What is Act 4 of Othello?
Othello has trouble reconciling his wife’s delicacy, class, beauty, and allure with her adulterous actions. He suggests that he will poison his wife, but Iago advises him to strangle her in the bed that she contaminated through her infidelity. Iago also promises to arrange Cassio’s death.
What does AC Bradley say about Othello?
Bradley believed that Othello never falls completely and suggested that at the end of the play we feel ‘admiration and love’ for the hero, because we exult in the power of ‘love and man’s inconquerable mind’.
What happens in Act 4 of Othello summary?
Iago continues to use his words as weapons to break down Othello. His psychological torture is too much for Othello and he falls into a trance (he has a seizure). Iago tells Othello to hide while he talks to Cassio and gets him to admit he is having an affair with Desdemona.
Who dies in Act 4 of Othello?
Overcome with jealousy, Othello kills Desdemona. When he learns from Emilia, too late, that his wife is blameless, he asks to be remembered as one who “loved not wisely but too well” and kills himself.
What is the context of Othello?
Shakespeare derived Othello’s plot from a short narrative in Giraldi Cinthio’s Gli Hecatommithi (1565), but set his play within the context of Venice’s struggle during the 1570s with the Ottoman Empire for control of Cyprus, the eastern Mediterranean island that overlooked the shipping lanes between Europe and trading …
What was scene I of Act IV of Othello?
Act IV, scene i: Cyprus. Before the castle. Othello is trying, even after swearing that Desdemona was unfaithful, not to condemn her too harshly. He is talking with Iago about the handkerchief still, and its significance in being found; but, soon, Iago whips Othello into an even greater fury through mere insinuation, and Othello takes the bait.
What are the main themes of the play Othello?
Othello: Themes | SparkNotes. 1 The Incompatibility of Military Heroism & Love. Before and above all else, Othello is a soldier. From the earliest moments in the play, his career 2 The Danger of Isolation. 3 Jealousy. 4 Deception and Treachery. 5 Justice.
Why did Iago whip Othello into a fury?
Othello is trying, even after swearing that Desdemona was unfaithful, not to condemn her too harshly. He is talking with Iago about the handkerchief still, and its significance in being found; but, soon, Iago whips Othello into an even greater fury through mere insinuation, and Othello takes the bait.
What are the effects of isolation in Othello?
Isolation enables many of the play’s most important effects: Iago frequently speaks in soliloquies; Othello stands apart while Iago talks with Cassio in Act IV, scene i, and is left alone onstage with the bodies of Emilia and Desdemona for a few moments in Act V, scene ii; Roderigo seems attached to no one in the play except Iago.