control people, he uses this as a way to plot his scheming plans and cause agony for the naïve Othello. He is conniving and deceitful and these qualities spur him to have power over any person who could fit into his plans. Because Iago so badly wanted to be a lieutenant but lost this job position to Cassio, he is so adamant to damage Othello because of envy, and spite. Iago is shown to be very successful in that he does eventually become Othello’s lieutenant along with destroying Othello’s life and marriage. Evidence of this can be found where Desdemona says “I was.—unhandsome warrior as I am,--Arranging is unkindness with my soul; but now I find I had suborn’d the witness, and he’s indicated falsely.” Desdemona is saying that she originally understood her husband and was trying to cope with Othello’s nasty approach but now she thinks she mislead him and is starting to be troubled by him. To start with, Iago begins his plan by throwing snide comments at Othello to make him distrust his wife. This leads on to Othello becoming very nasty and upfront about his disgust in Desdemona and he is now using his colour as a way to explain Desdemona’s deceit. To show this, Othello says “All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven; “tis gone,--arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow hell! Yield up, o love, thy crown and hearted throne to tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught, for ‘tis of aspics’ tongues!” Othello is saying all the love I has given to my wife was a waste, I am a black man which is a downfall and all this beautiful love I have given has turned into hate because of all these dreary men. This illustrates that Othello is feeling insecure and holds much fury towards the fact his life has been wasted on untrue love for a women that is out of his league. Iago tries to make it seem as if though he can’t stomach the thought of his friend being lied to and betrayed.
Because Iago’s plan is becoming increasingly triumphant he becomes even more cold-blooded and shows no sense of remorse to hurting anyone to fulfil his plans. This therefore, has a huge impact on Othello as a person, as he starts to become even wearier of everyone around him; his paranoia builds up and he looses trust in everyone. Othello knows that he will never go back to the person he originally was because Desdemona has ruined his chances of happiness. Evidence of this can be shown where Othello says, “Never, Iago. Like to the Pontic Sea, Whose icy current and compulsive course Ne’er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on to the Propontic and the Hellespont: even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace, shall ne’er look back.” By this Othello is stating that he will never live-off the fact that he was once cheated on and will hold on to the bad thoughts but will never go back to the lies and treachery. This shows that Othello has rejuvenated himself into a weak minded man who could never forget his cheating wife.
Later on, Iago is aware that he needs some kind of evidence to show Desdemona has been unfaithful and so he uses the handkerchief, which is a symbol of a dramatic device. At this point, the audience know that Iago is about to use the handkerchief to twist things around and make it seem prominent that Desdemona has been deceiving Othello. The audience know that the handkerchief is of sentimental value to Othello it was given to him as a way to show love. When Iago is given the handkerchief by Emilia, he decides to use it to provide evidence to Desdemona’s deceit. “...But such a handkerchief,--did I today see Cassio wipe his beard with” this shows that Iago is already trying to make Othello doubt his wife because the most precious thing he had ever given his wife was in the hands of Cassio, the man who was allegedly cheating with Desdemona. “What he will do wit it heaven know, not I; I nothing but to please is fantasy” This proves that Emilia doesn’t know what Iago plans on doing with the handkerchief and so we already know that she isn’t involved in the plan. Emilia only intends to please Iago and that’s why she considers handing over the handkerchief to Iago. As of this, Othello feels as though he is unable to take anymore accusations and settles for the evidence already been given; he believes Desdemona has been secretive and untrustworthy which causes him to express his anger deeply.”…I will withdraw to furnish me with some swift means of death for the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant.” This means that she should die as a form of punishment for her deceitful ways; she is a devil as well as my lieutenant Cassio.
Othello had now shown a side to him that Desdemona had never once seen before. Desdemona used to feel in safe hands with Othello, she was always so sweet and greatly adored her husband however, this soon changed as she became fearful of him. “Wherein I meanto touch your love indeed” Desdemona shows how calm she was around Othello by just being there to sweeten him up with her charm and appealing mannerisms; she was fond of her husband and felt as if though she could re-live every part of her life with him. But, as Iago’s plans prolong, Desdemona changes and becomes defenceless and, no longer cherishes Othello but is more keen and desperate to prove Othello wrong and verify her innocence. She is so spectacle of the fact that Othello doesn’t see her in the same light from which she used to be seen. As of this, Desdemona becomes excruciatingly down as she is still unaware of why Othello is so mad and ashamed of her. Desdemona starts of as a character who is spoken of with words such as, ‘fair loving’ and ‘sweet’ but as Iago becomes successive, this perception of Desdemona changes as she is then referred to with words such as ‘lewd minx’ this evidence supports the idea that Othello has different feeling towards Desdemona and doesn’t appeal to her as he did earlier on in the play. From this, we are given an insight in to what seem to be the weakened soul of Desdemona and the dent in her relationship with Othello.
Emilia is shown to fancy Iago “Do not chide; I have a ting for you” she is telling Iago not to rebuke or criticise but I have feelings for you. Throughout the scene Emilia gets hold of the handkerchief and hands it over to the manipulative Iago. “That you have been so earnest to have me flinch it” This evidence, shows she is the one to retrieve the napkin and because of this she turns out to be very concerned with Iago’s plans. Emilia shows another side to her; this is that she is very critical towards men “Tis not a year or two shows us man: they are all but stomachs and we are all but foods. They eat us hungrily, and when they are full, they bitch us.-look you.-Cassio and my husband.” Emilia is illustrating the fact of all men being users and abusers as women are the substitutes to all men, they use us so much and when they don’t need us, they torment us. This shows that Emilia is very strong-minded about men and thinks they are all worthless.
In the end Othello eventually does kill Desdemona and it was shown that Othello was left disorientated. The silver-toned calmer we once knew changed into an aggressive animal. Iago set out to destroy Othello’s marriage and mess wit his mind; this became successful as Iago was unbeaten. Othello was left shattered, and his loveable wife became his angle of pain. From this, the audience were able to notice his invigorated personality. Desdemona was practically begging for Othello’s trust; however this was unable to obtain because of all the false accusations. It was clear that Iago’s vicious ways gave him what he wanted; his cunning plan became a triumph and he grew victory.
Othello was written around the Elizabethan times where, there was a lot of prejudice against black people. Black people were seen as inferior to white people and so those from a black origin weren’t supposed to hold a dominant position in society. Shakespeare uses to the word ‘moor’ to refer to Othello as a black man and to put forward that, Othello shouldn’t hold the same name as a white person. The beliefs and values that Shakespeare makes known, are the same beliefs and values accepted by the Elizabethan’s of the 16th century. The fact that there are a limited number of black people in the play, already discloses the fact of their being racial issues presented. During the Elizabethan times, it was thought that rational thinking was the only factor as to why there was a division between humanity and animals. During these times, it was seen as wrong and negative to have emotions because emotions had the ability to destroy people intensively. An example of this can be found where, Othello started off as a man who was in love with his wife Desdemona; he referred to her as ‘sweet Desdemona’ yet his feelings towards her changed as his passion he shared with her went; this messed with his emotions and he became depressed and disheartened. This shows that having emotions can damage a person because if a person clutters your emotions then you could reach a point where you are unstable and low.
During the Elizabethan time, people were very religious and followed many religious beliefs. These people though life was very precious as it was given to them by God and for these reasons, should be respected and thought of as valuable. An important scene in the play was when Othello murdered Desdemona; this would be seen as sinful as Othello has taken someone’s life and for that he would uphold severe punishment. Othello could have also been classed as doing wrong before because he’d killed so many people whilst being a soldier however, this wouldn’t be seen as negative because it was during wartime.
