Othello Act III - Essay Example

Othello Act III Emilia tells Cassio that Desdemona is speaking up for him, and trying to make Othello forgive him for getting involved with the locals in a fight.2. Iago plants the idea in Othello’s mind that Cassio is up to something with Desdemona, because he implies that Cassio left in a guilty fashion when he saw Othello coming.3. Desdemona is very successful, because Othello will give her everything she wants. As she leaves, Othello recognizes that he loves her and she leads him into dangerous territory, but at the same time she gives him stability.4. If Iago told Othello straight out that Desdemona was unfaithful, then Othello would deny it, and probably get angry.

Iago wants Othello to come to the idea himself, and so he makes sneaky suggestions, without giving away his true intentions.5. Othello is quite an extreme character, and he is happy to love without suspicion, and trusts Desdemona. He cannot bear the thought of her being unfaithful, however, and it is the thought of this, and his inability to deal with it that makes him jealous.6. Emilia gives Iago a napkin or handkerchief which belongs to Desdemona. Iago wants to plant it in Cassio’s room to make him look guilty.7. He pretends not to be happy about answering, but then tells Othello about Cassio dreaming of Desdemona and says he has seen Cassio with Desdemona’s spotted handkerchief.8. He orders Iago to kill Cassio and resolves to find a way of causing death to Desdemona also.9. At this stage Othello has fallen into every trap that Iago has made.

He has accepted all the suggestions that Iago has made, and the idea of Desdemona being with another man has completely consumed him. There is not much chance that he will be fair because his mind is already full of the darkest ideas of revenge.10. There does not seem to be any chance that Desdemona can change his mind, because he interprets everything negatively and is not really listening to her.11. Emilia is Iago’s husband. She is Desdemona’s friend. The incident with the handkerchief is tricky for her because she feels torn by her loyalty to each of them.12. Othello says that the handkerchief was a magical gift from a mysterious Egyptian woman to his mother, and that it was charmed, to make her husband (Othello’s father) love her, so long as she did not lose her.

It could be a true story, or it could be a veiled threat to see how Desdemons reacts to the idea that Othello will perhaps not love her any more.13. Both Othello and Desdemona are proud and stubborn. Neither wants to give in to the other.14. Emilia thinks men just use women, in the same way that they use food. She is quite justified in this way of thinking, because her husband Iago is just like this.15. Bianca is an admirer of Cassio. He asks her to take the handkerchief and get it copied. She thinks it is from a lover and she is jealous – this is just like Othello’s reaction.

Cassio found the handkerchief in his room. Bianca has the handkerchief at the end of Act 3. Perhaps Cassio senses that the handkerchief could be used against him and so he wants it out of his room.16. Jealousy is portrayed as a monster. Iago is jealous of Othello, and Othello is jealous because he thinks Cassio has been with his wife. It provokes these men to extreme actions: Iago is devious, and Othello is violent. The women do not understand this because they are more honest and less violent.

It seems a particularly male thing. Bianca is the exception, however, and she shows that women can feel jealousy too, but she is not violent, and seems to accept Cassio’s explanations quite meekly.