Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Othello 5.2

"Look on the tragic loading of this bed.\This is thy work. The object poisons sight;\Let it be hid." (5.2.359-361)

Lodovico here is reprimanding Iago for his actions. This quote stuck out the most for me because, although Iago led to Desdemona's death and Othello's suicide and killed Emilia, he's only getting lectured. There's no real punishment or anything going on, he's just getting away with it.

wrought: (v) Work

amorous: (adj) inclined to love

Monday, January 12, 2009

Othello 4.2-4.3

"I durst, my lord, to wager she is honest,\Lay down my soul at stake. If you think other,/ Remove your thought. It doth abuse your bosom.\ If any wretch have put this in your head,\Let heaven requite it with the serpent's curse,\For if she be not honest, chaste, and true,\There's no man happy. The purest of their wives is foul as slander." (4.2.12-19)

Emilia is speaking to Othello, telling him that he's an idiot for thinking so wrongly of Desdemona. She says that if Desdemona is unfaithful, then all men must have cheating wives, since she is the purest of all, which is a really interesting way to get her message across.

procreants: (adj) procreating

cozening: (v) to decieve

Othello 4.1

"Or to be naked with her friend in bed\An hour or more, not meaning any harm?" (4.1.3-4)

Iago is trying to sound optimistic, but he honestly sounds far too innocent. Honestly! Who would say that? It's a joke, and Othello should have seen right through it. He would have, too, if he wasn't so jealous already.

Importunate: (n) urgent or persistent.

yocked: (v) to laugh loudly

Othello 3.4

"Is not this man jealous?" (3.4.99)

Emilia sees through Othello's actions and tells Desdemona what she thinks. This is important because then Desdemona gets a hint to what her husband is feeling. She can either ignore it or call him out on it, and that will make a big difference in the story.

Futurity: (n) Future time

Sibyl: (n) a female prophet or witch

Othello 3.1-3.3

"Yet I beseech you,\If you think fit, or that it may be done,\Give me advantage of some
brief discourse\With Desdemona alone." (3.2.48-51)

This is is large role in Othello's jealousy. When Cassio starts to hang around Desdemona so much, begging her to get Othello to forgive him, Othello then starts to conjure up a relationship that doesn't exist.

Discourse: (n) communication of thought by words

Procure: (v) To obtain or get by care or effort, or by special means.

Othello 1.3

"Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her!" (1.2.62)

This is where Brabantio shows his racism. Before, he had no problem with Othello, but once he marries his daughter, Brabantio is no longer alright with him. This is how a lot of people felt back then, because racism was a big part of their lives.

Why did he pretend to like Othello if he didn't?

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Othello 2.3.

"I know, Iago, thy honesty and love doth mince this matter, making it light to Cassio. Cassio, I love thee; but never more be an offer of mine." (49)

Othello is telling Cassio that he's in trouble for bothering him during his wedding night the way he did. Basically, he's firing Cassio from his second-in-command place because he got drunk and started a fight for no reason when he was put in charge. Othello got angry with him for that.

horologe: (n) Any instrument used for indicating time.

equinox: (n) The time when the sun crosses the plane of the Earth's equator making day and night of approximately equal time all over the earth occurring around March 21 and September 22. (in context, it just means "balance")