Othello asks him what he said, and Iago answers that it's nothing, in the way that people do when they want you to drag something out of them so that it can be your fault if you don't like what they have to say. In a barely audible voice, as though he didn't really mean to say anything, Iago says, "Ha! I like not that" (3.3.35). Of course he's ill at ease he's hiding behind a woman's skirts.Īs Cassio hurries away, leaving Desdemona to do his talking for him, Iago and Othello are still out of earshot of the women, and Iago takes the opportunity to do a little fishing. Desdemona wants him to stay and hear what she has to say on his behalf, but as he is leaving he answers, "Madam, not now: I am very ill at ease, / Unfit for mine own purposes" (3.3.32-33). While they are still out of earshot, Cassio hastily excuses himself. Meanwhile, we are cringing with fear, because we know about the trap that Iago has set, and Desdemona is walking right in.Īt this moment, Othello and Iago appear. She has just delivered one exaggeration after another, as though she's saying, "I am woman, watch me nag!" At the same time, she is indeed very confident that she will be able to get Cassio what he wants. Desdemona herself seems to be quite merry. She concludes by declaring "Therefore be merry, Cassio / For thy solicitor shall rather die / Than give thy cause away" (3.3.26-28). In the sense that Desdemona uses the word, "watch" means "keep awake." Desdemona will keep Othello awake arguing Cassio's case in bed with Othello, she'll argue Cassio's case at the dinner table ("board") she'll argue Cassio's case so hard that Othello will think he's in a confessional ("shrift"). "My lord shall never rest / I'll watch him tame and talk him out of patience / His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift" (3.3.22-24). Desdemona then goes on to say just how she will do it. A "warrant" is a legally binding promise, and that's why Desdemona says "before Emilia here." Emilia is to act as a witness to Desdemona's guarantee that she will persuade Othello to restore Cassio to his position ("place"). Pity for Cassio leads Desdemona to make a bold promise, saying "before Emilia here / I give thee warrant of thy place" (3.3.19-20). He's afraid that if he's out of sight, Othello will give his job to someone else and forget him. Cassio knows all of this, but he's too weak to take his medicine like a man. Something is "politic" if it is dictated by policy, and it is good policy for Othello to hold Cassio at arm's length, since Cassio got drunk on duty and wounded a prominent citizen of Cyprus. She tells Cassio, "be you well assured / He shall in strangeness stand no further off / Than in a politic distance" (3.3.11-13). This should give us the chills, as we know that "honest" Iago plans to make Othello believe that she is speaking up for Cassio because she is sleeping with him.ĭesdemona sees Cassio as Othello's friend, and she is sure that she can restore their friendship. Emilia encourages her, saying, "Good madam, do: I warrant it grieves my husband, / As if the case were his" (3.3.3-4), and Desdemona responds, "O, that's an honest fellow" (3.3.5). When the scene opens Cassio has apparently already made his request to Desdemona, who is saying, "Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do / All my abilities in thy behalf" (3.3.1-2). Othello decides that both Cassio and Desdemona must die. Othello returns to Iago, who continues to fan the fires of his jealousy, telling him - among other things - that he has seen Cassio with Desdemona's handkerchief. Othello says he has a headache, and Desdemona offers to bind his head with her handkerchief, but Othello pushes it aside and it drops to the floor.Įmilia picks up the handkerchief and gives it to Iago. Iago succeeds in making Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio.Īs he tries to think things over, Othello's jealousy grows stronger.ĭesdemona comes to call Othello to dinner. Iago tries to raise Othello's suspicions, but Desdemona forthrightly declares that it was Cassio she was talking to, argues that Othello should restore Cassio to his position, and apparently wins her point. Othello and Iago appear and see Cassio speaking with Desdemona. Weller, an Eastern Washington University professor of English and Shakespearean scholar for more than 50 years.ĭetailed Summary of Othello, Act 3, Scene 3 Page Index:ĭesdemona promises Cassio that she will do everything she can for him. Welcome to my web site, now under development for more than twenty years.ĭr.
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