INTRODUCTION
At the heart of all our studies we have
language. The quality of your commentary will depend
on your knowledge and appreciation of the language of the play and its effect
on us, an audience. In assessing the language of the play we should consider
such features as the following;
Metaphor, elemental images, strong contrasts,
personification, action or movement, classical references, life and death,
imperatives, extreme states, the spiritual, lists, Christian or biblical
references, sensuous language, emotive language,
Read the following speech from Othello to
Desdemona when they first meet in Cypress in Act 2 Scene 1
If after every tempest come such
calms,
May the winds blow till they have waken'd death!
And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas
Olympus-high and duck again as low
As hell's from heaven! If it were now to die,
'Twere now to be most happy; for, I fear,
My soul hath her content so absolute
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate.
May the winds blow till they have waken'd death!
And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas
Olympus-high and duck again as low
As hell's from heaven! If it were now to die,
'Twere now to be most happy; for, I fear,
My soul hath her content so absolute
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate.
What is impressive about the language is the
huge variety and intensity of literary features Shakespeare uses. I just picked
the above speech at random – but see how much of the above list of features are
being used.
THE
LANGUAGE OF THE COURT
The language of the court is defined by formal,
eloquent and sophisticated language. All the senators and courtiers conduct
themselves in this fashion. Perhaps we can best see the formal language of the
court when it is contrasted with Iagos’ language: for example
Not this hour, lieutenant; 'tis not yet ten o' the
clock. Our general cast us thus early for the love
of his Desdemona; who let us not therefore blame:
he hath not yet made wanton the night with her; and
she is sport for Jove.
clock. Our general cast us thus early for the love
of his Desdemona; who let us not therefore blame:
he hath not yet made wanton the night with her; and
she is sport for Jove.
OTHELLO [Act 1 – Act 3]
Grand
Eloquent
Proud
Natural authority
IAGO
Rational
Practical
Crude
Vivid
Rodregio is presented in the play as a traditional literary figure – the courtier. He loves an unobtainable woman, from a far, uses token as a way of gaining her favour and undergoes tasks – set by Iago – to win her. In this case his quest is fruitless and comic, for example
Light
and Dark
As the play develops we realise that the some
of the key scenes of the play are set at night. The whole of Act One and from
the end of Act 4 through to the end of the play are all set at night.
It is in the dark that Iago commits his most
physical of crimes
Three lads of Cyprus, noble swelling
spirits,/That hold their honours in a wary distance,The very elements of this
warlike isle,Have I to-night fluster'd with flowing cups,And they watch
too.
Iago
Act 2 Scene 3
This is the night/That either makes me
or fordoes me
quite.
Iago Act 5 Scene 1
I have't. It is engender'd. Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light Act 1 Scene 3
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light Act 1 Scene 3
Sight
and Blindness
Despite the fresh morning light – after the
storm and after Desdemona and Othello’s first night together – Iago is able to
direct people’s vision to what he chooses for them to see. Throughout the play
and with increasing power and destructive effects Iago works
an old black ram
Is topping your white ewe. Iago Act 1 Scene 1
Is topping your white ewe. Iago Act 1 Scene 1
He takes her by the palm: ay, well said,/whisper: with as little a web as
this will I/ensnare as great a fly as Cassio.
Iago Act 2 Scene 1
Didst thou/not see her
paddle with the palm of his hand? didst/not
mark that?
Iago Act 2 Scene 1
Ha! I like not that
Cassio, my lord! No, sure, I cannot think
it,
That he would steal away so guilty-like,
Seeing you coming. Iago Act 3 Scene 3
That he would steal away so guilty-like,
Seeing you coming. Iago Act 3 Scene 3
I have no great devotion to the deed;
And yet he hath given me satisfying reasons:
'Tis but a man gone. Forth, my sword: he dies. Rodregio Act 5 Scene 1
And yet he hath given me satisfying reasons:
'Tis but a man gone. Forth, my sword: he dies. Rodregio Act 5 Scene 1
Plants
Gardens were a great source of literary
imagery in Renaissance times. Recreating The Garden of Eden – a paradise on
earth – was a pursuit of many wealthy landowners. And perhaps the relationship
between Othello and Desdemona acts as a form of earthly paradise -
Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my
soul,/But I do love thee! and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again.
Othello Act 3 Scene 3
Iago is the serpent in this garden that
destroys this apparently perfect state. Building on this Iago sees nature as
something out of control. Something that left to its own devises will become
wild, overgrown and corrupt. It is the human will – Iago’s gardener – the human
will that can control it and keep it safe. Thus human beings become
co-workers with God in the act of creation
Virtue! a fig! 'tis in ourselves that
we are thus/or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which/our
wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant/nettles, or sow lettuce,
set hyssop and weed up/thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs,/
or distract it with many, either to have it sterile/with idleness, or
manured with industry, why, the/ power and corrigible authority of this
lies in our wills.
Iago Act 1 Scene 3
Iago talks of medicine that in reality is
poison. Perhaps drawing on the serpent imagery. Thus in Act 3 Scene 3 he says
Not poppy, nor mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou owedst yesterday. Iago Act 3 Scene 3
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou owedst yesterday. Iago Act 3 Scene 3
Work on,
My medicine, work! Iago Act 4 Scene 1
My medicine, work! Iago Act 4 Scene 1
Animals
Like the natural world without human will and
discipline the animal world will become wild and grow corrupt if untended. The
many references to animals see them as lesser creatures than humans, they are
instinctual, motivated by base instincts of lust. It is these instincts which
Shakespeare wants us to see control the lives of the characters in the play.
you'll/ have your daughter covered with a Barbary
horse;
you'll have your nephews neigh to you; you'll have
coursers for cousins and gennets for germans. Iago Act 1 Scene 1
you'll have your nephews neigh to you; you'll have
coursers for cousins and gennets for germans. Iago Act 1 Scene 1
The Moor is of a free and open nature,
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by the nose
As asses are. Iago Act 1 Scene 3
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by the nose
As asses are. Iago Act 1 Scene 3
Cassio shall have my place. And, sir,
tonight,
I do entreat that we may sup together:
You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus.
I do entreat that we may sup together:
You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus.
--Goats and monkeys!
Act 4 Scene 1
Demons
and Monsters
When
the symbolism of animals fails to articulate the shocking description of human
behaviour then demons and monsters take over. Shakespeare draws on classical
and Christian imagery
O,
beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on Iago Act 3 Scene 3
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on Iago Act 3 Scene 3
A horned man's a monster and a beast.
Othello Act 4 Scene 1
jealousy - dangerously and uncannily
self-generating, a “monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself
Emillia Act 3 Scene 4
Will you, I pray, demand that demi-devil
Why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body? Act 5 Scene 2
Why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body? Act 5 Scene 2
Hell
and Heaven
When Othello accuses Desdemona of adultery in
Act 4 Scene 2 ‘heaven’ is evoked many times to swear the truth of Desdemona’s
innocence. For example
Heaven doth truly know it.
Desdemona Act 4 Scene 2
Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell. Othello
Act 4 Scene 2
I have't. It is engender'd. Hell and
night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light. Iago Act 1 Scene 3
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light. Iago Act 1 Scene 3
Come,
swear it, damn thyself
Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves
Should fear to seize thee: therefore be double damn'd:
Swear thou art honest. Othello Act 4 Scene 2
Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves
Should fear to seize thee: therefore be double damn'd:
Swear thou art honest. Othello Act 4 Scene 2
