scene 3

“Her will, recoiling to her better judgement, / May fall to match you with her country forms, / And happily repent” - Iago

• verb “recoiling” portrays Othello as potentially undesirable to Desdemona

• comparative adjective “better” creates a hierarchy between Desdemona’s current decision and the more ‘rational’ choice Iago claims she will inevitably make

• “country forms” constructs Venetian identity as a shared cultural and racial category

• religious connotations of “repent” mirrors Othello’s fear of reversion and frames loving him as a sin

“Her name, that was as fresh / As Dian’s visage, is now begrimed and black / As mine own face” - Othello

• simile “as Dian’s visage” idealises Desdemona into a paragon of virtue (Diana was the Roman goddess of chastity) but also links to Othello’s belief that her purity has been tarnished by infidelity

• semantic contrast of “begrimed and black” coupled with plosive -b portrays Othello’s vehement belief that Desdemona is now corrupted

• simile “as mine own face” reveals Othello’s racial insecurities through his comparison of Desdemona’s immorality to his own blackness

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