Scene One & Two
English Lit: AQA A Level Othello, topic 4.1.1
Act Three, Scene One
This is a short scene where we learn of Cassio's intentions to restore himself.
Cassio
- This is a short scene. Cassio brings along musicians to play music for the awakening of the couple, but they are dismissed by Othello.
- Cassio tells Iago that he has asked Emilia to arrange for him to see Desdemona.
Emilia
- Emilia tells Cassio that she has overheard Othello say that Cassio will have to wait a while for the sake of decency, but he will be restored to his place at the first opportunity.
- However, Cassio still insists on speaking to Desdemona alone.
Omens
- The fact that the couple have endured a sleepless night is ominous.
- The world is apparently not in harmony.
Private and public
- The scene’s purpose appears to be to reinforce Cassio’s rejection by Othello, who ominously dismisses the musicians hired by Cassio as a celebration of the consummation.
- It is another example of how bedroom intimacy between Othello and Desdemona is disturbed by external noise, an invasion of the private by the public, and love by war.
- Othello then goes off to inspect the island’s fortifications instead.
Dis-enobling
- Since an appreciation of gentle music was considered to be a noble and civilising attribute, it may be significant that Othello does not care for it, preferring instead the trumpeting of war.
- This may symbolise his ‘dis-enobling’ in the tragic pattern at work.
Comedy
- The pause in tragic events here—via the musicians and the incompetent Clown—may give the audience a breather from the intensity of the action so far.
- Clowns (or Fools) are often used by Shakespeare to expose the frailties and true condition of characters within tragedy.
- However this scene is often cut from modern productions of the play.
- The comedy is truncated and not fully developed here.
Act Three, Scene Two
This is another short scene.
Ironic counterpoint
- Here, Othello attends to the fortifications on the island of Cyprus.
- The fortifications on the island are strong but his own are not so resilient from the forthcoming attack by Iago.
- The scene therefore works as an ironic counterpoint to what follows.
Test yourself on Scene One & Two
Events of Act Three Scene One
In Act Three Scene One, what is symbolic of the world not being in harmony?