Step One
Desdemona
1.3.208-218
My noble father,
Dear Dad,
I do perceive here a divided duty:
I have a duty to you, but a duty to another:
To you I am bound for life and education;
You have given me life and education
My life and education both do learn me
I have learned so much from your teachings
How to respect you; you are the lord of duty;
I have learned respect; you are who I look up to;
I am hitherto your daughter: but here’s my husband,
I will forever be your daughter; but now I have a husband
And so much duty as my mother show’d
I now have as much duty as my mother before me
To you, preferring you before her father,
Mother put your needs before her fathers
So much I challenge that I may profess
So I now say
Due to the Moor my lord.
Othello is now my lord.
Iago
3.3.368-378
I will in Cassio’s lodging lose this napkin,
I will leave Desdemona’s handkerchief in Cassio’s home,
And let him find it. Trifles light as air
He will find this light napkin
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
He will become more suspicious of his wives loyalty
As proofs of holy writ: this may do something.
This handkerchief will be proof of wrongdoing and could start something
The Moor already changes with my poison:
The Moor already has his suspicions about his wife
Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons.
Jealousy is poisonous
Which at the first are scarce found to distaste,
At first it tastes fine
But with a little act upon the blood.
But when it hits the bloodstream
Burn like the mines of Sulphur. I did say so:
It burns like sulfur, I do say
Look, where he comes!
Othello comes now
Part Two
Background of passages:
Desdemona
1.3.208-218
Desdemona is talking to her father, who by the way doesn’t approve of the Moor, about how it is now her time to serve Othello as her lord rather than him. Back when this book was written, it was common for a woman to pay more attention to her husband than to her father after she gets married. During these times, women were seen almost like a servant, with the male figure in her life being a “lord”.
My noble father,
Desdemona says “noble” as if her father is royalty. This is how fathers were treated back in the day.
I do perceive here a divided duty:
Here she is conflicted about who she should “serve”. She uses the word “divided” to show this inner turmoil.
To you I am bound for life and education;
She reassures him that he will be with him for life, she uses the word “bound” to explain this.
My life and education both do learn me
The things that her father has taught her has been very helpful, and she again reassures him of this.
How to respect you; you are the lord of duty;
She explains the things she has learned from him have been respecting male figures and that he is always going to be her “lord of duty”.
I am hitherto your daughter: but here’s my husband,
She says that she will always be his daughter, but it is now her duty to serve her husband as well.
And so much duty as my mother show’d
She refers back to her mother and what she has learned from her.
To you, preferring you before her father,
She reminds her father that her mother had to go through the same thing, and that her mother prefered him over her father.
So much I challenge that I may profess
She is about to profess something important and hard to hear, almost like a “challenge”
Due to the Moor my lord.
She ends her speech with this blunt sentence, explaining to her father that her husband is now her first priority.
Iago
3.3.368-378
After Iago gets his commander position taken away from him by Othello, Iago plots a scheme against the Moor. Iago’s goal is to get Othello to believe that his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him. In this passage, he tells the audience his plan to take the scarf that Othello gave Desdemona and plant it in Cassio’s house for Cassio’s mistress to find. He hopes that Othello will find out about this and become suspicious about Desdemona’s loyalty.
I will in Cassio’s lodging lose this napkin,
Iago is telling the audience his plot, this is why the passage is started off with “I will”. He wants the audience to feel “in on it”.
And let him find it. Trifles light as air
Iago uses the word “trifles”, meaning of little objective importance. This word has a double
meaning. He refers that the napkin itself is light as air, but the importance of the napkin is also as light as air.
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
The napkin itself isn’t important, but the importance behind the napkin is. When Othello finds out that the napkin is no longer with Desdemona, his jealousy will be strong.
As proofs of holy writ: this may do something.
Iago is saying that this may affect thier marriage as much as official hoy wedding vows do.
The Moor already changes with my poison:
“Poison” is a synonym for the lies that Iago has told Othello about Desdemona.
Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons.
Iago compares his lies to poison and says how dangerous they are.
Which at the first are scarce found to distaste,
Both poison and lies don’t seem harmful at first.
But with a little act upon the blood.
However, once the lies and poison catch up to them,
Burn like the mines of Sulphur. I did say so:
Iago compares lies to the burning of sulfur, its almost poetic
Look, where he comes!
Iago sees that Othello is near and cuts off talking about his plan to the audience.
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