![]() ![]() As he is about to be led away, Othello asks for a chance to say "a word or two." He speaks of how he wants to be remembered, then stabs himself, kisses Desdemona, and dies.Įnter Othello with a candle and Desdemona in her bed asleep: Lodovico questions Othello, gives more proof of Iago's guilt, and announces that Othello will be returned to Venice for trial. Lodovico is followed by Montano, Cassio, and Iago, who has been captured. Enter Lodovico, Montano, Cassio carried in a chair, and Officers with Iago, prisoner.Othello finds another sword, but can't use it because the sight of dead Desdemona overwhelms him with guilt and grief. Emilia says farewell to Desdemona, tells Othello that Desdemona was chaste and true, then dies. The other men disarm Othello and leave Gratiano to guard him while they pursue Iago. Iago gives Emilia her death-wound and runs away. Othello attacks Iago Montano and others disarm Othello.When Othello mentions that he saw the handkerchief in Cassio's hand, Emilia reveals that she found it and gave it to Iago. Emilia declares that Iago is the villain who incited Othello to murder Desdemona. Emilia demands that Iago deny he ever said that Desdemona was false, but Iago says that he did say so and tries to shut Emilia up. Montano, Gratiano, Iago and others answer Emilia's call. ![]() Enter Montano, Gratiano, Iago, and others.Emilia refuses to believe that Desdemona was a whore or that Iago ever said so she cries "murder" and calls for help. Othello declares that he killed her because she was a whore. Desdemona cries out that she has been murdered, clears Othello of the guilt, and dies. Emilia tells him that Roderigo is dead and Cassio is wounded. Hearing Emilia call at the door, Othello finishes off Desdemona, then lets in Emilia. She awakes and defends herself against his accusations. Looking at the sleeping Desdemona, Othello has a hard time trying to talk himself into killing her. Enter Othello with a candle and Desdemona in her bed asleep.Through his determined destruction of normal society and in facing the strange independence that the completion of a goal offers, he finds he no longer serves a purpose.Detailed Summary of Othello, Act 5, Scene 2 Page Index: In doing so, Iago dually eliminates his own self-identity, which becomes all the more apparent in his victory. Iago, therefore, goads Othello's paranoia, pushes him towards the nihilism of the passionate man, and ultimately causes Othello's downfall successfully. Iago intimately relates to Othello's fears because they are similar to what he experienced prior to his nihilistic approach. However, despite using such methodology, Iago's rationale also stems from a subconscious, mirrored understanding of Othello's paranoia. His deplorable schemes and his sexually-charged, vague, culturally knowledgeable, and verbally ironic language directly show this choice in strategy. He abandons any form of 'care of the self,' as defined by Michel Foucault and Eve Kosofsky Sedgewick, in favor of an approach that echoes Simone de Beauvoir's notions of nihilism in The Ethics of Ambiguity. To best appreciate Shakespeare's most chaotic villain, one must understand that the root of Iago's true motivations lies in the abandonment of his internal struggles due to a 'failure of the serious.' To be able to destroy both Othello and a society that leaves him bitterly unsatisfied, Iago must repress other elements of himself and become Othello's reflection. Some academics theorize that Iago's racism or jealousy of Othello drive his lust for damnation, but these ideas merely crack the surface of such a complex character. Though many have tried to analyze Iago's rationale in attempting to ruin Othello, he remains a mystery even to the brightest contemporary scholars. At the center of Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice lies Iago, a man who can best be defined as the play's strategist, conflict creator, homewrecker, and villain. ![]()
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