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Act 4
May 29, 2014 17:28:50 GMT -5
Post by johnmarano on May 29, 2014 17:28:50 GMT -5
2nd to last..
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 17:29:33 GMT -5
Post by johnmarano on May 29, 2014 17:29:33 GMT -5
John Marano
English 11
Mr. Thomas
A. This might be the first time I have ever decided to use the (A) option in a discussion board and for the first time I actually realized something that kind of made sense in my life today. I want compare the conversation between Desdemona and Emilia to my life. Desdemona is so upset over the whole situation going on with her husband and Emilia is actually trying to cheer her up. This made me think of how my friends always try to comfort me when I am upset. This conversation immediately grabbed my attention because in the play we see nothing but a bunch of phony people. For the first time, I actually believe that Emilia is genuinely trying to help her friend.
C. These final scenes are making me more and more curious as to what will happen. In today’s reading we get a greater glimpse of Iago and Rodrigo’s plan. Will they both follow through with it? Rodrigo seems kind of scared and shocked by the “orders” of Iago. Also, what will happen when Desdemona goes to sleep? We already learned of the plan of Othello to smother her in her own bed. Will this happen right now? Lastly, why in the world does Desdemona start singing? It was so random I just don’t see why she is singing.
D. There was one quote that kind of upset me because I started feeling bad for Desdemona. As she continues to pout, Desdemona cries “And his unkindness may defeat my life, but never taint my love.” I thought this was so genuine of Desdemona and it made me realize that she is really going through such a difficult time. This quote also reveal how deep her love is for Othello as she says it will never fade.
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 18:02:46 GMT -5
Post by georgebaroudos on May 29, 2014 18:02:46 GMT -5
George Baroudos
Mr. Thomas
English 11
29 May 2014
A- It is evident that Desdemona is portrayed as the ideal wife. This is the kind of girl all guys wish to marry. But, Iago has corrupted Othello and Othello is not able to see past all of these lies. This causes Othello to maintain a sense of ungratefulness that is unfair to Desdemona. I think that we all take things for granted whether we admit it or not. It is within our human nature. I think that when we lose a certain something we only then truly realize the value that the thing possesses. I think Othello will only find gratitude after he kills Desdemona.
D- “Every way makes my gain” (15). This shows Iago’s deceptive nature. Iago has put himself in a position that will benefit him always. Iago’s manipulative tactics has allowed him to gain from every possible position. Although it is truly a horrible trait to have, Iago has perfected it. Iago’s back up plan even has a back up plan. This looks like it is all going well, but I am not sure if it will all work out. Shakespeare always has a weird way of throwing a monkey wrench into all plans. I think this is why appearance vs. reality plays a large role in all of his books.
C- Would it be wrong to think maybe Iago’s plan backfires and he is the one the tragedy happens too? I know that throughout all of Shakespeare’s tragedies the name on the front usually ends up dying. But it is weird because like they said Iago has more lines then Othello. Maybe this is all a cover up to see that it will actually back fire on Iago. Iago is truly sick and is the definition of a horrible human being. The things Iago does are just plain wrong and truly disgusting. A lot of times in this world the bad guy actually are the one who receives what he has coming. What comes around goes around.
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 18:23:51 GMT -5
Post by frankclarke on May 29, 2014 18:23:51 GMT -5
Francis Paul Clarke Junior
Mr. Sean Thomas
English 11
A. in Act 4 scene 3, lines 95-115 we see something pretty interesting. Emilia gives us a long schpeel on sexism, which can really be related to today and our society. My favorite line in this is “And have not we affections, Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?” This really hits home with issues we face today. Sexism is ever so present in our society, especially in an athletic sense. Some girls are actually capable of great athletic success, such as Mary Cain, the first female highs school runner to run a sub 2 minute 800. Which is an absurd time for a woman. In the beginning of the book we see some racist remarks, and now that those have actually settled down, we see Shakespeare dropping some truth bombs on sexism.
E. One thing we find in Othello as well as present day is the stupidity of love. Emilia really tries to degrade Othello to Desdemona, but she will have none of it. She says that she would never cheat on Othello, her only husband, who said she wouldn’t trade for the world. Love is a tricky concept, and Shakespeare really makes us question our own definition of love, not just in this certain scene, but also in the overall play. He reminds us what’s important, and lets us take a step back and evaluate what’s going on in this story and how we can compare it to our own lives.
C. Iago is a coward!!! Why else would he want Roderigo to duel Cassio, when he said at first he would kill Cassio? Iago continues to show his bravado through everything, deceiving other people to do the dirty acts, while he’s just the “mastermind” behind all the plans. My guy is a coward.
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 19:41:59 GMT -5
Post by bourdonm15 on May 29, 2014 19:41:59 GMT -5
Matthew Bourdon
Mr. Thomas
English 11
5/29/14
B. Desdemona gives us a complete foreshadowing of what is going to occur very soon within Act 5. ”My mother had a maid called Barbary. She was in love, and he she loved proved mad and did forsake her. She had a song of willow, an old thing ‘twas, but it expressed her fortune, and she died singing it. That song tonight will not go from my mind.” (Page 213) In this quote, Desdemona is explaining a story similar to hers yet she does not know that everything that happened in the story she explained is going to happen to her which is complete dramatic irony. I appreciate the way Shakespeare gave us that irony and foreshadowing from the victim herself going into Act 5.
F. I honestly do not like Roderigo. He is such a wimp and although he shows Iago some resistance he acts like a tough guy when he clearly is the complete opposite. “I will give over my suit and repent my unlawful solicitation. If not, assure yourself I will seek satisfaction of you. Ay, and said nothing but what I protest intendment of doing.” (Page 207) Did he really just challenge Iago to a duel? What is the point of acting tough or challenging Iago to a duel when you flat out know that you are going to lose and lose your life? Roderigo is a very odd character for lack of a better term.
I. I agree with Frank’s comment on Iago. Although he is a coward, it is all part of his plan so that if he gets caught he cannot be blamed for doing any wrongdoing because he is not the one physically killing anyone.
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 20:03:11 GMT -5
Post by Mr. Thomas on May 29, 2014 20:03:11 GMT -5
Thanks for creating this thread, John; beat me to it!
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 20:17:10 GMT -5
Post by johnrice on May 29, 2014 20:17:10 GMT -5
John Rice
Mr. THomas
ENglish 11
May 29, 2014
Discussion Board Post
E. Finally! Someone in this play I can actually like. Although I have a few characters, especially Desdemona, I can tolerate or sympathize for, Emilia had the greatest set of lines thus far. She basically gives a feminist/ progressive twist on Desdemona and Othellos relationship. I love the fact that she is giving this advice to Desdemona, because we know Desdemona did nothing wrong. It is Iago who has created this situation, and Othello who has fed into it. Emilias suggestion that a mans failure to fufill his obligations is great.
D. Desdemona gives a striking line during her mourning of Othello’s turn of feelings towards her husband. She says something to the affects of, “his feeling will destroy my life, but never taint my love”. I don’t remember the exact quote but I remember it popping out to me while reading. This really makes me feel bad for Desdemona because she didn’t do anything. She knows that she cant change Othellos views but she says she will always love him, no matter what. This just goes to further support my hatred to Iago for ruining this girls life.
E. I really just had to laugh at Roderigo’s sorry attempt to stand up to Iago. He is like a child. It was so funny. He tries, and Iago completely dismisses him, or manipulated his actually. I couldn’t get over how easily Roderigo was played once again by Iago. Only a few lines later in the conversation Iago is already hatching a plan in conjunction with Roderigo!!!! like how dumb could Roderigo be, did he completely forget that he was arguing for himself. It was too easy for Iago. Childs play. Funny stuff.
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 20:29:01 GMT -5
Post by Sgarlato on May 29, 2014 20:29:01 GMT -5
Stephen Sgarlato
Mr. Thomas
English 11
5/29/14
A. I think we really see a good side to Desdemona in Act 4 scene 3. We always knew she was a faithful girl and would never cheat on Othello. But, here she actually proclaims it. She asks Emilia whether she would ever cheat on Othello and she says that if it was for the whole world that she would. She wouldn’t for riches and clothes and material things but yes for the whole world. This is interesting because she says that women like men have needs for sex and power and that they would do basically anything for it. But Desdemona really states that she would never do it.
C. What I was confused about is why Emilia was pressing Desdemona about cheating on her husband. Like I feel she was very pushy towards her cheating on him in order to get more material things. She would be a perfect fit for Cassio’s plan if he where to use her. She seams like a very conniving character.
I. I agree with Frank’s post about how Iago is a coward. He did say he was going to kill Cassio and then ends up deceiving Rederigo into doing it. Iago is very calculated and knows how to not get his hands dirty. As we have already seen, he is extremely good at tricking others.
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djmat
New Member
Posts: 39 
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 22:19:47 GMT -5
Post by djmat on May 29, 2014 22:19:47 GMT -5
Osman Mat
Mr. Thomas
English 11
5/29/14
E. I thought the juxtaposition of the two female's was really interesting. They show Desdemona as really submissive. She does not resent Othello not even a little in fact she loves him even more even though he hit her which is weird. But at the same time Shakespere shows off Desdemona's good friend Emilia and her strong feminist beliefs. Emilia and Desdemona are almost opposites but they still get along which is interesting.
I. I disagree with Stephen, I do not think Emilia is conniving. She does not come off a someone who would go around tricking people like Iago. I think she could be just as conniving as Iago but she seems a bit to nice for that. One could argue that she is as smart as Iago because she is the only one that is really able to see what is happening.
C. What was Shakespere's reason for making Emilia into a feminist? Was there anything during this time that was happening that would influence his decision to make this kind of character and was he a feminist? It would be interesting to know what his reason for making Emilia pro womens rights.
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Act 4
May 29, 2014 22:42:00 GMT -5
Post by eointunney on May 29, 2014 22:42:00 GMT -5
Eoin Tunney
Mr. Thomas
English 11
29 May 2014
D. In Act four scene two we see another one of Iago’s quick but brilliant plan. Towards the end of this scene Roderigo finally comes back into the play, after been missing for several scenes. Rodergio is extremely angry at Iago because Iago made him waste all of his money to buy lavish gifts for Desdemona. Iago promised Roderigo that Desdemona would fall for him if he bought her really expensive gifts, but so far nothing has happened for Roderigo and he is extremely angry because of this. Instead of doing anything to Iago, Roderigo gets tricked by Iago into killing Cassio.
E. In Scene three of Act four we see Othello demand for Desdemona to go to bed and also dismiss Emilia. I feel that once he demands this Desdemona knows she is going to be killed at night. While she is talking to Emilia she mentions a song that a woman she knew was singing while being killed by her husband. She also says that the song will not be leaving her mind all night.
B. Also in this scene we see a new side of Emilia that we never witnessed before. Towards the end of this scene when Desdemona says that she would never cheat on her husband even if she could get everything in this world. Emilia responds to this by saying that she believes that women are equal to men and she says that women should be seen as the same as men. This side of Emilia shows that she is a huge feminist.
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Act 4
Jun 2, 2014 10:15:41 GMT -5
Post by Matthew Ko on Jun 2, 2014 10:15:41 GMT -5
Matthew Ko
Mr. Thomas
English 11
29 May 2014
D. A quote i really enjoyed comes from Emilia when she states, "Let husbands know Their wives have sense like them. they see, and smell, And have their palates sweet and sour, As husbands have" (Othello 217) because it shows how Shakespeare is showing his feminist side. He is trying to prove a point where women are too attached to men and don't have a sense of individualism. Emilia shows a character in which a women is characterized by herself and not by her husband (Iago). It's interesting to see how Shakespeare began this feminist movement and being someone who gives respect to women and seeing that they need more support.
B. As the story goes on, we see how Rodrigo comes back to play a pretty significant role. Iago state, "I will show you such a necessity in his death that you shall think yourself bound to put it on him. It is now high supper time, and night grows to waste. About it!" (Othello 211). Here, Iago wants to kill Cassio by using Rodrigo and persuading him that he will gain a big amount of pleasure by seeing this. He implies how this is a necessity to Rodrigo, since Rodrigo still wants Desdemona... By the looks of it now, will Desdemona and Cassio die?
C. Has Desdemona lost all hope? She knows she has done nothing wrong and I feel as if she is giving into Othello's wrath. Emilia is trying to talk some sense into her but Desdemona herself is throwing quotes around like she has no hope. She states, "If I do die before thee prithee, shroud me In on of those same sheets" (Othello 213) implying that she might die and has no hope to live. Who knows if Desdemona will act back on the contrary of Othello.
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