William Rudolf Long and Overview Act V and Othello and Dr Bil Long and Bill Long and William R. Long and Shakespeare and Summary of Act V

As in all of Shakespeare's plays, Act V concludes the play. The two scenes are quite contrasting, however. 5.1 is a scene of rapid-fire action and 5.2 is the killing and recognition scene, concluding with the "tragic loading of this bed (5.2.364)" on which lie Othello, Desdemona and Emilia.

5.1. Iago convinced Roderigo in 4.2 that in order to win Desdemona's love he must do the one final act of "making him [Cassio] uncapable of Othello's/ place: knocking out his brains (4.2.229-230)." Roderigo, whose suspicions are rising, thinks that Iago has given him "satisfying reasons" to kill Cassio, even though he had not great devotion to the task (5.1.8-10). But, as is not unexpected of the hapless and gullible Roderigo, he botches the job. He only injures Cassio, and he himself is injured, thus foiling Iago's plans. Iago raises a din, arousing Othello, who looks upon the apparently dying Cassio and concludes that Iago has fulfilled his part of the bargain, thus requiring him to go and kill Desdemona. Othello's bloody resolve is chilling: "Forth of my heart those charms, thine eyes, are blotted;/ Thy bed, lust-staine'd, shall with lust's blood be spotted (5.1.35-36)."

Meanwhile, Iago's call has raised such commotion in the dark that confusion reigns as the officials, ever cautious about being lured into a trap, try to ascertain what has occurred. Iago, who has withdrawn, shows up propitiously and begins to act like a master of cermonies as he dispatches people to tend to Cassio and seemingly tries to ascertain what has happened. He also sees Roderigo thrashing in pain, and when Roderigo recognizes his true colors by saying "O damn'd Iago! O inhuman dog," Iago dispatches him (5.1.62). Therefore the dullest of the characters is the first to identify Iago's conniving treachery. By the end of the scene, Cassio is carried off for medical treatment with an injured leg and Iago realizes that part of his plan has miscarried [i.e., because Cassio lives]. The scene closes with Iago's ominous words, "This is the night/ That either makes me, or foredoes me quite (5.1.128-129)."

5.2 is the long and psychologically draining scene which may be divided into five sub-scenes. Lines 1-82 relate the final conversation between Othello and Desdemona. The conversation creates the mood of extreme mental claustrophobia as the jealousy of Othello finally floods completely into Desdemona's life and forces her into narrower and narrower psychic space until he strangles/smothers her. Then, in lines 83-167, Othello and Emilia talk, with the tension growing in intensity from the submissive and deferential calls of Emilia to rouse Othello ("My lord, my lord!/ What ho! my lord, my lord! (5.2.84-85)," to the outraged and frenzied cries to rouse the others, "Help, help, ho, help!/ The Moor hath kill'd my mistress! Murther, murther (5.2.166-167)!" In between there is the wrenching scene of Desdemona gasping out a few dying lines, in which she alternatively blames and exonerates Othello.

The conversation with the officials (Montano and Gratiano, with Iago) then ensues from lines 168-235, and is a conversation of growing horror as first Emilia and then Othello finally recognize the role that Iago has played in manipulating them all. Of note in this subsection are multiple appearances of the same words (such as "husband," "honest," "truth/true," "lies," "villain," "murder," and "devil"). As I will argue in another mini-essay, the repetition serves to slow down the action and refocus it, from the quick and raucous din in 5.1 to the revelatory conversations of 5.2. Emilia now becomes the "star" of the play, probing and screaming and accusing and convicting her husband of the plot. In contrast to Desdemona, who willingly endured her suffering even to death, she "will speak as liberal as the north (5.2.220)." No greater contrast to Desdemona is evident than in her lines, after Iago has told her to keep her peace, "'Twill out, 'twill out! I peace (5.2.219)?" At the end of this subscene Othello realizes the villainy of Iago and calls on heaven for aid in trying to exact vengeance: "Are there no stones in heaven/ But what serves for the thunder?--Precious villain! [The Moor runs at Iago] (5.2.234-236)."

Subscene 4, running from 236-282 completes the action of the preceding scene with the interpretive words of Othello. In a 25 line speech he realizes the full extent of what he has done. He knows that his life is over ("Here is my journey's end, here is my butt/ And very sea-mark of my utmost sail"--5.2.267-268), and he realizes that he deserves nothing but death and fiery judgment for having killed Desdemona, the "cunning'st pattern of excelling nature (5.2.11)."

Subscene 5, lines 283-371, is the bitter end, where not only the plot of Iago is fully exposed but where Othello kills himself after asking for Cassio's pardon. Iago vowed never to explain himself, never again to "speak word (5.2.304)," but letters exchanged with Roderigo, found on his person after his death, explain the malefic designs of the Iago the Ancient. The closing lines, before Othello stabs himself, are a remarkable attempt of Othello to "reconstruct" himself now that he has committed the most unforgivable crime of murdering his wife. He wants those who report to the Venetian Senate (and us, by extension) to "Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,/ Nor set down aught in malice (5.2.342-343)." But then, he tells us how he wants to be remembered, so that the last lines have a flavor like the following: 'Tell people exactly who I am, but, let me tell you who I am exactly.' The way Othello wants to be remembered, then, is

"Of one that lov'd not wisely but too well;/ Of one not easily jealious, but being wrought,/ Perplexed in the extreme (5.2.344-346)."

But Othello's ultimate tragedy rests in the fact that he, "like the base Indian [or Judean, see the mini-essay on the issue] threw a pearl away/ Richer than all his tribe (5.2.348-249)." That is, he didn't recognize the true value of the precious pearl (Desdemona) he had, but threw it away as something worthless. That is the ultimate tragedy of Othello's (and our?) lives. Not only does he rush to judgment and, in the words of Julius Caesar, he misconstrues everything, but part of this rushing to judgment is to discard the most valuable thing imaginable. This becomes clear to him when he no longer can recall the deed. He simply cannot "start again," and so must kill himself.