Lecture 5 Othello the Moor of Venice

Critical focus on Act 2 Scene 3 (the brawl scene)

Thought for the day!!!

One theatrical critic saw the play OTHELLO as —

a dramatized bullfight in which the hero is a noble bull, repeatedly charging the handkerchief in the wristy grip of Iago, the dominant matador.

Dramatic purpose of Act 2 Scene 3

To present a portrait of Othello as commander of the army

To advance Iago’s plot; and show the first victory of evil over good

To present a picture of Iago the villain To give another look at Desdemona To present closer looks at Cassio Montano Roderigo To link the brawl and the revenge plot To provide a comic interlude for comic relief

Critically significant themes?

Good versus evil Revenge Reputation Love and Hate; Love and Lust The war between Appearance and Reality Virtue and Vice; Strength and Weakness; Wisdom and Folly Wit and Witchcraft

Critically significant themes?Like Machiavelli, Iago is an able practitioner of the power of words

The power of language as a weapon A most powerful weapon in the struggle for primacy

— i.e. glory and power over others Human affairs are about winning and losing Language is a fundamental weapon in human

struggles All speech is a form of rhetoric (as it is for Iago) The best language is the most operative The difference between a better and worse way of

speaking is the degree of success each achieves

Moving men is the prime objective of speech!!!

The things that words express are of little importance What’s important is the success words have in

moving one’s audience in the desired direction The strong and wily inevitably dominate the weak

and unwary Men are moved not by abstract argument but by

“lively reasons” of their appetites and fears Passions are what is truest about men Human life essentially takes place on this level The main fact of life — STRUGGLE

Othello the Commander General

We can understand and appreciate why Venetians appointed him to this position

Shows moderation, discretion, responsibility, and caution

Note his advice to Cassio: “Let’s teach ourselves the honourable

stop, Not to outsport discretion”

We have seen Othello at his height as the lover of Desdemona (in Act 2 Scene 1);

Here in this scene we see him at his height as a military commander;

Othello as commander of the army, and in charge of security, is concerned about restoring and maintaining order in a war zone

Thus sees the brawl as a serious crime of disturbing the peace. His anger is apparent:

“My blood begins my safer guides to rule”

The culprit ironically turns out to be one of his best friends, Cassio,

But like a good commander, Othello must not make an exception of him

Cassio is dismissed with decisive immediacy: “Cassio, I love thee But never more be officer of mine”

Some reflective questions re Othello:

Does Othello’s instructions to Cassio to stand guard on a night of celebration suggest over-caution or the mark of a prudent soldier?

Does Othello show special friendship for Cassio here?

Does this make Cassio’s fall even greater?

The Brawl Episode, and Iago

The brawl scene functions as a miniature play within the main play

The brawl is contrived and managed by Iago with skill and cunning

Iago has many ‘acting’ roles or parts to play, and plays each one of them with lively personal enjoyment arising from his awareness of his own unique powers.

Critic Granville-Barker on Iago

Granville Barker, drew attention to

the chameleon-like ability of Iago—

his remarkable adaptation to each change of circumstances

To illustrate Iago’s chameleon-like ability:

Boon companion to Cassio, acting the good fellow His more sinister role as he effectively tells lies to

Montano about Cassio’s “infirmity” Then changes from hypocrite to outright villain as he

puts Roderigo on the trail to further mischief—‘go out and cry a mutiny!’

Next becomes a conscientious upholder of law & order, asking all present to show due respect for Othello

Iago then plays the part that best suits his talents, that of the artful deceiver:

He becomes honest Iago Puts on a posture of being strained while

giving a seeming impartial account of what has happened

And impressing Othello with his ‘pained’ reaction to Cassio’s lapse—

‘Honest Iago that looks dead with grieving”

Critical significance of Brawl Scene

The brawl scene provides impressive evidence of Iago’s successful manipulation of all those around him

Roderigo, Montano, Cassio, Othello Leaves nothing to chance here for even before the

brawl, he convinced Montano that Cassio’s infirmity is a danger to Venetian interests

As a result, Montano feels compelled to urge Iago to be a good soldier and tell the truth about Cassio

His talent for hypocrisy is again to the fore He tells the story against Cassio with a fine

show of reluctance and misgiving (all show) Takes on another role: one of faithful

counselor and consoler of Cassio The real Iago only re- emerges in his great

soliloquy, “And what’s he then, that says I play the villain”

IAGO’S PLOT ADVANCES (Keeping in mind Iago’s manipulative use of words)

Interesting to watch Iago’s mind at work as he plots and plans to bring about the disgrace of Cassio

First he must work on Cassio himself; knows his weakness—alcohol; give him plenty and then “he’ll be as full of quarrel and offence”

Secondly to arrange for Roderigo and three “noble swelling” Cypriots to be on guard duty but they must all be “flustered with flowing cups”. A fight is bound to follow, and from it, Cassio’s disgrace.

Advance of Iago’s plot (cont)

To ensure it works, other agents must be used

Montano must be convinced of Cassio’s “vice”, his “infirmity”, his weakness for alcohol that will one day “shake this island”

Roderigo must be ordered to “go out and cry mutiny” and bells must be rung so that all the Cypriots are involved

Iago to Montano re Cassio’s “infirmity”(Where Iago cleverly & convincingly slanders Cassio)

You see this fellow that is gone before;He is a soldier, fit to stand by CaesarAnd give direction; and but see his vice:’Tis to his virtue a just equinox,The one as long as th’other. ’Tis pity of him.I fear the trust Othello puts in him, On some odd time of his infirmity, Will shake this island.

Advance of Iago’s plot (cont)

Cassio must be advised to win Desdemona’s support:

“I’ll tell you what you shall do…Our General’s wife is now the general…Confess yourself freely to her; importune her, she’ll help put you in your place again”

Recall Iago’s remark in his soliloquy: “His soul is so enfettered to her love, / That she may make, unmake, do what she list,”

Iago’s plan is developing— marking the first stage of Iago’s malice

NB He has succeeded in destroying Cassio; Now he wishes to destroy Othello and

Desdemona Out of Desdemona’s virtue and goodness he

wishes to make the “net / That shall enmesh them all”

But just in case there is any weakness in the plan, Iago has two other things to do:

He must involve his wife Emilia: “My wife must move for Cassio to her mistress, / I’ll set her on”

He must also let Othello see some evidence: “Myself awhile to draw the Moor apart, / And bring him jump, when he may Cassio find, / Soliciting his wife.”

Iago is now full of delight about his evil creation. To put the Moor into a jealousy that judgment cannot

cure, and thus destroy his peace of mind All these practical moves will transform his evil

design into a working reality The method may be slow (Iago is patient); but it

always appear legitimate; never extravagant when circumstance is added to circumstance until

the net, the web of intrigue, is woven to take Othello into its coils.

The comic interlude

The interlude is full of comedy as well as having a direct bearing on main events.

Iago is the life of the party Swings into action; and skillfully turns this social

occasion of the festivities into a heavy drinking party His ditties and jokes about English drinking habits

and about “your Dane, your German, and your swagger-bellied Hollander” provides great comic entertainment for a viewing audience

But aside from the comic relief it provides, it has a direct bearing on the main events of the plot

It neatly ties in with one significant part of Iago’s plot

to engineer the getting drunk of Cassio, and eventually his dismissal, his dishonorable discharge.

To appreciate Iago’s soliloquy near the end of this scene, you need to keep in mind—

Iago (to Cassio): Come, you are too severe a moraller. As the time,

the place, and the condition of this country stands, I could heartily wish this had not so befallen: but since it is as it is, mend it for your own good.

(“And what’s he then that says I play the villain”)

Commentary on Iago’s soliloquy

Alone Iago asks how anyone could see him as a villain with ironical words

Note its frankly evil self-revelation Shows more plainly the peculiar quality of Iago’s

wickedness This is his power to use sanity, common sense,

goodness, as weapons against themselves And his clear, pitiless realisation that he is doing so

His way as he explains is to employ sound advice skillfully perverted, to foresee how the honesty, the kindness of

Desdemona, the trust and simplicity of Othello,

can be made to destroy them.

Thus Iago’s part in the play is full of perfectly correct and even admirable sentiments

but all used for evil purposes… For example, at the end of this scene when he

speaks to Roderigo about “patience” his words have the false ring of good advice

deliberately twisted towards evil ends: “How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”

Most of all, we note Iago’s Machiavellian use of language

Language was Machiavelli’s weapon Iago’s power and mastery of words; Words carefully chosen, combined, and

placed in a strategic position (word order) to achieve their maximum effect namely to

dominate, manipulate, and control through speech that creates disorder, (not disordered speech, mind you!!!).