Othello 5.2

"I will so. What's the matter? / That handkerchief / Which I so loved, and gave thee, thou gav'st to / Cassio. / No, by my life and soul! Send for the man / And ask him. / Sweet soul, take heed, take heed of perjury. / Thou art on thy deathbed" (5.2.57-64)

Othello has entered his chamber to find Desdemona sleeping; now that Cassio is "dead" it is time to kill her. When she awakens, she asks what's wrong. He replies that she gave Cassio the handkerchief he gave her. She says she never did and Cassio can say the same. Othello replies that she is lying on her deathbed. The biggest problem with Othello is that he does not listen to reason: whenever Desdemona tries to defend herself, he replies back that she lies. She says to get Cassio and he'll say the same a few times in the play, and not once does Othello do so; instead, he continues to listen to Iago and never once does he think to reason with Desdemona. Honestly, I think Othello is one of the worst characters I've ever heard of, made worse from the fact that he seemed so badass in the beginning.

Othello 4.3 & 5.1

"'Tis he,! O brave Iago, honest and just, / That hast such noble sense of thy friend's wrong! / Thou teachest me. -Minion, your dear lies dead, / And your unblest fate hies. Strumpet, I come. / {Forth} of my heart those charms, thine eyes, are / blotted" (5.1. 34-39)

Cassio is finally "dead," and so Othello praises Iago in his fine work for killing the man who his wife supposedly cheated with. Since that is done, Othello can murder Desdemona and end this terrible part of his life. More dramatic irony in this scene: Othello continues to praise Iago, calling him brave, honest, just, etc. All the while, Iago has been screwing Othello over throughout the entire play. It's also interesting to note that Othello leaves to kill Desdemona, and Iago sends Emilia to check on Othello and Desdemona, so is it possible that he did not think Othello would try to kill her immediately? Either way, the end is near, and death is sure to come, and not just for Desdemona.

This whole play seems to be just one big dramatic irony. In every page, something ironic seems to happen.

Othello 4.2

"A halter pardon him, and hell gnaw his bones! / Why should he call her 'whore'? Who keeps her / company? / What place? What time? What form? What / likelihood? / The Moor's abused by some most villainous knave, / Some base notorious knave, some scurvy fellow. / O{heaven,} that such companions thou'dst unfold, / And put in every honest hand a whip / To lash the rascals naked through the world, / Even from the east to th' west!" (4.2. 159-169)

Oh the dramatic irony of this scene! So Emilia is saynig that Othello has no right or purpose to call Desdemona a whore, and she is damning the knave who has changed Othello and made his think so. She concludes by saying that she hopes someone will find the person who has done so and "lash him", and it should be done to any villainous knave across the globe. The dramatic irony in this scene comes from the fact that her husband, Iago, is the knave of whom she is talking about, and yet neither she nor Desdemona knows about this. What more, Iago is standing next to her as she says this unknowingly. Even more, after this, Desdemona asks Iago for advice, even though he's screwing her over. How nice.

Othello 4.1

"Is this the noble Moor, whom our full senate / Call all in all sufficient? Is this the nature / Whom passion could not shake, whose solid virtue / The shot of accident nor dart of chance / Could neither graze nor pierce?" (4.1. 297-301)

Othellos has struck his wife and left with a wave of fury washing over him; Desdemona left weeping. After, Lodovico asks Iago if this is the same Othello who was well respected in Venice; if this is the same Othello who had a "perfect soul". Iago remarks that Othello has indeed changed and Lodovico will see his change first-hand if he observes him. This whole scene just solidifies Iago's villainy, Othello's ease of control, and shows how even Lodovico can see just how much Othello has changed. Othello has officially become Iago's "servent", if you will, and in this act, there will surely be a death.
Can someone remind me why Iago's doing all of this. Is it really just because Cassio became Lieutenant? I mean, doing all of this for revenge is insane.

Othello 3.4

"Believe me, I had rather lost my purse / Full of crusadoes. And but my noble Moor / Is true of mind and made of no such baseness / As jealous creatures are, it were enough / To put him to ill thinking." "Is he not jealous?" "Who, he? I think the sun where the was born / Drew all such humors from him" (3.4. 25-32)

Desdemona and Emilia are conversing about the handkerchief Desdemona lost. Here, Desdemona explains that she values the handkerchief above all other posessions and that the handkerchief is a symbol of Othello's love of her. She then says that Othello will not think ill of her misplacing it. Emilia then asks her if Othello is jealous, and Desdemona replies that he was born without that emotion. However, as the reader will see later in the scene, she has no idea what she is talking about: The air is palpable with his jealousy. Again, this is another scene that displays both dramatic irony concerning Othello, and displays just how strong of a hold Iago has over Othello's emotions. Now, why is it that Emilia takes the handkerchief, knows nothing of Iago's plan, and hides her actions from Desdemona?

Othello 3.3 (II)

"I had been happy if the general camp, / Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body, / So I had nothing known. O, now, forever / Farewell the tranquil mind! Farewell content! / Farewel the plumed troops and the big wars / That make ambition virtue... Th' immortal Jove's dread clamors counterfeit, / Farewell! Othello's occupation's gone!" (3.3. 397-409).

Othello has become so paranoid from Iago's accusations that he has lost all confidence in both Desdemona and himself. Now, he believes that what Iago's told him could be true. Since Othello has lost his confidence and feels defeated, Iago will now be able to control his thoughts easier and get Othello to believe him more. Next, Iago will turn Othello against both Desdemona and Cassio, and set out to prove that the two are cheating. I think it's kind of funny how such a bad-ass character can be overcome so easily. It's barely half-way through the play, and Othello's whimpering like a baby and being controlled by Iago. Just how far will Iago go to get his revenge? I mean, if he can control a "bad-ass," he can do anything.

Othello 2.3 (II)

"Our General's / wife is now the general... Confess yourself / freely to her. Importune her help to put you in your / place again. She is of so free, so kind, so apt, so / blessed a disposition she holds it a vice in her / goodness not to do more than she is requested. This broken joint betwen you and her husband entreat / her to splinter, and, my fortunes against any lay / worth naming, this crack of your love shall grow / stronger than it was before" (2.3. 333-345).

Othello has just taken Cassio's Lieutenacy from him; part of Iago's plan is now complete. Next, Iago tells Cassio to ask Desdemona for help; ask her to talk to Othello and convince him that Cassio deserves his lieutenancy. However, Iago plans on using this meeting to stir jealousy within Othello by making it look like Cassio is cheating with her. How exactly this plan will come to fruition, it's unknown. But, this play is actually getting somewhat interesting. Also, what is the exact role of Roderigo? All that is known is that he's lovesick over Desdemona, but what is his part in Iago's overall plan?

Othello 2.3

"If I can fasten but one cup upon him / With that which he hath drunk tonight already, / He'll be as full of quarrel and offense / As my young mistress' dog... Now 'mongst this flock of / drunkards / Am I [to put] Cassio in some action / that may offend the isle. But here they come / If consequence do but approve my dream, / My boat sails freely with both wind and stream" (2.3. 49-52, 61-66). The next part of Iago's evil plan is explained here. In understandable English, he's basically saying: I will get Cassio drunk enough to start a brawl, and as a result, Othello will strip him of his rank.(So much faster to say). This is just step 1 of his plan to make Othello believe that Desdemona and Cassio are screwing behind his back. Next, he must find a way to make it look like Desdemona and Cassio are lovers.

Now, why do I get the feeling that in the end, Desdemona, Othello, and maybe Roderigo and Cassio will all die? Maybe its because they're all the good, (or decieved) people in this play. Iago will live though, he's to cool to die.