Earlier in the play, when he spoke before the Senate, Othello knew that Desdemona loved him because he was not a chamberer, because he was different, because he had had adventures. Besides that, he's black and approaching the age of thirty-five. Othello is used to the field of battle, not chambers. parlors, ballrooms and such) such men would know how to make small talk and how to flatter a lady. "Soft parts of conversation" are the abilities of men who are used to being in chambers (e.g. In his soliloquy, Othello says, "Haply, for I am black / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have, or for I am declined / Into the vale of years,-yet that's not much- / She's gone" (3.3.263-267). Othello here uses the word "once" in both the sense of "as soon of" and in the sense of "finally." He means that as soon as he is in doubt he will resolve that doubt once and for all.Ī little later, Othello has become so troubled that he feels the need to be alone, and sends Iago away. Othello answers by denying that he can be jealous, saying, Think'st thou I'ld make a life of jealousy, / To follow still the changes of the moon / With fresh suspicions? No! to be once in doubt / Is once to be resolved" (3.3.177-180). Shortly after Iago starts to make Othello jealous, he cunningly warns him against jealousy. Part of Othello's threat is a reminder that he is a better soldier than any of them. When he can't get a straight answer about who is responsible for the fight between Cassio and Montano, Othello begins to lose patience and says, "'Zounds, if I stir, / Or do but lift this arm, the best of you / Shall sink in my rebuke" (2.3.207-209). In other words, not only is he used to hardship, but the prospect of hardship makes him eager to go. ![]() He goes on, saying, "I do agnize / A natural and prompt alacrity / I find in hardness " (1.3.231-233). Flint is the hardest stone, and steel the hardest metal a "thrice-driven bed of down" is the softest feather bed. When the Duke tells Othello that he must leave for Cyprus immediately, even though he is newly married, Othello replies that he is so used to the hardships of war that "the flinty and steel couch of war" is his "thrice-driven bed of down" (1.3.230-231). He says, "But that I love the gentle Desdemona, / I would not my unhoused free condition / Put into circumscription and confine / For the sea's worth" (1.2.25-28). For her he has given up some precious freedom. His family is just as good as Brabantio's, and his own merits can speak on equal terms "to as proud a fortune / As this that I have reach'd" (1.2.23-24). ![]() ![]() "Siege" means "seat," and Othello means that members of his family have sat on thrones. He says that though he hasn't bragged about it, "I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege" (1.2.21-22). Othello is not only confident in his worth as a military man, he is also sure that he deserves Desdemona in every way. When Iago tells Othello that Brabantio will try to annul his marriage to Desdemona, Othello replies that what he has done (as general of the Venetian army) for Venice will outweigh anything that Brabantio can say: "Let him do his spite: / My services which I have done the signiory / Shall out-tongue his complaints" (1.2.17-19). Weller, an Eastern Washington University professor of English and Shakespearean scholar for more than 50 years. Welcome to my web site, now under development for more than twenty years.ĭr.
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