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Analysis: Act III, scenes i–iii

Haply for I am black,

And have not those soft parts of conversationThat chamberers have; or for I am declined

Into the vale of years—yet that’s not much— She’s gone

!See Important "uotations #$plained%

The timing of events is very important in Act III Iago anticipates and manipulates theother characters so skillfully that they seem to be acting simultaneously of their o&n free

&ill and as Iago’s puppets 'or e$ample, it takes only the slightest prompting on Iago’s

 part to put (thello into the proper frame of mind to be consumed by )ealousy—Iagoe$ploits *assio’s discomfort upon seeing (thello by interpreting it as a sign of guilt

Iago’s interpretation of *assio’s e$it, combined &ith +esdemona’s vigorous advocating

on *assio’s behalf, creates suspicion in (thello’s mind even before Iago prompts (thello(thello manifests his confusion about his &ife by telling her that he &ishes to be left

alone, and by spurning her offer of help &hen he tells her that he feels un&ell

hen +esdemona advocates on *assio’s behalf, she initiates the first real onstage

conversation she has had &ith her husband throughout the play She also displays herstrong, generous, and independent personality In addition to his burgeoning suspicion,

(thello’s moodiness may also result from his dislike of +esdemona herself (nly once

+esdemona has left does (thello recover some&hat- .#$cellent &retch/0 he saysaffectionately .1erdition catch my soul 2 3ut I do love thee, and &hen I love thee not, 2

*haos is come again0 !IIIiii45647% (thello seems far more comfortable e$pressing his

love for +esdemona &hen she is absent 1erhaps this is because her presence makes himconscious of her claim upon him and of his obligation to honor her re8uests, or perhapsthis is because he is more in love &ith some idea or image of +esdemona than he is &ith

+esdemona herself The lines )ust 8uoted indicate ho& much his image of her means to

him- if he stops loving her, the entire universe stops making sense for him, and the &orldis reduced to .*haos0

9iven ho& much is at stake for (thello in his idea of +esdemona, it is remarkable ho&

he becomes completely consumed by )ealousy in such a short time :oreover, it takes

very little evidence to convince him of her unfaithfulness All Iago has to do to (thello ismake him doubt +esdemona, and )ealousy spreads like a virus until he re)ects her

absolutely otably, Iago, too, has no evidence that (thello has slept &ith #milia, but thesuspicion or doubt seems to have been sufficient to make him spurn #milia and persecute(thello As (thello says, .<T=o be once in doubt 2 Is once to be resolved0 !IIIiii5>76 

5>?%

(thello soon learns, ho&ever, that to be once in doubt is to be never  resolved He leaves

the stage briefly after the episode in &hich he re)ects +esdemona’s handkerchief, at&hich point he seems resolved that his &ife no longer loves him A mere forty lines later,

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he returns, and all he can think about is garnering proof of her infidelity The parado$ in

(thello’s situation is that there are fe& things—the nature of friends, enemies, and &ives

included—that a human being can kno& &ith certainty :ost relationships must beaccepted based on faith or trust, a 8uality that (thello is un&illing to e$tend to his o&n

&ife All Iago really has to do to provoke (thello is to remind him that he doesn’t kno&

for certain &hat his &ife is doing or feeling Iago’s advice that (thello .<l=ook to <his=&ife (bserve her &ell 0 appears harmless at first, until one considers ho& out of the

ordinary it is for a husband to .observe0 his &ife as if she &ere a specimen under a

microscope !IIIiii@5% 'or a man to treat his &ife as a problem to be solved or a thing to be kno&n, rather than as a person &ith a claim upon him, is simply incompatible &ith the

dayBtoBday business of being married (thello’s re)ection of his &ife’s offering of

 physical solace !via the handkerchief%, and his termination of the e$change in &hich

+esdemona argues for *assio, thereby asserting a marital right, clearly demonstrate thisincompatibility

Ironically, Iago doesn’t have to prove his o&n fidelity to (thello for (thello to take

everything Iago suggests on faith (n the contrary, (thello actually infers that Iago holds back more damning kno&ledge of +esdemona’s offenses out of his great love for

(thello Again and again, Iago insists that he speaks out only because of this love His

claim, .:y lord, you kno& I love you0 !IIIiii5@5% even echoes 1eter’s insistent &ords to

*hrist, .Cord, thou kno&est that I love thee0 !Dohn @5-5E65F%

(thello’s re)ection of +esdemona’s offer of her handkerchief is an emphatic re)ection of

+esdemona herself He tells her he has a pain .upon0 his forehead and dismisses her

handkerchief as .too little0 to bind his head &ith, implying that invisible horns are

gro&ing out of his head Horns are the traditional symbol of the cuckold, a husband&hose &ife is unfaithful to him (thello’s indirect allusion to these horns suggests that

the thought of being a cuckold causes him pain but that he is not &illing to confront his&ife directly &ith his suspicions

The end of Act III, scene iii, is the clima$ of Othello. *onvinced of his &ife’s corruption,

(thello makes a sacred oath never to change his mind about her or to soften his feelings

to&ard her until he enacts a violent revenge At this point, (thello is fi$ed in his course,

and the disastrous ending of the play is unavoidable (thello engages Iago in a perversemarriage ceremony, in &hich each kneels and solemnly pledges to the other to take

vengeance on +esdemona and *assio Dust as the play replaces the security of peace &ith

the an$iety of domestic strife, (thello replaces the security of his marriage &ith thehateful paranoia of an alliance &ith Iago Iago’s final &ords in this scene chillingly mock

the language of love and marriage- .I am your o&n forever0 !IIIiii?>@%