Othello #3

The actor's interpretation of Cassio can have a significant impact on Cassio's character.  One example of the flexibility of Cassio's character is when Iago attempts to get him drunk.  Before leaving the stage, when Cassio attempts to prove he is still sober, he indicates both of his hands, saying, "this is my right hand, and this is my left" (II.iii.118-119).  Cassio has two options.  One is to indignantly and defensively prove his sobriety.  The other is to actually be drunk.  The actor that portrays Cassio does not have any stage directions instructing him how to move while reciting this line.  The actor therefore has the option to confuse his right and his left hand.  He has the option to storm offstage in a huff or to stumble off clumsily.  He can maintain or vary the tempo of his lines to convey the effect of control or of loss of control.  Cassio's acting choices help to gauge the speed of the success of this stage of Iago's plan; if he storms off sober, Iago will have to set another trap.  If Cassio chooses to wander drunk off the stage, then Iago's plan is working perfectly based on what he 'confesses' to the audience.

Sound and Sense Chapter 13

1. Verse (a) better adapts sound to sense. "Guard" and "guide" are phonetically linked to each other and also evoke a sense of strength with their hard "g" sounds. This is better than the vague and less concrete "point your way" and "keep you safe.

2. (b). "Crabbed as dull fools suppose" is more cacophonous than the alternative, conveying the line's desired harshness that coincides with its image. Furthermore, "Apollo's lute" is more euphonious than "the lute of Phoebus," highlighting the lute's musical beauty.

3. (b) the alliterated "c" sound is more cacophonous than the alternative, so it more successfully portrays the roughness of the croaking cross that the speaker attempts to convey.

4. (b). "Low voice," with it's long "o" sounds and it's soft "l" and "s," is more euphonious than the staccato "talk." The euphony of the phrase coincides with the tones of the singing bells described in the verse.

5. (b). The first line sounds very busy with its inconsistent meter and awkward phoneme connections, which is appropriate for the rushed tone. The second line contains many "m" sounds, evoking the desired moaning of the doves. The "m" sounds in the third line serve as the bees' murmur.

6. (a) The words "unpleasing sharps" at the end of the voice are more unpleasant than "doleful flats," which contains more soft consonants and long vowels. The first option therefore fits more with the intended unpleasant tone.

7. (b) the first line of option (a) only has three hard consonant sounds and is not at all as "severe" as the speaker intends. The first line of option (b) has twelve, so the words are sufficiently "hard" as to "stick in the soft Muses' gullets."

8. (a). The "s" sounds of "incessantly softly" create a rhythm that parallels the rhythm with which Death and Night wash the world.

9. (b) The meter of the final line is such that the word "me" receives emphasis, highlighting the aloneness of the speaker. The consistent meter of the fourth line I the second option places no extra emphasis on the word.

10. (b) This option is slightly more cacophonous, so its sounds coincide better with the tone of contempt toward the subject.

Othello #2

When Iago is with Roderigo, the audience sees him as clever and conniving.  When he is with Othello, he flatters excessively.  During Iago's first encounter with Cassio, the audience witnesses yet another of Iago's many personalities: the facetious, joking friend.  When Iago enters the scene, he and Cassio exchange words about Iago's wife.  When Cassio kisses her as a greeting, Iago comments, "would she give you so much of her lips / As of her tongue she oft bestows on me, / You'll have enough" (109-111).  Iago shares a joke with Cassio that could easily be considered rude and disrespectful if heard 'the wrong way.'  Iago intends to make Cassio feel as though he trusts Cassio, creating an impression of confidence and friendship between the two of them.  Iago expects to be able to use this connection to his advantage as he continues to work his way to the top of Venice's military hierarchy.

However, Iago also intends to lure Cassio into a trap by allowing him to fall in love with Emilia.  Iago makes his plans explicit to the audience as he observes Cassio's interaction with Emilia, marveling that "With such a little web as this will [he] ensnare as great a fly as Cassio" (162-163).  As Iago pretends to be a friend to Cassio, he does not allow Cassio to anticipate the trap that Iago has set.

Othello: Iago's Motives

One of Iago’s primary motives for attempting to sabotage Othello is that Iago is frustrated that Othello has made Cassio his lieutenant instead of Iago.  He notes that Cassio is “a great arithmetician” but that he has "never set a squadron in the field” (I.i.20, 23).  Although Cassio is clever, he has far less experience than Iago, so Iago is especially frustrated with Othello’s choice.  He wants to be Othello’s lieutenant, but Othello chooses someone else, so Iago feels offended.  Therefore, he seeks to undermine Othello in order to wreak his revenge.

In addition to Iago’s jealousy of Cassio’s appointment, Iago is also jealous of Othello himself.  Othello is the commander of the mighty Venetian military, a highly coveted post in the most powerful military in Europe.  Iago would love the opportunity to hold this position.  Iago and Othello are like in that they both have extensive military experience; the intellectual Cassio serves as a foil to Iago in this way, which enhances the comparison between Iago and Othello.  Since Iago and Othello are similar in this way, have fought in battle together, and play similar roles in society, either one of them could hold the post.  Othello has earned it through his merit, but Iago feels entitled to it through his aristocratic origins, and may subconsciously wish that he could overthrow Othello and claim the post as his own.

Sound and Sense Chapter 12

• Rhythm in language = natural rise and fall of inflection and syllable accents
• Rhetorical stresses clarify intentions (e.g. I don’t believe you vs. I don’t believe you, etc.)
• Understanding the intention of the line sometimes helps the reader understand the meter
• Poets can vary the way a line ends (run-on, end stop, etc.) to create pauses
• They can also end a phrase/create a pause within a line (called a caesura)
• Free verse has no necessary rhythmic differences from prose → important to understand that the poetic line is free verse’s basic rhythmic unit – create rhythmic contrast from line to line
• Prose poem – line is not a unit of rhythm
• Meter – deliberate arrangement of accents of language at certain intervals
• Foot – unit of meter
• Rhythm = actual flow of sound, meter = arranged patterns of sound
• Iamb (Iambic) – accent on 2^nd of 2 syllables
• Trochee (Trochaic) – accent on 1^st of 2 syllables
• Anapest (Anapestic) – accent on 3^rd of 3 syllables
• Dactyl (Dactylic) – accent on 1^st of 3 syllables
• Spondee (Spondaic) – accent on both of 2 syllables
• Mono, di, tri, tetra, penta, hexa = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 feet per line
• Stanza – group of lines whose metrical verse is repeated throughout the poem
• Metrical Variations – calling attention to certain sounds by deviating from metrical pattern. Usually obvious and striking
• Substitution – replacing regular foot with a different one
• Extrametrical syllables – added at beginnings/endings of lines
• Truncation – omission of unaccented syllables
• Meter can be diagrammed, but rhythm cannot because it includes pitch, duration, juncture, etc.
• Scansion – taxonomy of poetic meter
• Scan through a poem and determine meter, then look at deviations (e.g. spondee in iambic meter)
• Keep in mind: extrametrical syllables to not change the classification of the meter
• It is not necessary to mark up the meter of a poem, but take note as you read
• The unaccented syllable in one foot can be more stressed than the accent in the one before, to create a crescendo effect
• Note that foot divisions help identify meter but do not organize thoughts
• Perfect regularity of meter is by no means necessary or “better”
• It can be powerful, but it can also be monotonous, and deviations from meter can be effective
• Expected Rhythm – framework set up in the mind of the reader for what “should” come next
• Actual Rhythm – what actually does come next – can confirm the expected rhythm or not
• Ways to introduce rhythmic variation
• Substitute different feet
• Rhetorical stressing → crescendo effect
• Grammatical and rhetorical pauses – punctuation, etc.
• Rhetorical pauses can be used as a tool to emphasize foot substitution
• Note: Meters do not convey emotions
• What is probably more important than which meter is used is how the meter is handled
• Meter is just one tool – like any other, it is not necessary for “good” poetry

The Stranger Outline

Thesis: Meursault is the personification of Albert Camus’s absurdist philosophy; the foils whom Camus juxtaposes against Meursault further clarify his representation of absurdism.

• Marie constantly trying to construct meaning out of Meursault’s actions
• “She said yes and that she understood what I meant” (42).  Marie is trying to justify something of which she might be jealous, although, Meursault does not make it clear that there was any meaning behind what he was saying at all.  Marie is interpreting what he says in a way that satisfies her, since his vagueness and apparent lack of motive leave what he says open to her interpretation.  Her wild goose chase for meaning in his words contrasts and even conflicts with his words’ lack of meaning.
• “My cigarette tasted bitter… ‘funeral face’” (47).
•  “I kissed her…she smiled”
• Magistrate trying to reason with Meursault about religion
• During Meursault's murder trial, when the magistrate waves a crucifix in Meursault's face, Meursault reports to the reader that the magistrate speaks very "quickly and passionately" of his profound faith in God (68). While Meursault's narration is usually fairly bland, these two adverbs create a clear image of the magistrate that contrasts strongly with the relaxed and measured movements of Meursault. As a result, the magistrate appears juvenile in his proclamation of his faith. By making a mockery of a man of faith, Meursault communicates his disinterest in religion and its lack of rationality and reason. He follows his own code of morals rather than that of any organized religion.
•  (Will rework to fit prompt)
• Lawyers trying to construct an image of Meursault’s character based on his meaningless actions
• “He is the kind of guy who” construction
• Asking him questions about completely unrelated events
• Analyzing events that are clearly meaningless
• Swim, not crying at funeral, dozing off during wake
• Lawyers appear ridiculous compared to Meursault, who appears to be the only one with any focus on what is relevant
• Raymond’s insecurity contrasts with Meursault’s indifference to what society thinks of him
• Assuring himself that he and Meursault are “pals”
• Jumps to the conclusion that his significant other is cheating on him based on small and inconclusive evidence
• Meursault does not make an effort to fit in because he does not believe it is worth the effort, whereas Raymond is desperate for a place among society.

The Stranger #5

Meursault’s murder trial becomes Camus’s primary vehicle of the absurdist philosophy.  Throughout the trial, both lawyers attempt to construct meaning out of Meursault’s past in order to justify their respective arguments, attempting to paint Meursault as the type of man who respectively would or would not commit a murder.  Part of the prosecutor’s evidence that Meursault is a murderer, for example, is Meursault’s “ignorance when asked Maman’s age” (99).  This information is completely trivial and does not necessarily provide any indication of Meursault’s insensitivity, yet the prosecutor claims that Meursault’s ignorance of this one simple number means that Meursault is undoubtedly a murderer.  Camus makes the prosecutor look ridiculous for making this leap of reasoning, and by extension, Camus points out the absurdity of extrapolating from the constructed significance of trivial actions.

Another example of evidence the prosecutor uses to show that the murder was premeditated is Meursault’s “swim the next day—with a woman” (99).  The reader realizes that this supposed evidence is totally meaningless because Meursault says so himself.  When Marie invites Meursault to swim with her, he agrees not because he predicts that responding “yes” to Marie is simply easier than responding “no.”  However, the prosecutor attempts to interpret this decision as an indication that Meursault takes delight in death.  To the reader, this reasoning appears even more ridiculous because the reader experiences first-hand the actual reasoning behind Meursault’s choice to go swimming, which does not have nearly as much significance as the prosecutor claims.

Ironically, the jury comes to the same conclusion that the reader does.  The reader sees clearly at the end of Part I that the murder is definitely not an accident; Meursault points the gun at the Arab slowly and carefully before he pulls the trigger.  However, the jury reaches the same verdict based on absurd extrapolations of meaningless events in Meursault’s past.  The difference is that the jury reaches their decision in a roundabout, unnecessary way, while the reader comes to his conclusion simply and quickly.  Camus’ points about the ridiculousness of interpreting meaningless actions rather than objectively examining what is concretely known in order to make faster and more sensible decisions.

The Stranger #4

In this section of Camus's novella, Meursault reaches an emotional climax.  For the first time, during his murder trial, Meursault feels a "stupid urge to cry" (90).  The trial stirs strong emotions in Meursault because he "could feel how much all these people [in the courtroom] hated [him]" (90).  However, he immediately reproaches himself for almost succumbing to his emotions, calling the compulsion to cry "stupid".  This is the first time Meursault appears to care what others think of his social decisions.  Even during the trial, the lawyers give examples of Meursault's unconventional decisions, primarily those surrounding his mother's death.  For example, he does not cry or grieve, he does not stay at her grave to pay his last respects, and he takes a girl on a light-hearted date the following day.

Why might Meursault draw the line at this instance of societal disapproval?  Never before has he minded when the people around him judge him for his self-serving and strangely indifferent impulses.  However, all of these impulses and their consequences have suddenly accumulated into one moment, and they have produced a novel affect on Meursault.  Each individual decision leading up to this moment pays off for Meursault; he does not 'waste time' dwelling on his mother's death, and he has an enjoyable, satisfying evening with a women whom he finds attractive.  However, this is the first instance in which his impulses have negative consequences; therefore, this is the first time Meursault feels regret.  Meursault feels the urge to cry because, for the first time, he regrets his self-centered lifestyle and the consequences of his choices.