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All students are required to comment TWICE a week. A week goes from Monday to Sunday. A comment can be a response to my or others' posts --- or a new post. All posts must be relevant to class discussions and assignments. Each post should be 1-3 paragraphs. Remember, it is OK to disagree with one another, but we must always be RESPECTFUL of one another.
18 comments:
In othello, scene 4 pg 74, Desdemona asks a "clown" where Lieutenant Cassio lies, meaning "where is he?", and the clown answers "I dare not say he lies anywhere". Desdemona asks him "Why, man?", and to which the fool replies "Hes a soldier, and for me to say a soldier lies, 'tis stabbing". I found this line particularly funny, since it shows that shakespeare can incorperate humour into such a serious and dramatic play. He made a joke out of it, responding to the phrasing of Desdemona's question with "i can't say a soldier lies, for i might be killed", with his interpretation of her question.
I was thinking the same as Sasha, for it was a particularly hilarious line. It seemed in a way to reflect upon the way we say things, for most sayings or common phrases we have don't exactly make sense. Appearance vs. Reality is a very popular theme it seems as well and it plays a part here as well. Iago is the joker who plays tricks on others and he is the one to twist words and make things seem as they are not.
One line I found to be interesting (and hypocritical) was Iago's "Men should be what they seem" (3.3.126). Since Iago is pretending to be someone else almost the entire play, "I am not what I seem," it is very hypocritical for him to be saying that another man should be who he actually is (1.1.62). This line is said during his manipulation of Othello, so he probably go the idea of using such a line to trick Othello from his own deeds. This shows Iago to be a very cunning and smart character, able to pick pieces from his own life and use them to turn people against another.
Act 2, Scene 3 Page 52, Iago talks to the audience after having a long conversation with Cassio. He says, "and what's he then that says I play the villain, when this advice is free i give, and honest..." and so on. As the line continues, it is almost like he is trying to make himself feel better about all of the lies he is spreading in saying that his advice to Cassio might actually help him. He is saying, How am I evil when I am giving honest advice. But as the line continues,he begins to talk about Othello and Desdemona, almost harshly.
This line just stood out to me because it is somewhat funny how Iago's character can change throughout just one line of the play. He first starts off saying he is not a villain but then goes into his plan again. Thus showing how complicated, untrustworthy and twisted Iago really is.
One line that I found to be revealing to a character is "I am not merry, but I do beguile The thing I am by seeming otherwise" (2.1.-120-121). As said by Desdemona, this line is able to portray how she keeps her feelings on the inside. This, as Emma has already stated, enforces the theme Appearance vs. Reality. Despite the fact that Desdemona is worried and fearful on the inside, she attempts to seems happy and calm on the outside. This also brings back how she had deceived her father, Brabantio, and got married to Othello behind his back. If people find out she often hides her feelings, this can make her less trustworthy.
This line can also be used to compare the different characters. She is like Iago in the fact that they both hide their feelings. But, going along with this idea, she is unlike Cassio since he easily reveals his feelings and doesn't contain them well.
A line that i found to be very powerful is that when Othello first implies that he has been made a cuckold of. He says: "i have a pain upon my forehead, here." then reading the noted at the bottom of the page (and with some discussion in class) i found out he was pointing to the imaginary horns upon his head. The horns on his head imply that he has been made into cuckold. This is really powerful because he is letting the audience know that he has been made into a cuckold, but none of the other actors in the play know that. To me, this line also says that the play is only going to get worse from here, and it does.
The line that I found interesting is when Iago and Roderigo visit Barbantio and tell him "Awake! What, ho, Barbantio! Thieves! Thieves!" (1.1.76). I thought it was interesting because there were no thieves in the usual sense of the word; there was no one stealing his belongings. There was a thief in his eyes, this thief being Othello. To Barbantio, it seems like Othello used "foul charms" and "abused [Desdemona's] delicate youth" because Othello is a "foul theif" (1.3.61-73).
One of the lines that I recently read in Othello was in scene 5 page 122 and I found it to be very interesting and powerful. It starts on line 216 where Emilia says, "No, I will speak as liberal as the north. Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, all, cry shame against me, yet I'll speak". This is the part where Emilia stands up for Desdemona and announces what Iago has done. I think these lines are powerful because we see a different side of Emilia and she becomes an important character who reveals the truth even though she is being threatened.
In Act 3, scene 3, Othello says "O curse of marriage, That we can call these delicate creatures ours, And not their appetites"(3.3.267-269). I find this line interesting because Othello is saying that marriage is silly because when you marry your husband/wife, you get to call them yours, but you really cannot control what they want and when they are going to get sick of you and go after someone else. This is also ironic because Emilia also relates marriages in a way to appetites when she says " They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; They eat us hungerly, and when they are full, They belch us"(3.4.104-106). Emilia is saying that men are hungry for a wife, but when they get a wife they get eventually get tired of her. Then they get rid of her so that another woman can become the their new wife. It is ironic how both Othello and Emilia are comparing marriage to stomachs and eating, but in negative ways.
This one line comes up in the play more than once and it drives Othello crazy."She did deceive her father, marrying you; and when she seemed to shake and fear your looks she loved them most" said Iago to Othello. I find this quote powerful for Othello because Desdemona's father said the same thing to him. When Othello hears what Iago said he gets really angry at Desdemona. At first he said to Barbantio that he trusts Desdemona with his life, but when Iago says it Othello finally realizes that Iago and Barbantio were both right, he can't trust Desdemona. This quote might not be the most important quote of the play but I think it's the climax of the story. This is where Othello finally believes Iago and his character changes into a beast.
In the play Othello there are many lines that are powerful, profound, funny, and interesting. One line that I find particularly interesting is when Othello comes home from fighting in the war and he is rejoicing and is very happy to see Desdemona. "News, friends! Our wars are done; the Turks are drowned...Come, Desdemona, once more well met at Cyprus," is such a happy line. Othello is so happy he came home to his wife that he loves and he thinks life could not get any better. I love this line because Othello is so innocent. He has no idea as to what is to come in the future. He does not know that Iago is going to try to get him away from Desdemona so Cassio can have her. It is a very pure and innocent line.
One line in Othello that I found funny was "Stay right near me, i may mess it up"(5.1.6). Rodrigo said this in the act of killing Cassio. I found it funny because i can just imagine Rodrigo missing, Cassio seeing him miss, and Cassio killing Rodrigo. This would turn into a major problem and most likely change the plot as well as the ending to the story. This shows that just one line can change the outcome of the play completly.
Another line in Othello was when Othello stated "Iago is a good man"(2.3.7). Othello clearly has no idea what is going on. He seems to like Iago, but he also knows nothing about his background. Othello spoke to soon, as the plot was just starting to grow, and Iago's mischief is slowly and gradually getting more obvious to the reader, but not to the characters.
In Othello Act 3, Scene 4 I fin the lines interesting where Emilia and Desdemona are talking about the lost handkerchief. Desdemona: "Where should I lose that handkerchief, Emilia?" Emilia: "I know not, madam." This part of the play is interesting because Emilia does know where the handkerchief is, she is the one that took it. I like this part of the play because the reader knows exactly what is going on but Desdemona doesn't. Desdemona: "Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse full of crusadoes. And but my noble Moor is true of mind and made of no such baseness as jealous creatures are, it were enough to put him to ill thinking." Desdemona at this part of the play gets really upset but Emilia still doesn't tell her where the handkerchief is.
Most lines I find to be specifically catching or witty in my opinion come from Iago. In part because dramatic irony aids me in finding underlying meanings in his language. Such as on page thirty-three, Act two, Scene one, lines one hundred to one hundred and five. In this, Iago is reacting to light mockery from Cassio. after Cassio explains to Iago that it is in his breeding to give a 'bold show of courtesy' by kissing his wife. Iago reacts in saying 'would she have given you that much of her lips as of her tongue she oft bestows on me, you would have had enough.' This interests me. Earlier in the Act before, he sets up Cassio to become the break in Othello and Desdemona's relationship. In reading this over, I thought, situations such as these must have happened before between Cassio and Iago. This made me come up with a theory that Iago also hates Cassio, and is one of the reasons why he had set Cassio up in his plot.
One line I found to be interesting was Emilia's line "Let husbands know their wives have sense like them. They see and smell, and have palates for both sweet and sour, as husbands have."(4.3.97-99). In this area of the play Emilia is speaking of how if a husband can be unfaithful, then why can't a wife? She begins to speak of how men and woman both have similar needs. I find it interesting to see how characters go about thinking on certain subjects and problems.
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