Othello - Act 5 scene 1

How does Shakespeare create a sense of fear and confusion in Act 5 scene 1?


Setting

Language

Structure of lines

Use of characters

Shakespeare sets this scene in Cyprus in which Othello is part of the venetian military. Shakespeare sets this scene at  ‘Night’ on ‘A Street’ in a land away from Othello's home, this may create a sense of fear and confusion to the audience and the characters on stage. This night time setting may symbolise the hidden truth about Desdemona's fake infidelity and Iago's truth being revealed as Rodrigo has found his true nature out. This then evokes catharsis as the audience have fear in Desdemona and Iago to what will happen to them. 

Shakespeare also creates fear and confusion through Iago being manipulative throughout the play which lead him to being shown as the devil. This then creates fear in the audience as they would be scared of the devil. Towards the end of Act 5 scene 1, it is shown that Shakespeare has created fear and confusion through Iagos aside. The audience start to feel fear for the characters that are involved in the tragedy as Iago uses an aside to communicate to the audience, 'this is the night that either makes me or for does me quite.' This implies that he could be successful in his plan to take down Othello or fail in it. But the audience are unaware of which way this could happen therefore it creates fear and confusion for the audience. 

In this scene Shakespeare presents Iago as a fearful character, due to his realisation that his plan could fall apart due to Rodrigo saying that he will ask for all of his gifts back from Desdemona. Although this is ironic as Iago has just been keeping these gifts. Even though his plan is going to fall apart he is still shown as a strong character through his determination, 'He calls me to a restitution large.'  This si then shown through his jealousy of not having such a high status and wanting the role of lieutenant. 

Shakespeare also uses short lines with punctuation of exclamation marks and question marks in order for the audience to feel fear and confusion, 'thou diest!' This gives the audience the impression that the characters feel scared, therefore they are started to speak louder which gradually leads to shouting. At the start of this extract Iago has long speeches, but as it gets to the end his speeches are much shorter, this shows his fear as it shows lower power and fear also shows signs of weaknesses. Shakspeare also uses various different entrances exits and entrances in this scene. Having a lot of characters on the stage can cause the audience to have confusion, but this also creates an extremely manic atmosphere due to the amount of characters around and there are a lot of people to have to follow. 

Desdemona and Emilia

1. What differences are there between Desdemona and Emilia?

The differences between Desdemona and Emilia are that Desdemona is higher class which puts a social barrier in-between their relationship. Emilia is older than Desdemona which means that she is much wiser. Therefore she believes that women will cheat on men but it will be their fault as they did not love the women enough. Therefore this proves that Emilia can see the reality but Desdemona is oblivious to this and does not agree that women would cheat or even have sex with anyone before marriage.This shows that they both have different attitudes towards men and love, Desdemona is much more romantic whereas Emilia sees it as unequal.  Emilia is less passive towards her husband whereas Desdemona is very naive.


2. Why do you think Emilia does not mention the handkerchief to Desdemona? Use what you hear in the video, as well as your own ideas. Consider the relationship between Iago and Emilia, as well as the relationship between Desdemona and Emilia.

Emilia does not mention the handkerchief to her friend Desdemona as she does not believe the handkerchief is very important but it is too Iago, therefore she believes this is a chance for her to get some affection from her husband Iago. Emilia and Iagos relationship is not very strong as they do not have strong bond therefore she believes this will also allow their relationship to get better. If Emilia told Desdemona it may be unprofessional and they do not already have a very strong relationship therefore they would still not be very close if she was told. 

Othello act 4 scene 2

1. What does Othello ask Emilia at the beginning of the scene, and how does Emilia respond?

Othello asks Emilia whether Desdemona has been having an affair, ‘yes, you have seen Cassio and she together.’ Emilia tells him that she has not seen them together and reacts by saying ‘but then I saw no harm, and then I heard each syllable that breath made up between them.’ Emilia constantly says ‘never’ as she knows that nothing is happening as she is with Desdemona every second of the day so does not see how this could happen. She believes that Desdemona would never do such a thing as she can see how much love she has for Othello, therefore she tells Othello this and tells him how much Desdemona loves him.

1. What does Othello say to Desdemona and how does Desdemona respond? Is Othello treating Desdemona fairly?

Othello calls Desdemona a ‘subtle whore.’ But Desdemona does not really respond as she is so naive, therefore she has no idea what is going on. This then means that she does not know why her husband is saying these horrible words about her. From an audiences perspective we would say that Desdemona is being treated unfairly as we know that Iago is making things up about Desdemona’s affair. Therefore she is being treated badly by her husband as he has been made to believe that it is true. But from Othello’s view she is being treated fairly and she is getting what she deserves as he believes that she is having an affair with Cassio. Therefore he believes that she is in the wrong. 

1. When Desdemona and Emilia tell Iago about Othello’s behaviour, how does Iago respond? What does Iago say he thinks is the cause of Othello’s anger? What does Emilia think is the cause?

Iago responds to the situation of Othello’s behaviour in panic, as he has realised that they are going to be able to work out that it is him that has set the plot up about Desdemona’s affair with Cassio. Therefore he is worried that he is going to get caught out and this will make Othello very angry. He blames Othellos cause of anger on ‘the business of the state does him offence, and he does chide with you.’ This means that the letter that Othello was given has angered him and he has a bad day at work, therefore this is Iagos excuse to get himself out of trouble. But Emilia says ‘ I will be hung’d if some eternal villain, some busy and insinuating rogue, some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office, have not devis’d this slander: ill be hung’d else.’ This proves that Emilia has realised that someone has lied to Othello as she is inquisitive enough to work this out. Although if she did know it was Iago she would not be able to say anything as women is inferior to men so she would not have a voice to say anything about her thoughts. 

1. Why is Roderigo angry and how does he threaten Iago? In response, what does Iago say Roderigo must do and why? According to Iago, what will be Roderigo’s reward if he follows Iago’s advice?

Roderigo is angry at Iago as at the start of the play Iago said that he was going to give the jewels to Desdemona but he did not do this which caused Roderigo to be very annoyed at him. Another reason why Roderigo is angry at Iago as at the start of the play Iago promised that Roderigo would get Desdemona but has not completed his one job that he was supposed to do. Therefore he tells Roderigo that Othello and Desedemona are leaving and the only way to get them to stay is killing Cassio, ‘non can be so determinate as the removing of Cassio.’ Therefore Roderigo is not very happy with this so he threatens Iago by saying ‘I will seek satisfaction of you.’ This means that he wants to beat him up as he is very annoyed at Iago. But the audience know that he won’t beat him up as he would not have told him he would have just hit him straight away.