Cassio gives Bianca Desdemona's handkerchief, which he found in his lodgings (Iago had placed it there) and asks her to make a copy of it for him, as he will have to return the original when he finds the owner. Bianca immediately recognizes it as belonging to a woman and berates Cassio for having another mistress.
Iago says in Act I, Scene 1 that he hates Othello because Othello has passed him over as a lieutenant. In other words, Iago believes that Cassio knows less about fighting than a spinster, or old unmarried woman, does. In addition, Iago suspects that his wife, Emilia, has cheated on him with Othello.
What else might he be doing? He said it was a magic handkerchief given to his mother by a sorcerer. According to Othello, the handkerchief is what made his father love his mother so much. Othello might be trying to make Desdemona feel guilty about losing the handkerchief.
What does Desdemona think is the cause of Othello's anger? Emilia says it looks like Othello is jealous of something or someone. State the two reasons Bianca is upset with Cassio. Bianca is upset with Cassio because he left her alone for a while and she knows that he does not actually love her.
Iago claims that he was sleeping near Cassio and then while Cassio was asleep he basically started cuddling with Iago.
Is Othello telling the truth here? What else might he be doing? - The handkerchief has magic in it, and in losing it, the love is gone. - Most likely not.
The moment Iago notices that Roderigo has failed to murder Cassio, he sneaks up behind Cassio and slashes his legs, hoping to kill his rival himself. But Cassio receives medical attention and survives both attacks.
he is angry because iago promised him desdemona and he has gone broke by giving away all of his money and still has not gotten anything in return.
At the start of the play we are given two reasons. One is that Cassio has been picked ahead of him as Lieutenant; the other is that he thinks that Othello slept with Iago's wife, Emilia. Cassio seems to have taken Iago's place in Othello's affections. We, at first, presume that it is a purely professional decision.
She says, "I have a thing for you" (3.3. 301). Iago replies with a nasty joke, but Emilia still wants to please him, and she tells him that she has found Desdemona's handkerchief. Iago immediately tells her to give it to him, and when she asks what he wants with it, he snatches it from her.
Since the handkerchief was the first gift Desdemona received from Othello, she keeps it about her constantly as a symbol of Othello's love. Othello claims that his mother used it to keep his father faithful to her, so, to him, the handkerchief represents marital fidelity.
Iago manipulates Othello into believing his wife Desdemona is unfaithful, stirring Othello's jealousy. Othello allows jealousy to consume him, murders Desdemona, and then kills himself.
Othello
| Original Text | Modern Text |
|---|
| IAGO What handkerchief? | IAGO What handkerchief? |
| EMILIA What handkerchief? Why, that the Moor first gave to Desdemona, That which so often you did bid me steal. | EMILIA What handkerchief? The one the Moor gave to Desdemona, which you asked me to steal so many times. |
Desdemona turns for help to Iago, who reassures her. As Emilia helps Desdemona prepare for bed, they discuss marital infidelity, with Desdemona arguing that no woman would be unfaithful to her husband and Emilia arguing that women have the same desires men do.
She asks Emilia where on earth her handkerchief could've gone. Obviously upset to have lost it, Desdemona says that if Othello were the kind of guy to be jealous—which, of course, he isn't—her loss of the handkerchief would make him suspicious.
When Emilia learns that Othello murdered Desdemona because he believed she was unfaithful to him with Cassio, a claim he supports by the fact that Iago told him of the affair and that Cassio had Desdemona's handkerchief—Emilia becomes enraged. In an act of guilt and rage, Iago then stabs and murders Emilia.
Othello dismisses love and calls for vengeance. Certainty has freed his mind from doubt and confusion. Now he swears action, and Iago swears to help him. Othello wants Cassio dead, Iago agrees to do it, and then Othello wonders how to kill Desdemona.
Emilia having heard from Othello that Iago told him of Desdemona "cheating" on him with Cassio, accuses him of gross dishonesty leading to an unjust murder. When she hears about the handkerchief, she reveals her role and Iago threatens and then kills her at the first opportunity.
What was Iago's reply when Othello demanded proof of his wife's disloyalty? 1 answers. He said that Othello's handkerchief that was in Cassio's bedroom is proof that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona.
Iago uses and manipulates Emilia by getting her to take the handkerchief that Othello gave to Desdemona as a token of his love. Nothing was ever in it for Emilia like she had thought. If Iago will go so far as to betray and lie to his wife, there is no telling what this heartless man is capable of.
Some say that Othello's tragic flaw was jealousy which flared at suspicion and rushed into action unchecked by calm common sense. A more modern interpretation would say that Othello's tragic flaw was that he had internalized, that is taken into himself, the prejudices of those who surrounded him.
What causes Othello to fall into a trance in Act 4 Scene 1? He will joke with Cassio about the prostitute Bianca, so that Cassio will laugh as he tells the story of Bianca's pursuit of him. Othello will be driven mad, thinking that Cassio is joking with Iago about Desdemona.
Why was Bianca angry with Cassio? She loved him and thought that some other woman had given him the handkerchief as a gift. It made things appear to Othello as though all Iago had said was true; that Desdemona had given it to Cassio, and that Cassio had in turn given it to a prostitute.
Othello
| A | B |
|---|
| What, according to Iago, is the “green-eyed monster”? | jealousy |
| Whom does Cassio wound in the drunken brawl of Act II, scene iii? | Montano |
| With whom does Cassio dine the night he is stabbed? | Bianca |
| What is Othello holding as he stands over the sleeping Desdemona? | a light |
he knows the handkerchief is gone, therefore she is lying. A3. When Cassio asks Desdemona about his suit, what does she tell him? that he must be patient because Othello is very upset at the moment.
Othello kills himself and Lodovico and Gratiano prepare to return to Venice. What will become of Cassio and Iago? Tells Roderigo to stab Cassio, as Cassio walks through a corridor--stick your sword out and stab him. Iago waited in the area, and when Roderigo misses Cassio, Iago stabs Cassio in the leg.
Therefore, Emilia strongly expresses a contemporary view about the sexes in her opinion on betrayal. She argues that both men and women are unfaithful because they are in love with another person, they can not resist temptation, and they simply have a desire for entertainment.
To what is Iago referring when he says, "Ha! I like not that that he should steal away so guilty-like seeing you coming." How does Iago build up Othello's anxiety regarding his wife and Cassio? He's subtly disapproving the fact that Cassio was talking to Desdemona and that he knew her while Othello was wooing her.
What "proof" does Iago use to convince Roderigo that Cassio and Desdemona are lovers? Iago convinces Roderigo about Desdemona's "affair" with Cassio by pointing out that they held hands.
Iago decides to convince Othello that Desdemona's cheating on him. 2.3 Iago gets Cassio drunk, watches him get into a brawl, and then tells Othello all about it. After Cassio is fired, Iago suggests to him that he ask Desdemona to intervene with Othello in his favor. Cassio thinks this is a great idea.
As Othello begins to realize that his plans have gone awry, Desdemona cries out that she has been murdered. She stays alive long enough to recant this statement, telling Emilia that she was not murdered but killed herself. She dies.
I am glad I have found this napkin. . . When she shall lack it. But the deed is done. The handkerchief is in the hands of Iago and will become a key prop in his further insistence to Othello that his wife is being unfaithful with Cassio.
