Othello and Desdemona

At this point in the play, Desdemona has promised Cassio that she will pursue his cause, and begins to pressurise Othello to reinstate him. Iago cleverly suggests the idea of Cassio and Desdemona’s affair, causing Othello to ask for Emilia to spy upon Desdemona. It is here Emilia gives the handkerchief to Iago so he can provide evidence of her affair, getting increasingly persuasive as the scene progresses. Iago swears to kill Cassio if Othello kills Desdemona, and is created the new lieutenant. This is the longest scene in the play, with many entrances and exits and a quick progression so that It is unable for Othello to ask many questions and have time to think over the problem, only to listen to his trusted lieutenant.

Originally, Othello’s speech is consistently unrhymed iambic pentameter, with a poetic, proud, clear content. He uses imagery of danger and beauty, mixing war and romance in a foreboding manner. However he only shares his rhetorical power with Iago. Whilst Othello changes, Iago remains consistent throughout the play: mixing verse and prose to emphasise his manipulative nature. Being crude, colloquial, mixing binary oppositions whilst using images of animals, insects, hell and evil to suggest his dark and cruel nature.

There is a significant power shift, even at the beginning of act three which suggests Othello’s naïve nature, as Iago dominates the dialogue with clear, assured speech causing Othello to ask questions like “Doust thou say so” as he becomes more uncertain. As the scene progresses Othello becomes more grammatically inarticulate, repeating phrases and swapping to prose as Iago does. He shows his first signs of vulnerability as he suggests “chaos is come again” without Desdemona’s love. Iago shows his predatory side as he picks up on this weakness and plays on it. This causes Othello to believe his race and age are derogatory as Iago suggests, instead of playing on them as strengths as we are used to. There is some wavering in the power shift as Othello becomes more defiant and powerful in lines 170-90 as a soldier, and says “I’ll see before I doubt, when I doubt, prove”. Whilst this seems like he is giving Desdemona a chance, he is not suggesting that he will allow her to explain. He also does not mention she could be innocent, rather repeating the chance