So we have decidedin the best interests of all to discontinue this practice. The Salvagings willproceed without further ado."A collective murmur goes up from us.
The power of silence. Which is in contrast to the influence of gossip, the little tiny whispers. Gilead has even grasped on the little murmurings as a sort of rebellion
She loved me for the dangers I had passed,And I loved her that she did pity them.
Ironic because they see (Desdemona) sees tragedy as his heroism and his appeal, the pity she has on him. And yet he only turns more pitiful because he passes more and more tragedies later on. Desdemona is even more of an angel then. Cradling the child of a devil
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,Will do as if for surety. He holds me well
In this case, Iago is describing the effect and power he holds on others, by spreading suspicion. Could it be that he himself is entranced by the workings of suspicion, played by some external force? His power seems to work against him!
Dear general, I never gave you cause
Iago gave him cause. (REASON)
Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.From this time forth I never will speak word.
His last rebellion, his final influence over the situation -- knowing nothing. And its ironic because he was the source of all knowledge and information that sparked all the events, and now that everything is done, he is still. There is no more movement, even if they would like there to be some. In this way he is really like Shakespeare, having the power to cause and inhibit action through knowledge -- the greed of which is Othello's fatal flaw.
Set you down this,And say besides that in Aleppo once,Where a malignant and a turbaned TurkBeat a Venetian and traduced the state,I took by the throat the circumcisèd dog,And smote him, thus
By killing himself, he is cleansing the world of his "inner darkness" being a Turk, the beastliness that ruined the superior and ordered Venetian society. It is this, himself, who he kills -- showing he is, at heart, still a Turk, and not the driving motivation that causes all these events to unfold (Iago) -- as Iago is stabbed but has not died. This signifies the curse of suspicion and reason cannot be eliminated -- reason preys on individual people and is not something one can rid. In the end, he chooses once again to rid the tumor of society (which he believes first is his wife, Desdemona, now it is him, the Turk), following honor rather than personal desire.
My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago
He is not any of these three.
Nobody. I myself. Farewel
Is this Shakespeare condemning the unjust nature of women having to take the blame for all -- or an emphasis on her angelic and merciful nature, juxtaposed with Iago's devil persona?
Yet I’ll not shed her blood,Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snowAnd smooth as monumental alabaster.Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Othello doesn't want to ruin or taint her purity and innocence that she sees, but knows he has to take her light. And he acknowledges that even Prometheus cannot bring back that inner light she has. It shows that he sees through her objectification and beauty and sees her invaluable light.
And yet he hath given me satisfying reasons.'Tis but a man gone
Simply REASON and logic has gotten in the way and destroys all.
I will hear further reason for this.RODERIGOI'll come and hear what reasons you have for doing this.IAGOAnd you shall be satisfied
REASON!
I will show you such anecessity in his death that you shall think yourselfbound to put it on him.
Shows his role as reason, simply to show a coherency, a line of cause and effect.
Why, by making him uncapable of Othello’s place:knocking out his brains.
If Iago is reason, and Roderigo seeks reason, and Iago is the cause of all this destruction, then it should be said that the human need for reason (which crushes emotion) is what brings downfall. Logic is what has cut off Othello's motivation (heart). Iago is the personalization of human reason
Fie, there is no such man. It is impossible
Maybe he is right, in the sense that he is not a man who could scheme something like this. It is simply Othello's choice to follow suspicion that led him to this. It is impossible for someone to scheme it up.
Alas, alas!It is not honesty in me to speakWhat I have seen and known. You shall observe him,And his own courses will denote him soThat I may save my speech. Do but go afterAnd mark how he continues.
Funnily Iago does not incite suspicion in Lodovico, only Othello. Perhaps that emphasizes Iago is a delusional part of Othello, the inner darkness that arises, indicating Othello has a fatal flaw that differs from all other characters. Is it really because he represses something? If so what? Why is he weak in his convictions and easy to sway? What does that show? What does it say about how he sees Desdemona?
Your case is better.Oh, ’tis the spite of hell, the fiend’s arch-mock,To lip a wanton in a secure couch,And to suppose her chaste. No, let me know,And knowing what I am, I know what she shall be
Advising against innocence, against not knowing, although Iago's advice that gives Othello a taste of new information is really what leads to his downfall.
Nature would not investherself in such shadowing passion without someinstruction. It is not words that shake me thus.
Shows his reason being guided fully by physical emotion and anger, that even causes a seizure. He is not like Iago, as Iago has free will with the absence of emotion. Only reason, and that is why he is isolated from the rest, different. Juxtaposition between Othello (human) and Iago (reason, devil) and Desdemona (love, emotion) like tug of war
Alas, thrice-gentle Cassio,My advocation is not now in tune.
The fact that Desdemona is sometimes represented as divinity, as a guardian angel, shows that the fact that Othello is rejecting her advocation shows he is falling into his devil, into his inner Iago -- he is losing touch with God, with righteousness (while ironically thinking he is doing the right thing by being civil)
Witness that here Iago doth give upThe execution of his wit, hands, heart,To wronged Othello’s service. Let him command,And to obey shall be in me remorse,What bloody business ever
Iago has fully vowed himself to this plot that he has created, perhaps even if it means it will destroy him. Why? What is his motive? Does simply the creation of an entertaining story constitute the meaning of life?
If imputation and strong circumstancesWhich lead directly to the door of truthWill give you satisfaction, you may have ’t
The dirty satisfaction of knowing is what tears everything down. The desire of knowing the full truth once it has been handed a little to you -- curiosity kills the cat. In this way Iago is the fruit of TEMPTATION!
The Moor already changes with my poison.Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisonsWhich at the first are scarce found to distaste,But with a little act upon the bloodBurn like the mines of sulfur
Describing how Iago's act was very little, but turned dramatic due to to perhaps everyone's love for drama
In the meantime,Let me be thought too busy in my fears—As worthy cause I have to fear I am—And hold her free, I do beseech your honor
He plays both sides, the suspicion and the "no it couldn't be", showing that it is Othello that chooses the suspicion.
In Venice they do let God see the pranksThey dare not show their husbands. Their bestconscience
Showing he lacks knowledge because he is not Venetian
You cannot, if my heart were in your hand,Nor shall not, whilst ’tis in my custody
The fact he goes on to talk means he has no heart.
Though I perchance am vicious in my guess,As, I confess, it is my nature’s plagueTo spy into abuses, and oft my jealousyShapes faults that are not, that your wisdom,From one that so imperfectly conceits,Would take no notice, nor build yourself a trouble
IAGO QUITE LITERALLY IS HONEST WITH OTHELLO! He warns him that these suspicions, these inner thoughts are all a delusion, and yet Othello's insecurity and stubbornness refuses to believe it
As where’s that palace whereinto foul thingsSometimes intrude not? Who has that breast so pureWherein uncleanly apprehensionsKeep leets and law-days and in sessions sitWith meditations lawful?
The palace refers to the mind where suspicion creeps in, who DOESN'T have suspicion invade their minds? Certainly not Othello, and Iago is stating the same for him, because they are one and the same person? He is literally telling him the truth of the situation, that these thoughts are "vile and false" but Othello will not listen.
Nay, yet there’s more in this.I prithee speak to me as to thy thinkings,As thou dost ruminate, and give thy worst of thoughtsThe worst of words
Iago has not elaborated or said much, it is Othello who is prying deeper and deeper into "knowing" what he should not, into peering into something that would disturb his peace. This connects to Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. It is then Othello's fault for looking for answers to his suspicions which he confirms with confirmation bias.
“Think, my lord?” Alas, thou echo’st meAs if there were some monster in thy thoughtToo hideous to be shown.
Again, Iago is but an echo and reaffirmation of what is already there: he has said very little.
Think, my lord?
He acts as an echo, and an echo is simply just a reaffirmation, a suspicion being ingrained, a hallucination
I warrant it grieves my husbandAs if the cause were his
Quite literally he was the cause.
Pleasure and action make the hours seem short
Is he doing it just for pleasure?
So will I turn her virtue into pitchAnd out of her own goodness make the netThat shall enmesh them all.
He is inversing all, he is twisting everything, he is finding loopholes
I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear:That she repeals him for her body’s lust.
Again, he is like the little devil on the shoulder, a little counsel that stirs up existing insecurity
And what’s he then that says I play the villain?When this advice is free I give and honest,Probal to thinking and indeed the courseTo win the Moor again?
even he states, what has he seriously done, but to carry words here and there, to incite what's already there?
That we should, with joy, pleasance revel and applause,transform ourselves into beasts!
Touches on innocence, free will and lack of constraint, lack of morality, lack of humanity == Blake's innocence == protection from Iago
O thou invisible spirit of wine, ifthou hast no name to be known by, let us call theedevil!
Iago forced the drinks on him, and therefore he is the "devil" and yet, Iago has done nothing but let normal events carry out, because the devil is in Cassio himself, and in everyone. Does the wine signifying Jesus's blood mean anything for this?
You are but now cast inhis mood, a punishment more in policy than in malice
Yet again stating the intentions of everyone in just wariness of their reputation and pride
Reputation is an idle and most falseimposition, oft got without merit and lost withoutdeserving.
He speaks his true beliefs?
You have lost no reputation at all unless yourepute yourself such a loser.
Again example why he is a creator: Free will.
What’s the matterThat you unlace your reputation thusAnd spend your rich opinion for the nameOf a night-brawler? Give me answer to it.
Iago is the answer, because the one with the most restraint ends up being undone the easiest.
And ’tis great pity that the noble MoorShould hazard such a place as his own secondWith one of an ingraft infirmity
Vulnerability is seen as the vice in this case. The absence of pride and ego. And yet that is what would prevent Iago's manipulative plot, the understanding and the released grip of pride and ego, and the acceptance of less noble intentions
Perhaps he sees it not, or his good naturePrizes the virtue that appears in CassioAnd looks not on his evils. Is not this true?
He will eventually turn on Cassio, so he will see his evils, but he not until the end will see Iago's evils, because perhaps Iago is a part of each, and pride is what covers them from accepting and admitting their inner evils.
Tis pride that pulls the country down,Then take thine auld cloak about thee.Some wine, ho
Iago is directly stating, or singing, while all are under his curse, that it is pride that pulls each down -- and he is merely showing its effects. Kind of 4th wall
That may offend the isle. But here they come.If consequence do but approve my dreamMy boat sails freely, both with wind and stream.
He speaks as if he is playing a strategic game of chess. He is the gamemaster, Shakespeare himself, the comedic clown that turns everything upside down.
Three lads of Cyprus, noble swelling spirits(That hold their honors in a wary distance,The very elements of this warlike isle
They protect their honor with wariness, indicating a sense of hiding, of restraint, of self-control, and most of all, of shame. This is a string that Iago pulls, something already bound to topple, Iago is just the small push like a domino.
and behold what innovation it makeshere.
Iago simply uncovers their true and repressed selves, like a glass of wine does. In some way he is not a villain, he is just the ignition of an already burning flame
Oh, they are our friends. But one cup. I’ll drink foryou
Demonstrating Iago's purpose: the devil's temptation
What an eye she has! Methinks it sounds a parley toprovocation.
Juxtaposition as how they see women: Iago sees women as witches capable of destroying, while Cassio sees her as a lady.
Make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward meFor making him egregiously an assAnd practicing upon his peace and quietEven to madness.
Have the moor thank him for his own destruction -- because it is him who will destroy himself and simply the ignition of his motivations that drives him to do so.
Now, I do love her too,Not out of absolute lust—though peradventureI stand accountant for as great a sin—But partly led to diet my revenge
He loves her for her fine placement in his chessboard, his puppeteering.
Hath leaped into my seat. The thought whereofDoth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards,And nothing can or shall content my soulTill I am evened with him, wife for wife
Again, as a possession -- he sees his wife as a possession and is not jealous because it is her who has been stolen away, but because Othello is looking down on Iago and his ego is hurt.
without the which there were no expectation ofour prosperity.
"Our prosperity signifies that he is both sidling up to his characters in his grand puppet show and actually a integral part of them literally. He has the same motivations as each of the characters, only he is helping all of them achieve their most sinister goals
Well.
Simply considering, helpless to his inner suspicions that rule him (Iago) ... It is all just our inner paranoia that causes conflict -- aka. our inner Iago
Doyou find some occasion to anger Cassio, either byspeaking too loud, or tainting his discipline, or fromwhat other course you please, which the time shall morefavorably minister
Notice Iago doesn't actually do anything terrible. He is simply the whisper in each's ear that causes the storyline to unfold in whatever manner -- he is barely a presence. In this case, he is the inner devil (on the shoulder) of each of the characters.. no?
The wine she drinks is made ofgrapes.
As opposed to Jesus's blood? Does this imply she is a fake? And that she wears a facade?
A knave very voluble, no furtherconscionable than in putting on the mere form of civiland humane seeming, for the better compassing of hissalt and most hidden loose affection.
He is describing Cassio as a monster or devil with a facade of human civilness, when in fact it is Iago who is the monster, but fully civil and detached from his emotions. He sees the devil in desire, lust and love, when in fact the one who ruins it all is the one who cannot accept the human subjective nature including feeling and emotion
not share her thoughts, who could see men pursuing herbut not pay them any attention . . . that's the sort ofwoman—DESDEMONATo do what?DESDEMONAThe sort of woman to do what?IAGOTo suckle fools and chronicle small beer.
That "perfect woman" or deserving woman will not do her job properly -- a woman must be imperfect to be a woman?
She that was ever fair and never proud,Had tongue at will and yet was never loud,Never lacked gold and yet went never gay,
He is describing someone without extremities, in the perfect balance of all, which is not human
f she be black, and thereto have a wit,She’ll find a white that shall her blackness fit.
Iago's point is that a woman's main asset is her beauty -- that will get her anywhere. And that her goal is to marry and produce an heir.
You rise to play and go to bed to work.
WOW!!!!
As of her tongue she oft bestows on me,You would have have enough
Misogynistic thinking -- he does not believe that her speech is worth his listening.
Whose footing here anticipates our thoughtsA se'nnight’s speed
I interpreted this as Iago's footing being sly and undetected by the human mind...? Was I wrong?
News, lads, Our wars are done
Ironic, because they are not done -- the storm has overtaken the threat of the turks.
For they were partedWith foul and violent tempest
Foreshadows the incoming rift, the blinding storm that will tear Cassio and Othello apart. The word "foul and violent" describes the manner in which Iago will do this
ake all the money thou canst. If sanctimonyand a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian andsupersubtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits and allthe tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her.
Showing that he believes his wills make him the God of the world, that he has ultimate power over the chessboard just through intention alone -- and that is the work of the devil, the rejection of emotion's sway on decision making, and pure reason
ut we have reason tocool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbittedlusts. Whereof I take this that you call love to be asect or scion.
Perhaps his belief that he is uncontrolled by emotion and unconstrainted, and therefore is superior, is what makes him so evil? The detachment of oneself to their biological and true feeling is the work of the devil: reason.
Virtue? A fig! 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus orthus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our willsare gardeners
Iago's main core lies in self-control and motivation -- he believes himself to be a man of simple free will, and unlimited freedom. Unrestrained and in control of the chessboard -- he assumes both the external world and (mistakenly) his internal world are under his control, but they may not be.
sterile with idleness, or manured withindustry
Fertile or not fertile, choice of life and or death, of renewal or of idleness
I would change my humanitywith a baboon
He would sell his soul to the devil instead of sacrificing himself for another's love -- he does not believe in love.