Othello

1
Othello

• Act Five

2
ACT FIVE SCENE I KEY POINTS

• Iago and Roderigo wait in the street to ambush
  Cassio.
• When Cassio appears Roderigo attacks him, but is
  himself badly wounded.
• Lodovico and Gratiano are alerted to the scene.
• Iago arrives shortly afterwards and discreetly
  stabs Roderigo in order to finish him off.
• He also looks to blame Bianca for the brawl.

3

• Othello as a soldier
• There is a sharp contrast between the Othello of
  this scene and the Othello of Act 2 Scene 3.
• In the earlier scene Othello came across as a
  military commander. His greatest concern was for
  order and civility in the town.
• His response to the earlier fight between Cassio
  and Roderigo was stern and immediate.
• Now, however, he seems uninterested in
  maintaining law and order in the city. He gives
  no response at all to the chaos unfolding nearby
  and is instead focused on the affair.
• His own jealousy has overshadowed his sense of
  public duty as a soldier.

• Othello

4
Iago

• MANIPULATIVE AND PERSUASIVE
• Roderigo acknowledges the strength of Iagos
  persuasion and shows us the great influence Iago
  holds over others.
• Iago convinces Lodovico and Gratiano that Bianca
  is somehow involved in co-ordinating the attack.
  He had not anticipated her arrival but instantly
  finds a use for her in his web of lies.
• Othellos brief appearance in this scene
  highlights Iagos extreme sway over others.
• Othello has fallen so hard for Iagos lies that
  he is convinced the affair is real and ignores
  Cassios plight.

• EXPERT SCHEMER
• In this scene Iago sets into motion a wave of
  chaos and exploits it perfectly. He gives a
  brilliant display of his ability to steer a
  highly changeable situation to his own advantage.
• He is uncertain how the fight he has instigated
  will work out but is confident he can use its
  outcome to his advantage.
• When help arrives he deliberately adds to the
  confusion as the characters attempt to identify
  each other in the darkness.
• He exploits this chaos to slip away and murder
  Roderigo.
• He also exploits Biancas arrival, deflecting
  attention away from himself by blaming her for
  the attack

• AN EXCELLENT ACTOR
• Iago makes great use of his theatrical abilities
  in this scene, shifting effortlessly between the
  role of general with Roderigo, innocent bystander
  with Lodovico, protector with Cassio and
  prosecutor with Bianca.
• Lodovico and Gratiano buy into Iagos act of
  confusion.
• He convincingly feigns brotherly concern for
  Iago, binding his wound and calling frantically
  for help. His cold blooded instinct is clear as
  he easily pretends to be Cassios protector
  though he plotted his murder and stabbed him.

5
ACT FIVE SCENE II KEY POINTS

• Othello enters Desdemonas room, determined to
  kill her. He behaves in a calm and composed way
  convinced that her death is justice being done.
• When Desdemona wakes Othello tells her to pray,
  that she is about to die and there is nothing she
  can to so to prevent this.
• When Desdemona hears that Cassio has been killed
  and realises her protests are futile she begs to
  be allowed to live.
• Othello is incapable of believing her and
  smothers her with a pillow.
• Just as he is doing this Emilia approaches the
  room crying out that a murder has taken place.
• Othello eventually lets her in and she tells him
  Cassio has killed Roderigo.
• Desdemona manages to speak one more time before
  dying and when Othello admits responsibility for
  her death, Emilia starts to scream murder.

6
ACT FIVE SCENE II KEY POINTS

• Emilias cries bring Iago, Gratiano and Montano
  running.
• Emilia confronts her husband about his deception,
  calling him a liar and a villain. She reveals the
  truth about how the handkerchief ended up with
  Cassio.
• Iago stabs her and runs off. Emilia dies beside
  Desdemona.
• Othello realises, too late, that Desdemona was
  never unfaithful to him. He is overcome with
  guilt and despair.
• Iago is captured and partly confesses his crimes
  but refuses to say anymore. However, letters
  found on Roderigo reveal much about his various
  schemes.
• Lodovico decides Iago will be imprisoned and
  tortured Cassio will be the new governor of
  Cyprus and Othello will be stripped of his
  command and taken into custody.
• However, after a final moving speech, Othello
  stabs himself and dies while kissing Desdemonas
  lips.

7
EMILIA

• Emilias loyalty to Desdemona is clearly shown in
  this scene. She expresses genuine grief when she
  sees her dead body.

• In her grief and anger she defies Othello
  himself. Othellos threats are meaningless to her
  and she has no fear of him. She is determined to
  reveal what Othello has done.

• She is also determined to expose Iago as a
  villain and perseveres bravely, defying societys
  norms again and again by speaking out against her
  husbands wishes .

• Emilia pays with her life for this crusade but
  she dies having achieved justice for her friend.
  Othello has been exposed as her killer and Iago
  as a master schemer who has deceived them all.

8
Iago

• MALICIOUS AND DESTRUCTIVE
• Iagos malicious nature is very evident in this
  scene.
• He is unrepentant about what he has done, utterly
  lacking in remorse and empathy.
• He argues he only told Othello what he already
  believed or was ready to believe.
• His malicious streak is also clear when Emilia
  starts to expose him. He threatens her and
  insults her again and again, urging her to shut
  up and commanding her to leave.
• He finally kills her. Whereas Roderigos death
  was out of strategy, Emilias is purely out of
  spite.
• By the time he stabs her she has already revealed
  his deception. Murdering her cannot benefit him.
  It only invites greater punishment from those
  around him but he does it anyway.
• Iagos destructive nature is also clear at the
  end when Othello demands to know what motivated
  him. Othello is desperate to know but Iago will
  say no more.
• He has destroyed Othellos life but wont give
  him the satisfaction of saying why.

9

• Othello

• His love for Desdemona
• Othello thinks Desdemonas actions with Cassio
  have made her a whore and that she must die.
• However, the Moor still recognises Desdemonas
  beauty and when he is with her struggles with his
  feelings for her.
• The moment she is dead he realises what a heinous
  act he has committed but his true remorse only
  comes when it is made clear that Iago has been
  deceiving him and that his wife was always
  faithful.
• There is no way he can live with the monstrous
  deed he has committed and so ends his life,
  saying that he loved not wisely, but too well

• Dignified and Proud
• Othello is very calm when he enters the room, he
  is no longer unsure of himself.
• He has decided she deserves to die and sees the
  act as one of justice rather than revenge.
• Even when Desdemona awakes he doesnt allow
  feelings of love or hate to influence his
  actions.
• However the moment that he thinks of Cassio and
  Desdemona making love he immediately loses his
  temper
• All his rage and frustration resurfaces and he
  begins to smother her.

10

• Desdemona

As we observed in recent scenes, Desdemona is
meekly tolerant of her husbands unnatural
behaviour. When she realises he has come to kill
her she makes some effort to defend herself and
convince him he has no reason to doubt her, but
her efforts are meek and achieve nothing. It is
almost as if she has accepted her fate, even
though she can see no reason for having to die.
Perhaps there was nothing she could have done to
save her life but she does not even scream or
fight. Her behaviour contrasts with Emilia who is
not shy about challenging Othello and screaming
murder once she realises what he has done.