OTHELLO THE MOOR OF VENICE Critical focus and

OTHELLO THE MOOR OF VENICE Critical focus and Overview of Act 5 Scene 2

Death toll; In memoriam l. RODERIGO, R. I. P. l. EMILIA, R. I. P. l. BRABANTIO, R. I. P. l. DESDEMONA, R. I. P. l. OTHELLO, R. I. P.

All these R. I. P. awards served by Alive still — IAGO l l All thanks to, or no thanks to none other, than— IAGO, the Destroyer

End of Days; Journey’s End In Act 5, Scene 1, we witness a hubbub of stabbing and shouting; A second Brawl Scene that parallels yet ironically contrasts with the Brawl Scene of Act 2 Scene 3; l Darkness broken by moving lights l Confused and rapid action l Agitated questioning and discussion

Act 5, Scene 2 What does the audience see? Setting: A Bedchamber in the Castle l Desdemona in bed, asleep

Purposes of Act 5, Scene 2 l l l To present the MURDER (Sacrifice) of Desdemona To present the unmasking of IAGO To tie up of loose ends of the plot To recapture for the audience some of Othello’s former dignity and nobility; To present the audience with a last look at the characters of Desdemona and Emilia

And this final scene, what do we see? l l l We see a silent stage; a troubled stillness and darkness except for the pale shape of Desdemona’s bed There is a hushed instant of waiting before Othello enters; Othello’s eyes staring white in the light of his candle, his black face glistening

One of the finest closing scenes in Shakespearean Tragic Drama l Othello looks at the sleeping Desdemona Moved by her innocent beauty; l Troubled by what he sees because of the shocking contrast between her heavenly appearance and her sinful soul; l

How might Othello speak his opening lines at this moment in the play? It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul – Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars – It is the cause, l And an instant later: Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men, Put out the light, and then put out the light—

Dramatic effects Othello reflects a mind torn by conflicting feelings in his opening speech (p 229) l Her beauty: thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature and her balmy breath l Momentarily shakes his resolution to kill her

The ‘cause’? l Desdemona’s imagined sexual infidelity How will the audience hear these lines? l These lines are surely intended to be spoken slowly… l with a strange, heavy emphasis, and l with the diction voiced to show the pitch of madness to which he has been brought

Other drama Critics / drama Directors? l l Othello’s opening speech should be delivered with poignancy This speech is oratorically magnificent (Think of Othello’s other speeches) Othello enters Desdemona’s bed-chamber in boundless sorrow though he is still intent on killing her; Stage Directions: We note he even bends over to kiss her;

l And at the end of his opening speech, just before Desdemona awakes, as Othello stands looking down at her: This sorrow’s heavenly; It strikes where it doth love. p 229

l l l From these lines it seems Othello has managed to move beyond the agony of personal jealousy His mind has found relief from its torment in taking on a sense of almost God-like responsibility. That his shame is no longer his alone, but the burden of all mankind

This is his megalomania l Born of Othello’s earlier pride in himself l in which the personality has no conception of actual or possible error l but acts with a calm conviction arising from complete justification l He has recovered some of his former composure

Othello: Pious Priest or Sacred Monster? l l l Othello now speaks as a man on a divine mission He exonerates himself from all crime One acting not from selfish bitterness But on behalf of justice and all mankind Desdemona is to be sacrificed, not murdered;

Sacred Monster? (Cont) l l l It is to be a calculated sacrifice to justice It is the cause. The act of sacrifice pulls at his heartstrings and doth almost persuade / Justice herself to break her sword He is proud of his own restraint and his own cool command: yet I’ll not shed her blood / Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow

Dramatic Effect: Internal conflict l l l Othello is torn between his still powerful love for his wife, Desdemona, and the terrible conviction that she must be PUNISHED!!! And the struggle within himself makes him weep cruel tears Reflective Question: Has he then appointed himself judge, jury, witness and executioner?

l He is not about to commit a crime of passion or a vengeful murder And I will kill thee, And love thee after. 5. 2. 18 -19

In this Soliloquy, we note l No references to strumpets and whores Or to any degrading images of beasts l No reference to revenge; At least not in the ordinary sense;

Speaks at first with deadly quiet, patience to his wife DESDEMONA: l Will you come to bed, my lord? OTHELLO: l Have you prayed tonight, Desdemon?

Cont OTHELLO: If you bethink yourself of any crime Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace, Solicit for it straight. DESDEMONA: Alack, my lord, what may you mean by that?

OTHELLO: Well, do it, and be brief; I will walk by: I would not kill thy unprepared spirit; No—heaven forfend!—I would not kill thy soul. DESDEMONA: Talk you of killing? OTHELLO: Ay, I do.

DESDEMONA: And yet I fear you: for you’re fatal then When your eyes roll so. Why I should fear I know not, Since guiltiness I know not; but yet I feel fear. OTHELLO: Think on thy sins.

Note change in rhythms of dialogue From lines 66 to 90 we can see: l l Othello’s gradual disintegration is mirrored in his style of speech – at first swiftly authoritative, then broken (rhythmic movement); full of barbaric extremism

Othello’s barbaric extremism No, his mouth is stopped. Had all his hairs being lives, my great revenge / Had stomach for them all. Out, strumpet! Weep’st thou for him to my face? Down, strumpet! Being done, there is no pause

Then Desdemona’s pathetic request for time to pray— DESDEMONA: But while I say one prayer! OTHELLO: It is too late. DESDEMONA: O, Lord, Lord! Note then, Stage Directions— [He SMOTHERS her]

OTHELLO: I, that am cruel, am yet merciful: I would not have thee linger in thy pain.

Some Critical, Reflective Questions l When Othello enters Desdemona’s chamber, does the burning light symbolize her virtue? Or perhaps her life? l Is he trying to justify his intention to kill her? l Is the reason he gives to save her from her own dishonour convincing, credible?

Further questions; and Echoes of Act 2 Scene 3? l l l Is Othello so lacking in self-knowledge that he cannot see reason? We note he cannot help weeping at fate, but this does not soften his heart, or affect his resolve to kill her. So what are we to think? Have we seen this attitude before in his peremptory dismissal of Cassio in Act 2, Scene 3?

l Is his argument that sorrow is from heaven l a suggestion that God punishes those He loves l and that Othello’s pain in killing Desdemona is a sign of the justice of his cause?

l l Is Othello being sanctimonious in his advice to Desdemona to ask God to forgive her sins? Is he being self-righteous in his claim that he would not try to kill her soul? Yet, as you would have surely noticed l later he does not allow her time for a single prayer

Re- Is Othello lacking in reason? Put out the light, and then put out the light l We recall Desdemona was the light of his life l Also light can refer to enlightenment as in the torchlight of reason l Symbolical of the light of reason? Othello does not use his reason; ironical? l No genuine proof of Desdemona’s misdeed l

The Othello Inquisition Note the form and choice of his words (diction): l be think yourself of any crime… l take heed of perjury l confess thee freely l For to deny each article with oath …thou art to die l O perjured woman He has confess’d

Characterizing the nature of his diction His interrogation takes the form of a legal process in which l Othello is judge, l Othello is counsel for the prosecution, and l Othello is jury, all at once; The language is that of a courtroom l with overtones of the confessional

The unmasking of IAGO l l OTHELLO endeavours to justify his killing of Desdemona to Emilia, saying that he proceeded “upon just grounds” Othello even suggests that Emilia ask her husband about these “just grounds” This at once arouses Emilia’s suspicions Confronts her husband in front of OTHELLO

Demands that he “disprove a villain” Emilia: He says thou told’st him that his wife is false, l Iago equivocates at first then acknowledges that he did. l However she only becomes fully convinced when she hears Othello mention the handkerchief

Emilia now understands the whole evil plot l In spite of Iago’s threatening approach to her with a drawn sword Emilia unmasks his part “that handkerchief thou speak’st on, I found by fortune, and did give my husband; For often with a solemn earnestness, More than indeed belong’d to such a trifle, He begg’d me steal it. ”

Multiple Ironies l Recalling Desdemona’s repeated pleas to Othello to send for Cassio to testify… is not listened to l Othello is unwilling to make himself listen to the woman who has sacrificed so much for him But is ever ready to listen and accept the deceits from Iago, the man dead set on destroying him l

Iago; famous last words OTHELLO: [to Cassio] Will you, I pray, demand That demi-devil // Why he hath thus ensnar’d my soul and body IAGO: Demand me nothing, what you know, From this time forth I never will speak word

We note Iago’s cool malignity We note at final curtain time l A very unrepentant, remorseless Iago still very much alive

The enigma of Iago l l l When all has been said about Iago’s motivation, and psychology There remains something in Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of Iago That defies rational explanation The play gives no fully, satisfactory answer to Othello’s baffled request beyond a baffling response

Critical issues re- Othello’s final speech This speech has long been the subject of divided responses l and hostile comments and reviews l among critics and scholars of the play

The famous critic, T. S. Eliot, suggested l That Othello, in his final speech, is trying to escape reality l That Othello is trying to cheer himself up; l And has ceased to think about Desdemona l That he is now only thinking of himself

For the critic, F. R. Leavis l Though Othello’s final speech begins with quiet authority, it ends in self-dramatization l That Othello is no tragic hero; l Given that he has learned nothing from his misfortune and downfall; And that he would rather rant, than think; l

When Othello learns the truth; and comes to know what he has lost— l [It may be argued] Othello recovers much of his former nobility and dignity l The Othello who sends his final message to the Venetian Senate is much like the man who faced the same senate body at the beginning with his impressive rhetorical justification of his marriage l l

In considering Othello’s final speech; a technical tour de force? In twenty lines, Othello presents a summary of the tragic action; l Given, not when the action of the play has been completed l But while its outcome is still awaited

Past and Present When Othello’s account reaches the present l Othello acts out what he describes as l The story of the turbaned Turk whom he once slew in the ancient city of Aleppo Which seems to take us back into his past l

A very sensational climax As Othello re-enacts l His past image, and present actuality merge l And Othello dies in his double role of killer, and killed l Both as the enemy and champion of his love

For the critic, Stephen Greenblatt, Shakespeare’s plays l l Suggest that the choices people make in love and life are almost entirely inexplicable and irrational; Express Shakespeare’s deepest perception of human existence; His preference for things untidy, damaged, unresolved; his skepticism; And his refusal of easy consolations;