A four paragraph essay plan answering the question: ‘Explore how Shakespeare presents the downfall of Othello in Act 3’
Includes an introduction with critical views and each paragraph plan includes a thesis sentence, quotes and meanings.
Explore how Shakespeare presents the downfall of Othello in Act
Three
Introduction:
In act 3, Shakespeare writes Othello's downfall as a steady a rapid descent into
jealousy, betrayal, and madness – it only takes a few conversations with Iago
for Othello to completely question and throw away his marriage to Desdemona.
The relative ease in which Iago convinces Othello of Desdemona’s betrayal is
commonplace in tragedy; the tragic hero is ruled by his emotions and his fatal
flaw, leading to him making mistakes that destroy his life.
Critical view = A.C. Bradley Shakespearean tragedy (Palgrave Macmillan)
“Othello’s mind... is very simple. He is not observant. His nature tends outward.
Emotions excites his imagination, but it confuses and dulls his intellect. His
trust where he trusts is absolute. Hesitation is almost impossible to him. He is
extremely self-reliant and decides and acts instantaneously. If stirred to
indignation... he answers with one lightning stroke. Love, is he loves, must be to
him the heaven where either he must live or bear no life. If such a passion as
jealousy seizes him, it will swell into a well-nigh incontrollable flood”
Paragraph 1:
Point
At the start of act 3, Othello’s nature remains noble and good, a tragic hero
before the tragedy takes place. His love for Desdemona is clear and unwavering
at this point.
Quotes:
[3.3] “sweet Desdemon” “the sooner, sweet, for you”
The conversation between Othello and Desdemona is comprised of
shared lines, this highlights how close they are and how strong
their relationship is.
[3.3] “perdition catch my soul but I do love thee; and when I love thee not,
chaos is come again” *The world will end if he stops loving her*
The line is a profound confirmation of the love he holds for Desdemona,
making it clear that he does truly love and care for her. But it is also
heavy foreshadowing for what will come in later acts – he arguably does
not stop loving her but, her murder and his consequent suicide would've
eternally damned him.
, Paragraph 2:
Point
Iago uses Cassio’s exit as a way to sew the initial seeds of jealousy into Othello.
“His trust where he trusts is absolute” is a true sentiment in the way Othello
desperately demands to know about Iago’s opinion on the situation.
Quotes:
[3.3] “ha! I like not that/ What dost thou say?” “Nothing my lord”
This shared line of iambic pentameter highlights the dependency Othello
is forming to Iago’s advice. Iago’s denial to Othello’s question increases
his curiosity and need to find out what Iago said – Iago turns Othello's
perceptive nature against him thus tempting him to question him further.
This withholding of information then creates a power imbalance in which
Othello is victim to all of Iago’s whims.
[3.3] “is he not honest / honest, my lord? / Honest? Ay, honest”
This is again a shared line between Iago and Othello which may suggest
that those two have a bond as close as Othello and Desdemona do,
justifying why Othello trusts him to the extent he does.
The word ‘honest’ is repeated during the back and forth, and is a common
word used throughout the play. Iago is called honest by every character,
though his true character and motivations isn't revealed to them until the
end. William Empson explored the use of the word and said that Iago
does maintain the trait of honesty in the sense that he expressed his
emotions directly to Othello and the genuine nature of then is exactly
what mislead Othello.
[3.3] “thou echoest me, as if there were some monster in thy thought”
We see clearly how Iago skirting around the topic at hand has affected
Othello and is leading him to become irritated by him. This increase in
emotion works in Iago’s favour as “[emotions] confuse and dull his
intellect”
Paragraph 3:
Point
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