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Our first impressions of Othello, in act 1 scene 3 are of him as a noble and well spoken man. This nobility is conveyed through his speech? Most potent grave and reverend seniors. ? He also seems to have a very strong relationship with both Iago and Cassio, Shakespeare intends this so that it builds up the audience for what evil is to be performed by Iago and Othello. But in the first two acts Othello comes across as a strong noble man who loves and trusts his wife Desdemona? My life upon her faith! ?
this shows his trust in Desdemona and this was the response to what Desdemona? s father said? Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: She has deceived her father, and may thee? This line from Brabantio was probably intended by Shakespeare as a bit of irony. Up to the third act Othello was a solid noble man but in the third act he shows his first signs of jealousy. This jealousy is drawn out of him by Iago.
Iago picks at his brain with little insinuations that finally causes Othello to crack. Iago causes Othello to break down with little insinuations such as when he says things like? In sleep I heard him say Sweet Desdemona, Let us be wary, let us hide our loves; ? And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, Cry O sweet creature! and then kiss me hard, As if he placed up kisses by the roots That grew upon my lips: then laid his leg Over my thigh, and sign, and kids; and then?
Cried Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor! ? Such insinuations as this have later caused Othello to fall into a trance. He is " on the rack" , in an agony so unbearable that he cannot endure the sight of Iago. Anticipating the probability that Iago has spared him the whole truth, he feels that in the case his life is over and his " occupation gone" with all its glories.
But he has not abandoned hope. The bare possibility that his friend is deliberately deceiving him though such a deception would be a thing so monstrously wicked that he can scarcely conceive it credible is a kind of hope. He furiously demands proof, ocular proof. And when he is compelled to see that he is demanding an impossibility he still demands evidence. He forces it from the unwilling witness, and hears the maddening tale of Cassio's dream. But still this is not enough so Iago continues to play with Othello?
s mind forcing him into denial. This denial makes him even more jealous. This is done by Iago saying this to Othello? I know not that; but such a handkerchief I am sure it was your wifes did I to-day See Cassio wipe his beard with? ? If it be that, " he answers but what need to test the fact? The " madness of revenge" is in his blood, and hesitation is a thing he never knew.
He passes judgement, and controls himself only to make his sentence a solemn vow. The Othello of the Fourth Act is Othello in his fall. His fall is never complete, but he is much changed. Towards the close of the Temptation-scene he becomes at times most terrible, but his grandeur remains almost undiminished.
Even in the following scene (III iv), where he goes to test Desdemona in the matter of the handkerchief, and receives a fatal confirmation of her guilt, our sympathy with him is hardly touched by any feeling of humiliation. When Othello reappears we get the feeling that he is a changed man. He is physically exhausted, and his mind is dazed. He has actually forgotten the incident of the handkerchief, and has to be reminded of it. When Iago, perceiving that he can now risk almost any lie, tells him that Cassio has confessed his guilt, Othello, trembles all over; he mutters disjointed words; he takes it for the shuddering statement of nature to the horror he has just heard, and he falls senseless to the ground. When he recovers it is to watch Cassio, as he imagines, laughing over his shame.
It is an imposition so vulgar, and should have been one so dangerous, that Iago would never have ventured it before. But he is safe now. The sight only adds to the confusion of; and a ravenous thirst for revenge, contending with motions of boundless longing and regret, conquers them. The delay till night-fall is torture to him. His self-control has wholly deserted him. And he strikes his wife in the presence of the Venetian envoy.
He is so lost to all sense of reality that he never asks himself what will follow the deaths of Cassio and his wife. An incredible instinct of justice, rather than any last quiver of hope, leads him to question Emilia; but nothing could convince him now, and there follows the dreadful scene of accusation; and then, to allow us the relief of burning hatred and burning tears, this interview of Desdemona with Iago, and that last talk of hers with Emilia, and her last song. But before the end there is again a change. The supposed death of Cassio (v I) satiates the thirst for vengeance. The Othello who enters the bed-chamber with the words, ?
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul, ? is not the man of the Fourth Act. The deed he is bound to do is no murder, but a sacrifice. He is to save Desdemona from herself, not in hate but in honour; in honour, and also in love. His anger has passed; a boundless sorrow has taken its place; and? ? ? ? ? ?
this sorrows heavenly: It strikes where it doth love? This type of tragedy would have intrigued a Shakespearean audience at this time. This shows the change that Iago forced onto Othello. Iago changed him from a strong, well spoken and noble man into someone who can kill his wife. Looking back at this play it is very clear that Othello? s character has changed dramatically, he became an evil man who thought killing his wife was a good thing and that he was doing the world a favour and this is what makes this play a tragedy. ? ?
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