Act 4 Review

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*Iago is playing with Othello’s mind again,

getting him to imagine Cassio & Desdemona in

bed again

*He reminds Othello of the lost handkerchief

again, saying that once you give something to a

woman, it becomes her possession to give to

whoever she pleases

*Othello wonders if she would give up her honor

so freely as well

*

*Iago then says that Cassio is

going around saying that he

has gotten it on with

Desdemona

*Othello gets so upset that he

has a seizure

*Iago is pleased with himself

when Cassio comes in,

worried about Othello’s state

*

* Iago says it’s no big deal, Othello is just having a fit, the

second once since yesterday

*Cassio thinks they should help Othello, but Iago tells him to

wait outside until Othello has left and they can have a chat

*Othello slowly comes out of his fit and Iago asks him if his

head hurts. Othello says any man’s head would hurt that is

burdened with the cuckold’s horns (a cuckold is a man who

is led by his woman by the horns & Othello feels he is one,

having been supposedly betrayed by Desdemona)

*

*Iago comforts Othello by saying that he is not the only man to be betrayed by his wife; Othello says Iago is very wise

*Iago tells Othello to hide and he will overhear actual proof from Cassio that he is having an affair with Desdemona

*In an aside, Iago lets us know that he is going to get Cassio to talk about Bianca, who he doesn’t really like, and Othello will think he is talking about Desdemona

*

*When Cassio comes back in, Othello is hiding. Iago brings up Bianca. Cassio laughs about how much Bianca loves him, calls her desperate and how she expects them to get married

*Othello hears the whole thing, missing the fact that they are talking about Bianca, and takes this as further proof of the affair

*Then Bianca actually comes in and throws Desdemona’s handkerchief at Cassio, demanding to know why he gave her a handkerchief that obviously belonged to another woman; then she storms out with Cassio behind her

*

*Othello is enraged and convinced by the scene

*Othello says he is going to kill Desdemona that very night. He says he doesn’t even want to confront her because she will talk him out of it

*Iago says he will kill Cassio and report back at midnight

*Lodovico, Desdemona’s uncle, comes in & tells Othello the Duke in Venice wants him to go back to Venice & Cassio is to replace him in Cyprus

*

*Othello reads a letter from the Duke as

Desdemona enters and chats with her uncle.

He wants to know how Cassio is.

*Desdemona explains that Othello & Cassio have

had a falling out and that she hopes they will

work it out “for the love I bear to Cassio"

(4.1.233).

*This comment enrages Othello & he hits

Desdemona in front of her uncle

*

*Desdemona has no idea why Othello would hit her and starts to cry. Lodovico demands that Othello apologize, and Othello refuses saying she is faking the crying

*Othello says Cassio can have his job and he will go back to Venice (remember his plan to have Cassio killed anyway). Othello & Desdemona leave so Iago is left alone with Lodovico

*Lodovico is shocked about how Othello has hit his neice but Iago says it’s just Othello’s way & that he doesn’t want to speak badly about Othello so he won’t reveal all the terrible things he’s seen Othello do

*

*Othello is grilling Emilia to admit the affair

that Cassio & Desdemona are having

*Emilia asserts that Desdemona has always been

faithful and wonders who would have given

Othello such a ridiculous idea

*Othello sends Emilia to get Desdemona and

says that Emilia is just to simple to see the

truth and that Desdemona is so sneaky that she

just hasn’t been discovered by Emilia

*

*Desdemona comes in and Othello accuses her of cheating. Desdemona denies it.

*She asks if he is upset by the letter which she says was probably her father’s doing, but that he shouldn’t be angry at her because she is on his side

*Othello says he cannot take the suffering his heart is taking and that he would rather have sores, be poor, be a slave, or be hated than to have his heart abused this way

*

*Desdemona asks what she has done to hurt him

*He calls her a strumpet (which means whore) and she says she has only ever been with Othello. He doesn’t believe her.

*Emilia comes in and Othello yells at her too and says she better keep the night’s events to herself- he exits

*Emilia asks Desdemona what is going on with Othello & Desdemona doesn’t know and says all she can do is cry

*

*Desdemona asks Emilia to put her wedding

sheets on the bed and to go get Iago

*Alone, she wonders why Othello is being so

abusive when she has done nothing wrong

*Iago comes in and Desdemona says she can’t

repeat the names Othello called her; Emilia

does for her and wonders at Othello’s

behaviour especially since Desdemona had

given up so much to be with Othello

*

*Emilia suggests that some sick person with a

hidden agenda must be feeding Othello with

lies to make him jealous

*Emilia points out that some liar had also told

Iago that Othello had been with her too

*Iago tells Emilia shut up

*Desdemona asks Iago for his advice and he tells

her not to worry. Othello is just upset about

state business and everything will be fine

*

*Desdemona & Emilia leave. Roderigo comes in and starts yelling at Iago for not setting him up with Desdemona and for spending all of his money.

*He wants to know why Desdemona isn’t showing him any interest when Iago said she got all the jewels he sent and wanted to return him some favours

*He says he’s going to see Desdemona himself to find out the real deal

*

*He says if she returns the jewels, he’ll have learned

his lesson because after all she is married. But if

there are no jewels, he will take it out on Iago.

* Iago says that there are no worries, he’s been

working on it and if he listens to his advice,

Desdemona will be his tomorrow night

* Iago says that Cassio has taken Othello’s job and

that Desdemona and Othello plan to go to

Mauritania. He says if Cassio were to be killed, then

Othello wouldn’t be allowed to leave.

*

*Iago convinces Roderigo that he should kill

Cassio tonight- that he will be having dinner

with Bianca tonight and that Roderigo should

commit the murder between the hours of

midnight and 1a.m.

*Iago says he will even help. Roderigo says this

plan makes no sense, but Iago says he will

explain it all to him later

*

*After dinner, Lodovico and Othello go for a walk while Desdemona gets ready for bed- Othello tells Desdemona to get rid of Emilia

*Emilia points out that Othello seems to be in a better mood, but why does he want to get rid of her?

*Desdemona says whatever because she doesn’t want to upset Othello again

*Emilia says she wishes the two had never met, but Desdemona says she’d rather be with him even if he is acting strangely than live without him

*

*Desdemona is worried and says if she dies, she would like to be buried in her wedding sheets

*She sings an old song her mother used to sing about a maid who is betrayed by her lover

*Emilia tries to change the subject by pointing how good Lodovico looked, but Desdemona continues with her singing, this time about a willow tree, a symbol of disappointed love

*The song is about a woman who keeps excusing the bad behaviour of her lover

*

*Desdemona and Emilia discuss whether women ever treat their men as badly as men treat their women

*Emilia thinks they do when it comes to cheating and Desdemona asks Emilia if she would ever cheat on Iago

*Emilia says lots of women cheat and in many ways, it is justified

*Desdemona says she could never do such a thing

*

*Emilia rants that women have the same needs as

men; if men can go through different women so

easily, why can’t women do that same?

*Emilia continues that some men deserve to be

cheated on and if a woman has an affair, it is the

man’s fault for being unfaithful first (Inference:

Iago has been cheating)

*Desdemona takes this as what NOT to do instead of

using it as an excuse to also behave badly