1. Act 4, Scene 1 AO1: What happens in this scene?
Look at your notes and quickly summarise.

2. Act 4 Scene 1
At the start of the scene, Iago torments Othello crude images of Desdemona's infidelity, till he "falls into a trance"
Iago wakes Othello and promises to give him evidence of Desdemona's guilt from Cassio's own lips
Iago asks Cassio about Bianca, who appears with Desdemona's handkerchief, and leaves, pursued by Cassio;
Othello vows to murder his wife
Lodovico arrives with orders from Venice, and witnesses Othello striking Desdemona, being told by Iago that Othello is "much changed"

3. What other scene does this opening remind you of?
AO2: Structure - Mirroring
What other scene does this opening remind you of?
Enter OTHELLO and IAGO.
IAGO Will you think so?
OTHELLO Think so, Iago!
IAGO What,
To kiss in private? 5
OTHELLO An unauthorized kiss.
IAGO Or to be naked with her friend in bed
An hour or more, not meaning any harm?
OTHELLO Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm!
It is hypocrisy against the devil: 10
They that mean virtuously, and yet do so,
The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven.
IAGO So they do nothing, 'tis a venial slip:
But if I give my wife a handkerchief,--
OTHELLO What then?
Recall Act 1 Scene 1, which starts with Iago in the middle of an agitated conversation with someone completely under his control. Instead of Roderigo, we have Othello.
Notice Othello uses Christian imagery here: he still has a sense of morality.

4. AO2: Iago’s Control
Iago’s methods are a sadistic repetition of those he used in Act 3 Scene 3. He commands Othello’s imagination, conjuring up crude images of infidelity.
IAGO So they do nothing, 'tis a venial slip:
But if I give my wife a handkerchief,--
OTHELLO What then?
IAGO Why, then, 'tis hers, my lord; and, being hers, She may, I think, bestow't on any man.
Here, he plays devil’s advocate by suggesting Desdemona’s handkerchief (and honour) is hers to give away as she chooses. He keeps Othello focused on the handkerchief.
OTHELLO What hath he said?
IAGO 'Faith, that he did--I know not what he did.
OTHELLO What? what?
IAGO Lie--
OTHELLO With her?
IAGO With her, on her; what you will.
Here, he uses such casually brutal and crude language that he brings on Othello’s fit.

5. “By heaven, I would most gladly have forgot it.
AO2: Iago’s Control – Key Quote
Iago keeps Othello focused on the handkerchief, even though Othello says he’d rather forget it:
Lines 18-20:
“By heaven, I would most gladly have forgot it.
Thou said'st, it comes o'er my memory,
As doth the raven o'er the infected house”
The plague reference reminds us that Iago is infecting Othello with poison.
Croaking ravens were thought to be birds of ill omen, so the imagery here foreshadows the tragic outcome of the play.
The sentence structure suggests that Othello’s mind is being acted upon. He is no longer in control of this thoughts and is passive.

6. My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught;
AO2: Iago’s Control
Look at how Iago speaks to Othello when he is in the middle of his fit:
“Work on,
My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught;
And many worthy and chaste dames even thus,
All guiltless, meet reproach. What, ho! my lord!
My lord, I say! Othello!”
There is irony in this reference to medicine – what Iago is really giving Othello is poison.
Here, he uses Othello’s name – he no longer speaks to his ‘lord’ (and victim!) with respect.

7. “…make him tell the tale anew,
AO2: Iago’s Control
After the fit is over, Iago continues to torment Othello with visions of his wife and Cassio. He tells him he will speak to Cassio and:
Lines 80-82:
“…make him tell the tale anew,
Where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when
He hath, and is again to cope your wife”
Each monosyllable is designed to act like a blow, suggesting the repeated and habitual nature of the offence. He is suggesting that Desdemona’s infidelity has been happening for a long time: both in Venice and in Cyprus.
Iago culminates with the vulgar ‘cope’, representing Desdemona as little more than a whore. His triumph in this area can be seen in the coming scenes where Othello addresses Desdemona in this way.

8. “As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad;
AO2: Iago’s Control
Iago also controls Cassio when they discuss Bianca. Every word Cassio speaks is infected with Iago’s poison and crude world view.
Lines 96-99:
“As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad;
And his unbookish jealousy must construe
Poor Cassio's smiles, gestures and light behaviour,
Quite in the wrong.”
Line 107:
“Alas, poor rogue! I think, i' faith, she loves me.”
“She was here even now; she haunts me in every place. I was the other day talking on the sea-bank with certain Venetians; and thither comes the bauble, and, by this hand, she falls me thus about my neck-- […]
So hangs, and lolls, and weeps upon me; so hales, and pulls me: ha, ha, ha!”
Lines :
Note the disrespect and disregard Cassio holds for Bianca.

9. AO2: Iago’s Control
Iago is so in control that he even chooses how Desdemona will die.
Line 200:
“Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated.”
1. What is the irony of this word?
2. Other than simple sadism, why does Iago want Desdemona and Cassio dead?
3. How does Iago’s choice of death for Desdemona fit his plan?

10. AO2: Iago’s Control
Iago is so in control that he even chooses how Desdemona will die.
Line 200:
“Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated.”
2. Other than simple sadism, why does Iago want Desdemona and Cassio dead?
1. What is the irony of this word?
Othello threatened to kill him if he could not ‘prove’ Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. If Othello speaks to Desdemona or Cassio directly, Iago’s deceit will be uncovered.
It is Iago who is the source of ‘infection’ in this play.
The marriage bed is thematically significant: Iago is replacing the loving ritual of consummation with a cruel ritual of strangulation.
3. How does Iago’s choice of death for Desdemona fit his plan?

11. AO2: Othello’s degradation
Othello’s fit is a physical symbol of his degradation. But he is not just degraded by Iago; he degrades himself through his use of language.
OTHELLO What hath he said?
IAGO 'Faith, that he did--I know not what he did. 40
OTHELLO What? what?
IAGO Lie--
OTHELLO With her?
IAGO With her, on her; what you will.
OTHELLO Lie with her! lie on her! We say lie on her, when 45
they belie her. Lie with her! that's fulsome.
--Handkerchief--confessions--handkerchief!--To
confess, and be hanged for his labour;--first, to be
hanged, and then to confess.--I tremble at it.
Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion without some instruction. It is not words that
shake me thus. Pish! Noses, ears, and lips.
--Is't possible?--Confess--handkerchief!--O devil!--
Falls in a trance.
How does Shakespeare use language to portray Othello’s state of mind?

12. AO2: Othello’s degradation
Othello’s fit is a physical symbol of his degradation. But he is not just degraded by Iago; he degrades himself through his use of language.
OTHELLO What hath he said?
IAGO 'Faith, that he did--I know not what he did. 40
OTHELLO What? what?
IAGO Lie--
OTHELLO With her?
IAGO With her, on her; what you will.
OTHELLO Lie with her! lie on her! We say lie on her, when 45
they belie her. Lie with her! that's fulsome.
--Handkerchief--confessions--handkerchief!--To
confess, and be hanged for his labour;--first, to be
hanged, and then to confess.--I tremble at it.
Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion without some instruction. It is not words that
shake me thus. Pish! Noses, ears, and lips.
--Is't possible?--Confess--handkerchief!--O devil!--
Falls in a trance.
His disjointed sentence structures echo his disjointed thoughts. Notice also that he uses prose here.
He is physically affected by his emotions.

13. “I will chop her into messes: cuckold me?”
AO2: Othello’s degradation – savagery and egotism
Othello’s speeches in this scene are full of savagery and egotism.
Line 175:
“Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned to-night; for she shall not live”
Line 193:
“I will chop her into messes: cuckold me?”
Line 197:
“Get me some poison, Iago; this night”
“Good, good: the justice of it pleases: very good.”
Line 202:

14. “Look, how he laughs already!”
AO2: Othello’s degradation – passive and a puppet
During Iago’s conversation with Cassio, Othello is reduced to making helpless comments as he watches, following Iago’s commands in the same way Roderigo did earlier in the play.
Line 106:
“Look, how he laughs already!”
Line 119:
“So, so, so, so: they laugh that win”
Line 127:
“Iago beckons me; now he begins the story.”
Line 136-9:
How does this language show a change in Othello’s character? Who does he sound like?
“Now he tells how she plucked him to my chamber. O, I see that nose of yours, but not that dog I shall throw it to.”

15. “A fine woman! a fair woman! a sweet woman!”
AO2: Othello’s degradation – pathos
Despite the verbal and physical violence of this scene, we do see Othello as a man in pain. His words show his struggle with his feelings of love towards Desdemona:
“A fine woman! a fair woman! a sweet woman!”
Line 172:
“O, the world hath not a sweeter creature”
Line 177:
“…but yet the pity of it, Iago!
O Iago, the pity of it, Iago!”
Line :
Even after Othello has decided he will kill Desdemona he worries that her:
“…body and beauty [will]
unprovide my mind again”
Line 198-9:

16. AO2: Othello’s degradation – physical violence
When the Venetians arrive, bringing news that he is to return to Venice and Cassio is to take his place in Cyprus, Othello quickly slips into oaths:
Lines :
Read the extract you have been given and annotate it in order to answer this question:
How does Shakespeare show the severity of Othello’s transformation in this extract?
Consider:
Othello’s use of language
Any key themes or images
Any evidence of Iago’s influence
How Desdemona and the Venetians respond
The nature of love as represented in this extract

17. OTHELLO Fire and brimstone!
DESDEMONA My lord?
OTHELLO Are you wise?
DESDEMONA What, is he angry?
LODOVICO May be the letter moved him;
For, as I think, they do command him home,
Deputing Cassio in his government.
DESDEMONA Trust me, I am glad on't.
OTHELLO Indeed!
OTHELLO I am glad to see you mad.
DESDEMONA Why, sweet Othello,--
OTHELLO Striking her. Devil!
DESDEMONA I have not deserved this.
LODOVICO My lord, this would not be believed in Venice,
Though I should swear I saw't: 'tis very much:
Make her amends; she weeps.
OTHELLO O devil, devil!
If that the earth could teem with woman's tears,
Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
Out of my sight!
DESDEMONA I will not stay to offend you.
Going
Othello quickly slips into oaths
Key theme of anger, echoing Iago’s manipulations in the last scene
This act of physical violence humiliates everyone; Othello’s honour is destroyed

18. He is rudely implying that Lodovico wants to sleep with Desdemona
LODOVICO Truly, an obedient lady:
I do beseech your lordship, call her back.
OTHELLO Mistress!
DESDEMONA My lord?
OTHELLO What would you with her, sir?
LODOVICO Who, I, my lord?
OTHELLO Ay; you did wish that I would make her turn:
Sir, she can turn, and turn, and yet go on,
And turn again; and she can weep, sir, weep;
And she's obedient, as you say, obedient,
Very obedient. Proceed you in your tears.
Concerning this, sir,--O well-painted passion!--
I am commanded home. Get you away;
I'll send for you anon. Sir, I obey the mandate,
And will return to Venice. Hence, avaunt!
Exit DESDEMONA.
Cassio shall have my place. And, sir, tonight,
I do entreat that we may sup together:
You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus.--Goats and monkeys!
Exit
The violence of the language is echoed by the structure of Othello’s speech – he repeats words and pauses often
The implication here is that Cassio shall have Othello’s wife as well as his office
“Be gone!”
Echoing Iago in : “It is impossible you should see this, were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys” – referring to how Othello gaining proof of Desdemona’s adultery.

19. Analysis
When Othello strikes Desdemona, he shows the severity of his change.
Just her mention of Cassio sends him into an unreasonable rage
Although one of his greatest fears regarding Desdemona's alleged infidelity was that it would blacken his name and reputation
The irony is that Othello is doing that himself
Savagery is taking over his civility, he continues to become the cruel, jealous, passion-spurred "savage" that Brabantio accused him of being.
He is beginning to become a stereotype by his own doing, as he falls farther and farther from himself.