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Summary A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO SCENE ESSAY - [Act II Scene III]
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A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO SCENE ESSAY - [Act II Scene III]
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Significance of Act II Scene III [Cassioʼsreputation speech]
Significance of Act II Scene III [Cassioʼs reputation speech]
The significance of Othelloʼs reputation mirrored onto this scene.
The many tragic victims – Cassio.
Iagoʼs manipulation technique.
The extract comes from Act II Scene III, right after Othello reminds Cassio to remember that
“honourable stop” hinting that he knows that he cannot control his drink, and Iago manipulates
Cassio into drinking more so that the Venetian noble man Montano get stabbed an event which
is treated as a public crime with immense consequences of Cassio losing his title of lieutenant.
The extract therefore begins with an immediate sense of the end as the Generalʼs order have
been subverted and characters blindness to Iagoʼs manipulative villainy has become clear to
audiences. The extracts importance can be seen through the exploration of the tragic themes
of a soldiers reputation, the tragic victim Cassio, and Iago the tragic villainʼs manipulation
technique.
The extract presents the famous scene where Cassio laments the loss of his reputation
delivering the timeless; “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have
lost the immortal part of myself”. This is not only outlining the important theme of reputation in
Othello, which both Cassio, Othello, and Iago secretly place great emphasis on. Being what
soldiers use to issue commands and “honest Iago” uses to manipulate the ‘dramatis personaeʼ.
However, it is ironically Cassioʼs loss of reputation which mirrorʼs and foreshadows Othello soon
to be similar loss. When Othello earlier reminds Cassio to keep that “honourable stop” he
suggests an underlining fear where due to Othelloʼs position as an outsider he his more
vulnerable to disruptions to his reputation. Therefore, when Cassio subverts Othelloʼs trust and
damages his reputation by acting irresponsibly not being able to hold his drink during the first
night in Cyprus, the reason why Othello acts so harshly is because he cannot have any
damages to his reputation. This therefore also foreshadows how Othello will act similarly when
Desdemonaʼs alleged infidelity is hinted at by Iago; “Ha – I like not that”. In the 16th century
where Othelloʼs reputation is already subject to public opinion, he cannot bear to have stains on
it so much like he removes Cassio in this extract he will remove Desdemona in a revenge killing
so that he restores both his and her own reputation; “she must die or else sheʼll betray more
men”.
Shakespeare introduced a new element to tragedy not common to Aristotleʼs Poetics where
instead of complete focus on the tragic hero, he caused the characters around the hero to
undergo ‘collateral damageʼ making the play more interactive as the tragic hero who already
seems “doomed” (A C Bradley) is not as interesting as the unintended consequences they may
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