Othello Act 4 Scene 3

Dismiss your attendant / It was his bidding; therefore… We must not now displease him

Othello asking Desdemona to send Emelia away / her response. Reflects her unwavering obedience and duty to her husband but also general ideas of female submission to male control given collective pronoun “we”. Could link to argument about how Desdemona’s sense of duty to her husband ultimately leads to her death

Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve - Nay, that’s not next

Desdemona alternating between singing the willow song and speaking. In this instance, she’s forgetting the lyrics to the song, demonstrating her scattered and distracted mind - further evidence of foreshadowing and her awareness that her death approaches, especially since her mother’s maid Barbary, who she learnt the song from, “DIED SINGING IT”. Lyrics of the song also foreshadow Desdemona’s final words as she attempts to alleviate blame from Othello for her death. Suggests the cruelty that Desdemona suffers at the hands of a man is a universal female experience - links to Kern Paster critical quote about the universality of Desdemona’s fate

A song of ‘willow’… and she died singing it

Quote to show that the willow song is foreshadowing Desdemona’s death, song taught to her by her mother’s maid Barbary. Additionally, willows typically had connotations of death and lost love (e.g. Ophelia is surrounded by willows when she drowns) so a Jacobean audience would’ve known that this signifies Desdemona’s approaching death

Mine eyes do itch; Does that bode weeping?

Desdemona talking about how her eyes itch, foreshadowing the tragedy that will soon follow. Rhetorical question evokes a sense of sympathy for Desdemona as she questions her fate, could use this quote if you wanted to argue Desdemona wasn’t aware of what was coming

The two have a lot of shared lines, demonstrating a bittersweet level of female unity and solidarity as they discuss the cruelty of men as well as the foreshadowing of Desdemona’s death/her lamenting the loss of her love with Othello. Emelia also slips into prose at points, reinforcing a sense of familiarity and closeness but also suggesting that the problems women face (the subject of their conversation) transcend class boundaries

Structural point about Desdemona and Emelia’s speech in this passage

O, these men, these men! Dost thou in conscience think - tell me, Emelia - that there be women do abuse their husbands in such gross kind?

Desdemona asking Emelia if she thinks that there are women that are this cruel. Desdemona’s disbelief at women being capable of doing such horrible things as the men in the play reveal several things - her naivety and lack of worldly exposure (innocent, vulnerable, sympathy); could be because women in this time may’ve not actually had the power to act in the same way as the men in the play (e.g. even Shakespearean women who act maliciously have been given a platform through marriage or the monarchy like Cleopatra); demonstrates how her perception of how men act has been distorted by Othello’s heinous actions - isolation of Cyprus, she hasn’t seen many examples of how a good husband should act

There be some such, no question

Emelia’s response to Desdemona asking her if there are women that treat their husbands so poorly. Declarative, certain tone. There are multiple factors that could explain the differences in Emelia and Desdemona’s reaction - class (Emelia = middle class, less sheltered from the world); age; experience with married life (Emelia has more experience of being married, jaded having seen the harsh realities of what it is life)

I do think it is their husbands’ faults If wives do fall

Emelia reflecting on men’s role in women acting badly. Could link back to Desdemona and Othello bc Desdemona has certainly done some things wrong and may’ve failed in her role as a wife (e.g. by pushing Cassio’s case so aggressively) but could consider whether this is O’s fault - could link to her being left with nothing to do as the scenes where she is most intent on pushing Cassio’s case tend to be around the scenes where we see Othello in commander-mode