Imagery


Othello


mean virtuously, and yet do so, / The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven’ (Act 4, Sc 1). Throughout the final two acts Othello repeatedly refers to his wife as ‘devil’. In a type of perverted prayer, Othello kneels with Iago and calls on hell to inspire his


revenge:


‘All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven. ’Tis gone.


Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow hell! Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne To tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught, For ’tis of aspics’ tongues! (Act 3, Sc 3). The fervour and hatred of Othello’s tone shows how tainted his soul has become. Othello’s language shows how confused his view of reality is. In the above example Othello


seems to embrace hell but towards the end of the play Othello speaks as if he is an agent of heaven. As he prepares to murder Desdemona (Act 5, Sc 2), Othello believes he is administering divine justice. He asks ‘Have you prayed tonight, Desdemona?’ and calls her to make confession: ‘If you bethink yourself of any crime / Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace, / Solicit for it straight… No! Heaven forfend! I would not kill thy soul.’ Othello’s imagery reveals the depth of his moral confusion as he inverts right and wrong, heaven and hell. At the end of the play, when Othello heartrendingly realises the truth and understands the ruination he has caused, he cries out to be punished in hell: ‘Whip me, you devils,


From the possession of this heavenly sight! Blow me about in winds! Roast me in sulphur! Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire! O Desdemona! Dead Desdemona! – Dead! O! O! O!’ (Act 5, Sc 2).


The image of Othello crushed beneath the weight of his guilt is deeply moving and reveals a man damned by his own excessive passions and prideful nature.


Imagery Disorder (Storms and Music) Function


§ The storm imagery highlights the uncontrollable, destructive nature of Othello’s jealous rage


§ Images of musical discord reflect the destruction of harmony in Othello’s life


Animals


§ Animal imagery is a means for Iago to infuriate Brabantio and debase Othello


§ Reveals Iago’s cynical view of human love § Shows how Othello is corrupted by Iago and disillusioned with love


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