Techniques and Terms
The following quote contains this sound device:
"For Christian shame, put by this barbarous brawl."
What is alliteration?
"For ’tis most easy Th' inclining Desdemona to subdue In any honest suit. She’s framed as fruitful As the free elements....So will I turn her virtue into pitch And out of her own goodness make the net That shall enmesh them all."
Iago is saying Desdemona's kind and loving nature will be the trait he uses to destroy her and Othello.
Shakespeare most likely intend THIS EFFECT with the discovery of Roderigo's letters...
To relieve the tension between what the audience knows and the characters know.
This is what "I am not what I am" means.
This is Iago claiming he will look like a loyal servant while plotting against Othello.
This is who stabs Emilia.
Who is Iago?
The following quote contains this literary device:
From whence ariseth this? Are we turned Turks?
What is allusion?
"And have not we affections, Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?"
This character said this, meaning...
Emilia said this, meaning she believes women have the same sexual feelings as men.
What theme regarding insecurity can be inferred from this play?
People can use your insecurities to manipulate or deceive you.
"Like to the Pontic sea, Whose icy current and compulsive course Ne'er keeps retiring ebb but keeps due on To the Propontic and the Hellespont, Even so my bloody thoughts with violent pace Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love Till that a capable and wide revenge Swallow them up. Now, by yon marble heaven, In the due reverence of a sacred vow I here engage my words" means this.
Othello is claiming in this simile that his violent thoughts and actions are like a river that only flows forward--so he will only move forward with revenge.
This is who kills Roderigo.
Iago describing how the soldiers were all getting along in these lines is an example of this, because othello was actually awoken from his marriage bed to deal with the conflict.
"Friends all but now, even now, / In quarter and in terms like bride and groom / Divesting them for bed"
What is irony?
Othello: Oh, a thousand thousand times—and then of so gentle a condition!
This character responded with "Ay, too gentle," and meant this.
Iago said this, implying that Desdemona's being too kind is what lead her to cheating.
This is the importance of the darkness in the setting of Act 5 scenen 1.
So that Iago and Roderigo could commit their acts of violence without getting caught.
"'Tis not a year or two shows us a man. They are all but stomachs, and we all but food. To eat us hungerly, and when they are full,They belch us" means this.
Men take a minute to reveal themselves, but all of them just use women and then toss them aside.
This is what happens to Iago in the end.
He is taken off to be tortured.
These lines spoken by Iago after the brawl when asked what started it are ironic for this reason.
"I cannot speak Any beginning to this peevish odds, And would in action glorious I had lost Those legs that brought me to a part of it."
Iago directly caused the brawl and the audience is aware of that.
He said this and meant this:
"But there where I have garnered up my heart, Where either I must live or bear no life,The fountain from the which my current runs Or else dries up—to be discarded thence! Or keep it as a cistern for foul toads To knot and gender in!"
Othello said this. He is saying he cannot live without Desdemona, and his language suggests he cannot "bear life" without her, either, suggesting he will have no children.
This is the most likely reason Shakespeare did not choose to have Othello apologize after hitting Desdemona even after Lodovico asks him to.
To reveal how much Othello has changed.
"It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul. Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars, It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood, Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow And smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men. Put out the light, and then put out the light" means this.
Othello is admiring Desdemona's beauty and still loves her even as he is determined to kill her.
This is who Iago is taking money from throughout the play.
Who is Roderigo?
“I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear” (line 21) is an example of this figurative language.
What is a metaphor?
He said this, and meant this:
"Do you perceive the gastness of her eye?—Stay you, good gentlemen.—Look you pale, mistress?—Nay, if you stare, we shall hear more anon.—Behold her well. I pray you, look upon her. Do you see, gentlemen? Nay, guiltiness Will speak, though tongues were out of use."
Iago says this to suggest that Bianca attacked Cassio for cheating, and her eyes give away her guilt.
THIS is most likely why Iago most likely says to Othello, "Would you, the supervisor, grossly gape on,/ Behold her topped?" (3.3.452-452).
To prevent Othello from demanding proof of desdemona's infidelity.
"If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore Should I repent me. But once put out thy light,Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature, I know not where is that Promethean heat That can thy light relume. When I have plucked thy rose I cannot give it vital growth again, It must needs wither" means this.
Once Othello has killed Desdemona, he will not be able to bring her back.
This is who Iago tries to blame for Cassio's stabbing.
Who is Bianca?