Exam (elaborations)
Othello Extract Question and Response: Act 5 Scene 2.
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Explore the significance of this extract in relation to the tragedy of the play as a whole.(25 marks) Act 5 Scene 2.
Shakespeare uses the extract to heighten the tragedy within the play as it features Othello’s
soliloquy as he prepares to murder Desdemona in the denouement of the play. The use of
the soliloquy allows the audience to gain an understanding of Othello’s state of mind, as the
audience can see that Othello is torn between his love for Desdemona and his desire to seek
justice, preventing other men becoming victims to female transgression. Previously, the
audience have witnessed Iago goad Othello into suffocating Desdemona, establishing the
peripeteia of the play. After this scene, the audience can see Othello commit uxoricide,
fulfilling Iago’s sinister wishes, followed by the cathartic ‘tragic loading of the bed’, where
Othello commits suicide, attempting to regain his former pride after his tragic realisation
that he has been ‘enmeshed’ in Iago’s ‘web’ of lies, a key trope of an Aristotelian tragic hero.
Therefore, the extract presents the tragic consequences of Iago’s antagonistic machinations,
in particular, the destructive effects on Othello.
The extract is significant in relation to the tragedy of the play as Shakespeare establishes
Othello as the tragic hero. In this extract, Othello’s speech uses measured, iambic
pentameter, revealing how he has regained some of his former honour that he possessed in
Act 1. The structure of Othello’s soliloquy forms an antithetical juxtaposition to his
fragmented speech in Act 4, when Iago manipulated Othello with the use of the
‘handkerchief’, providing ocular proof of Desdemona and Cassio’s affair. Othello’s inner
turmoil is evident through this soliloquy as he debates whether to kill Desdemona.
On one hand, Othello believes to be acting on behalf of mankind through executing justice,
which is evident when he mentions, ‘yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men’. It is
clear that Othello believes that in killing Desdemona, he will stop the perpetuating cycle of
tragedy, preventing others from becoming victims to sexually promiscuous women.
However, his fragmented syntax and use of caesural pauses also emphasises his dilemma.
This can be reinforced when he mentions, ‘whiter skin of hers than snow’. The use of the
comparative adjective ‘whiter’ illustrates that he still loves Desdemona, emphasising her
innocence and purity. Moreover, during this soliloquy, it appears that Iago’s manipulation
has pervaded Othello’s speech when he says, ‘I will kill thee and love thee after’, highlighting
his contradictory feelings for Desdemona which is further reinforced when ‘he kisses her’
physically demonstrating he still loves her. This scene is crucial to the tragic elements of the
play as Shakespeare exposes the love that Othello still possesses for Desdemona.
Shakespeare uses oxymoronic language to reinforce how Othello has been corrupted by Iago
and it is this internal conflict of the tragic hero which is a quintessential element of
Shakespearean tragedies.
Additionally, the extract is significant in orchestrating the tragedy as the portrayal of
Desdemona, the tragic victim, creates a sense of impinging tragedy. Shakespeare portrays
Desdemona in a vulnerable way, depicting her ‘in bed’, highlighting the passive nature of
women and the impending sense of doom for Desdemona. A feminist critic could argue that
Desdemona’s vulnerable position reflects how women were seen as powerless in the face of
male aggression. In some productions of ‘Othello’, the stage features a curtain around the
bed which signifies Desdemona’s entrapment and illustrates this overwhelming sense of
tragic inevitability. Shakespeare’s use of the ‘bedchamber’ intensifies the play’s tragic impact
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