The extract taken from the second half of Act 5, scene 2 describes the moments leading up to Othello’s ultimate demise – death. This is the nadir of the character’s arc when he realizes how fooled he has been and how his life will never be the same after his horrible deed – depriving his innocent wife of live. “O fool! fool! fool!” – such is Othello’s lament regarding his hopeless state having been betrayed by Iago and having been unable to see the truth despite the pleas of his wife to let her life just a tiny bit longer so that they could get to the bottom of Othello’s convictions.
Othello is stripped of his powers. He is no longer occupying his post by the order of Lodovico. Cassio would preside in Cyprus from now on. Othello is charged with murder and is about to be brought to prison “till that the nature of … fault be known to the Venetian State.” Othello realizes that this is the end of the line and delivers his final monologue which serves as the final attempt at justifying his life and trying to highlight the more positive sides to his personality. It is his final cry in the attempt to reestablish his reputation at least somewhat.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Commentary On The Final Scene From Othello".
He bid both Lodovico and Cassio to be objective in their judgment of him. He urges them to say that he rather loved his wife too much to his detriment being unable to handle the idea of her committing adultery. He urges them to say that he was rather “perplex’d in the extreme” rather than easily made jealous. He wants to be pointed out in Lodovico’s report that he was also a victim albeit Othello admits that his judgment was clouded beyond the point of return. Interestingly enough, he also mentions an episode how he once killed “a malignant and a turban’d Turk” who “beat a Venetian and traduced the state.” Othello, in this case, obviously clings on to any memories that would pose him as someone who loved his wife and loved his state. He cannot bear the thought that the reputation will be tarnished forever, and he seems more upset about this consequence rather than the murder of his young and innocent wife. After he tries to make this rather unconvincing case for restoring the good elements of his personality in the eyes of other people, he commits suicide. In the end, it is impossible to say that Othello is a positive character. He let his judgment be easily clouded. He never possessed the ability to think rationally when his wife was concerned.
Interestingly enough, it is possible to make a parallelism between Othello and Christ. Othello says like “base Indian” although earlier versions of the texts said “base Iudean” which can lead us to believe that Othello attempts to compare himself to Judas for having betrayed his wife and his good name. Nonetheless, the parallelism to Christ is a parent if we consider that he sacrifices himself for the guilt of the Venetians as his own although what kind of guilt he could be atoning for remains open to the debate. Since the text is abundant in Biblical allusions, it is also possible to state that Iago performs the role of the Judas as well, who betrays his master and leads him to the demise. All in all, the only person who can really cause pity here is Desdemona who died not knowing what she had done wrong. Otherwise, Othello leaves the reader with fairly conflicting emotions. His final monologue does not do much to restore his good name.
- Shakespeare, William. Othello. Shakespeare Online Library. Web. [Accessed 21 Nov 2015].
