Death Poem

Reflect upon your life but “as it is;”

Othello knew too well; those words are his.

The joyous times in which you reminisce

Are holy as is God’s own final kiss.

Life is journeys made and lessons learned,

And oceans crossed, storms weathered, fires burned.

Think of what has made you who you are;

It’s not surprising you have come this far.

But what does all this ‘who you are’ entail?

And what defines when you succeed or fail?

These arbitrary words will never end;

Each path meanders to another aimless bend.

But your existence now can have a voice,

All through this one last arbitrary choice.

Othello #8

In the final scene of Othello, the way Desdemona responds to Othello's accusations of her infidelity heightens the tragedy of her death. At the beginning of their dialogue, Desdemona speaks of herself with humble confidence; while she takes care not to anger Othello further, she says that she is confident that any witnesses will deny the claim that she has been unfaithful. This strategy mirrors the way Othello reacted to the accusations of Brabantio, Desdemona's father. Just as he encourages a trial so that the evidence in his favor will speak for itself, Desdemona asks Othello to fetch Cassio so that he can explain away the misunderstanding. Othello, however, refuses to ask Cassio about the matter, and his ignorant refusal is frustrating to the audience, who knows that Cassio could easily solve the problem and stop Othello from killing Desdemona. This dramatic irony enhances the sense of tragedy because it exposes a way in which this massive tragedy could be a life's swiftly and easily.

Furthermore, the tragedy increases as a result of Desdemona's virtue. When Othello makes up his mind to murder her, she stops arguing but instead apologizes for offending him. Her apologies create even more tragedy because the audience knows that she has nothing to apologize for, and that all she wants in the world is to please the man who is about to kill her. She is endlessly forgiving, even to the man who murders her without any good reason. Othello is not only committing a murder; he is murdering someone who is essentially without fault, which makes the action even more tragic.

Othello V.ii.1-24

Othello contemplates both his motives and his possible consequences of murdering Desdemona as he enters their bedroom where she is asleep.  He creates a parallel between "Put[ting] out the light" that guides him through the dark room and "put[ting] out the light" that is Desdemona's living spirit (7).  As he notes later, the important distinction between these two lights is that Othello could easily find another torch to light the way, but he could never find another love like Desdemona to figuratively brighten his life as she has.  Othello makes other connections between fire and life, such as when he connects the two Greek myths of Prometheus: one in which Prometheus creates mankind, and the other when Prometheus shows mankind fire.  By comparing life to a flame about to go out, Othello gives the impression that he is under a lot of pressure and that his time as well as Desdemona's is running short before he must make the important decision whether or not to end her life.

Othello concludes his soliloquy with a chain of paradoxes such as "So sweet was ne'er so fatal" (22).  The contradictory nature of the last several phrases of his speech reflect Othello's conflicted emotions as he contemplates murdering the love of his life on rather inconclusive evidence of her infidelity.

Othello #5

Iago continues to manipulate Othello by inciting his jealousy. However, Iago never makes accusations that would lead to Othello's jealousy; he uses subliminal suggestion to cause Othello to make himself jealous with his own imagination. At the beginning of Act IV, Iago hints that Cassio may have transgressed against Othello, innocently asking, "what of I had said I had seen him do you wrong?" (28). Othello immediately begins to ask Iago questions, and Iago keeps him guessing. When Iago finally gives Othello a taste of an answer, he qualifies it with "what you will," feigning modesty for his own eyewitness account. Upon hearing this vague answer, Othello begins a brief monologue that is very staccato and inquisitive. The quickness of the line demonstrates the Othello is beginning to become paranoid about his wife even though Iago has not even given him a straight answer. Iago has manipulated Othello so that Othello is begging Iago for information that he knows will infuriate him if Iago is correct. This manipulation is an example of the evil of Iago; he manipulates the characters of the play so that they come crawling to him to expedite their own downfall.

Othello #4

Iago has made clear that he intends to wreak havoc upon several of the characters in the play by exploiting their best traits rather than exploiting their weaknesses. For example, he continues to come closer to undermining Othello by exploiting Othello's trust. After Othello strips Cassio of his lieutenancy, Iago continues to sing Othello's praises. Between lines 116 and 134, he addresses Othello as "my lord" four times, which is enough that even Othello notices his excessive flattery. Iago wishes to earn and keep Othello's trust by constantly expressing his feigned reverence for Othello. Iago also brings himself closer to Othello by portraying himself as a man of trust. After Cassio loses his post, Iago notes to Othello, "I think that be is honest," and he repeats himself almost word for word just five lines later (145). By showing that he trusts others and has patience with transgressors, Iago intends to give Othello the impression that he transitively deserves Othello's patience and trust.