Iago convinces him to get more money, under the pretense that he can seduce Desdemona much more easily once she's Othello's desperate housewife. There is a troubling irony in the fact that his last crime mirrors Othello’s: he too kills his honest wife to preserve his honor. ‘OTHELLO Play: Short Plot Summary – Historical Background Synopsis Of Story’. Desdemona is the daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio. Then Othello decides to strangle Desdemona. Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars, It is the cause. Iago resolutely refuses to say anything. But how little Othello does to investigate Iago's charges! Othello’s command in Cyprus is given to Cassio, so he is ruined professionally as well as personally. Othello is disarmed by Lodovico's men. Othello murders her and, upon discovering Iago's deceit, kills himself. He serves as symbolic devil figure in Othello deceiving and manipulating everyone around him to fulfill his plans, like the snake in the Garden of Eden. Lodovico, however, has found two letters in Roderigo 's pocket that reveal all of Iago's schemes. Othello is a black Shakespearean character who kills his wife. Explore Desdemona's death in Othello with annotated text, galleries and videos of … Because of the injustice he did to his lovable wife Desdemona, that is he killed her out of suspicion. OTHELLO Ay, I do. Othello also trusts Iago more than he trusts Desdemona, this is a really bad thing for him to think as it allows him to be tricked by Iago and to believe all the lies he is fed are true and causes him in the end to kill Desdemona. Iago's plan appears to succeed when Othello kills Desdemona, who is innocent of Iago's charges. Whether killed by a sword or strangled out of jealousy, there were no justified reasonings for the deaths. OTHELLO Amen, with all my heart! Every character is a pawn for him in the game of defeating Othello. 4. When Iago is brought back as a prisoner, Othello stabs him but fails to kill him. One final point, when Desdemona drops her handkerchief, Othello tells her to leave it behind. In conclusion, Iago draws Othello in and then skilfully persuades him that Cassio and Desdemona should die by using an array of linguistic and rhetorical tricks and by paying close attention to Othello’s sentiments and desires so that he is transformed from not suspecting anything to wanting to kill his wife and her alleged lover within three days. Notably, Iago is left wounded but alive at the end of the play. In Othello alone, eighty-five point seven percent of the roles die in the end. Emilia’s role in Othello is key, her part in taking the handkerchief leads to Othello falling for Iago’s lies more fully. When Othello learns the truth too late, he wounds Iago and in despair, kills himself. Two of the key characters are Cassio, Othello's loyal captain, and Roderigo, a man who is love with Othello's wife, Desdemona. DESDEMONA And yet I fear you; for you are fatal then When your eyes roll so: why I should fear I know not, Since guiltiness I know not; but yet I feel I fear. The Granger Collection, New York . Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men. Othello insists that he is an "honorable murderer", but he is driven to kill out of his own shortcomings (V.ii.293). "My husband?" Othello tries to kill Iago, who fatally stabs Emilia before escaping. Emilia, Desdemona, and Othello … At the beginning of the play, the character is described as a great general of the Venetian army, who has risen to power through many valorous actions. "Othello does not kill Desdemona in jealousy, but in a conviction forced upon him by the almost superhuman art of Iago, such as any man must and would have entertained who had believed lago's honesty as Othello did. She discovers Othello as Desdemona’s murderer and uncovers her husband’s plot which she exposes; “I will not charm my tongue. Anna Patrick as Emilia in the 1995 film adaptation of Othello #7 “I kiss’d thee ere I kill’d thee: no way but this; killing myself, to die upon a kiss ” – Othello (Act V, Scene II) These are the last words said by Othello before he kisses Desdemona whom he has just murdered. Increasingly maddened by jealousy, Othello orders Iago to kill Cassio and smothers Desdemona himself. He tells her to pray to God and confess her sins before he kills her. The closeness of Iago and Othello also seems to be suggested by the references to unchristian behavior. First of all Othello is a play in which we see Iago using other characters as pawns. Knowing that Cassio’s weak point is that he reacts badly to alcohol, Iago makes him drunk in a pub and Cassio becomes aggressive and violent. Although his beautiful language and his remorse make him seem noble again, Othello still denies the character flaws that have led him to this end. Here, Othello prepares to kill Desdemona. The truth discovered, Othello mourns his innocent Desdemona. Before Othello begins, Roderigo has been pursuing Desdemona, a Venetian noblewoman. The quote shows the terrible bind Desdemona is trapped in: her attempts to speak the truth and tell her husband she is chaste only make him more angry at her because he believes she is lying. Yet I’ll not shed her blood, Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow And smooth as monumental alabaster. Playbill for a performance of Othello (and other works) at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London. Iago, after murdering his own wife, is left to the justice of the Venetian state. More about the play . One night, he hears from his soldier friend, Iago, that Desdemona has secretly married his General, the Moorish Othello. OTHELLO Hum! He will kill two birds with one stone and make Othello believe that the man she is being unfaithful with is Michael Cassio. Emilia discloses her husband's plot and Othello, tormented by grief and remorse, kills himself. Emilia brings news of the street fight and the death of Roderigo. His credulity is incredible. I am bound to speak” (Act 5 Scene 2, Line 191). When she sees the murdered Desdemona and hears Othello’s infidelity indictment, she raises the alarm. Desdemona. Othello was first mentioned in a Revels account of 1604 when the play was performed on 1 November at Whitehall Palace with Richard Burbage almost certainly Othello's first interpreter. DESDEMONA Then heaven Have mercy on me! “I look down towards his feet, but that’s a fable.” (Shakespeare 355) He believes that her soul is damned because of her adultery and the more she protests her innocence, the more enraged he becomes. Othello then begs to know why Iago did what he did, but Iago refuses to speak at all. Othello immediately stabs Iago, who is injured but not killed. This is shown when he says “Iago is most honest”. He secretly marries Desdemona, the daughter of a senator, even though her father’s permission was not obtained. Farewell the tranquil mind; farewell content — Othello; Act 3 Scene 3. DESDEMONA If you say so, I hope you will not kill me. (5.2.141.1) Emilia keeps repeating this, as the truth slowly dawns on her that she married a jerk. Othello admits he killed Desdemona and tells Emilia she deserved it, and that honest Iago, Emilia's own husband, can tell her all about it. Iago Brabantio Doesn’t actually die. The story of a Moorish general (Othello) and the soldier (Iago) who plots to usurp him, the play features a small cast of characters who are manipulated and pitted against each other as part of Iago's deceitful plan. In learning this, Othello believes it is his duty to purge the sin from himself. He then stabs himself and dies on top of his wife. Othello intervenes and demotes Cassio. 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. Othello comes to Desdemona in her bed-chamber, determined to kill her. Since he was trapped by the Villainous plan of Cunning Iago, he (Othello) suspects the loyalty of his wife and believed to the words of Iago. So it is quite obvious that the player would use the pawn only till it is useful. Cassio is charged with determining Iago’s punishment, and urges “the time, the place, the torture, oh, enforce it” (5.2.). Othello tries to get Emilia to calm down, mostly through his threatening looks, but she says she doesn't care about any harm he can do her. Emilia Emilia Cont. Othello allows jealousy to consume him, murders Desdemona, and then kills himself. How to cite the explanatory notes: Shakespeare, William. Arogundade, Ben. Othello. It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul. Mad with jealousy, Othello orders Iago to kill Cassio, promising to make him lieutenant in return. Overcome with jealousy, Othello kills Desdemona. Iago then engineers a fight between Cassio and Roderigo in which the latter is killed (by Iago himself, double-crossing his ally), but the former merely wounded. Physically, it was Othello who killed Desdemona as he thought that she had cheated on him with his friend, Cassio. Othello orders Iago to kill Cassio, himself going to smother Desdemona while she is asleep. Othello goes to Desdemona, convinced she must die. In a fit of grief and remorse Othello kills himself and Iago is taken into custody by the authorities. In a vain attempt to prevent his scheme from being revealed, Iago stabs and kills Emilia, and is then taken prisoner while Othello, lamenting the loss of his wife, kills himself next to her. Knowing Shakespeare, he kills off a majority of his characters. 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