ACT 4, SCENE 1

structure

• begins in medias res again (offstage drama)

• quickens the plot to exemplify how the momentum is building

“But if I give my wife a handkerchief”

• Iago is the 1st to mention it again → moving the subject back to sex and desdemona’s betrayal

“Faith, that he did — I know not what he did… Lie—”

• Iago faines ignorance

• Iago lets Othello fill in the blanks by using short lines for ambiguity → Othello asks for more lies

“Lie with her? Lie on her?'“

• this speech is in prose

• marks Othello’s fall through the fragmented breakdown of grammar

• poetry and oratory is gone

“[Falls in a trance]”

• connotations of magic → relates to the Moor

• key stagecraft technique to allow Iago to have a short soliloquy

“Will you withdraw?”

Iago suggests Othello’s withdrawal and then Othello retires immediately after

highlights how Othello is completely no longer in control

“Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed”

• this will lead to more guilt for othello

“[Strikes her]”

• key bit of stagecraft which highlights Othello’s tragic fall