Act III Scene Iii Of Othello Essay

Act III, Scene Iii Of Othello: Essay, Research Paper

In this

piece of course work I was told to look in depth at scene III of the play

.Othello.. I will begin by telling you the outline of the scene, then a closer

look in to the scene. Desdemona

decides that she wants to advocate for Cassio. She tells Emilia so, and that

she believes Cassio is a good person, and has been wronged in this case; she

pledges to do everything she can to persuade her husband to take Cassio back.

Cassio speaks with her briefly, but leaves just as Othello enters because he

does not wish for a confrontation. Iago seizes on this opportunity to play on

Othello’s insecurities, and make Cassio’s exit seem guilty and incriminating.

Othello then speaks to Desdemona, and Desdemona expresses her concern for

Cassio; she is persistent in his suit, which Othello is not too pleased about.

Othello says he will humour her, and the subject is dropped for a while. Iago then

plays on Othello’s insecurities about Desdemona, and gets Othello to believe,

through insinuation, that there is something going on between Desdemona and

Cassio. Othello seizes on this, and then Iago works at building up his

suspicions. Soon, Othello begins to doubt his wife, as Iago lets his

insinuations gain the force of an accusation against her. Othello begins to

voice his insecurities when it comes to Desdemona, and himself as well.

Desdemona enters, and they have a brief conversation; Othello admits that he is

troubled, though he will not state the cause. Desdemona

drops the handkerchief that Othello gave her on their honeymoon; Emilia knew

that her husband had wanted it for something, so she doesn’t feel too guilty

about taking it. Emilia gives it to Iago, who decides to use the handkerchief

for his own devices. Othello re-enters, and tells Iago that he now doubts his

wife; Othello demands "ocular proof" of Desdemona’s dishonesty, so

Iago sets about making stories up about Cassio talking in his sleep, and says

that Cassio has the handkerchief that Othello gave to Desdemona. Iago knows how

important this handkerchief is to Othello; it was his first gift to Desdemona,

and was given to him by his mother. Othello is incensed to hear that Desdemona

would give away something so valuable, and is persuaded by Iago’s insinuations

and claims to believe that Desdemona is guilty. Othello then swears to have

Cassio dead, and to be revenged upon Desdemona for the non-existent affair. A more

detailed look into the play "His

bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift," Desdemona says of Othello;

these paradoxes highlight Desdemona’s determination to set things right.

Ironically, it is this determination to "intermingle everything Othello

does with Cassio’s suit" that fuels Othello’s jealousy, which is the cause

of her death. Had Desdemona not felt such a sense of justice or been good

enough to advocate for a case in which she was not involved, she might have

survived. Though it is very ironic, and a paradox, Desdemona is undone by her

own goodness, and her need to step into affairs on a public level, which

Othello is uncomfortable with. In this

scene, Iago begins his machinations to make it seem like Cassio and Desdemona

are having an affair. However, Iago refrains from saying very much; "I

cannot think it that he would steal away so guilty-like" is the most

incriminating thing he says about Cassio. He makes Othello start to think

uneasy thoughts by saying "I like not that" about Cassio’s exit;

Othello immediately seizes the bait, his jealousy playing off of Iago’s

calculated insinuations. Desdemona’s

choice of words to describe Cassio is unfortunate; she calls him a

"suitor," not meaning it in a romantic sense, although Othello could

certainly take it that way. Desdemona binds her reputation to Cassio’s in an

unfortunate way; she says that if Cassio is wrong, "I have no judgment in

an honest face". Of course Desdemona means well, but she gambles too much

on another person’s honour. Iago begins

to echo Othello, which makes Othello even more uneasy. He asks questions that

are basically related to the issues at hand, such as whether Desdemona and

Cassio have known each other for a while. In Othello’s state, he believes

Iago’s statements of nothing to be a real attempt to hide the truth about what

is going on; he does not realize that Iago’s statements are all feigned to make

Othello jealous. "Thou echoest me, as if there was some monster in thy

thought, too hideous to be shown"; Othello creates this simile based

merely on Iago’s echoing and unrelated questions, showing how Othello begins to

feed off the insinuations of Iago’s words. Iago says

that he believes Cassio is "honest"; yet again, this word sets

Othello off, and Iago’s fa

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