Andrew Brammer

Zachary Kalinoski

Othello Act 3 Group Discussion Questions

1. Jack Nicholson in his Joker Role, because he is acting indirectly against other characters such as
Batman, but it is always through another character. This is similar to Iago in that his actions
require another character to act them out, never letting Othello see him do anything negative
and keeping the narrative that he is on his side. The only difference is that Batman knows that
the Joker Is the villain whereas Othello is unaware that Iago is trying to manipulate him.
2. Iago shifts from using people’s situations to manipulate them and act out what he wants to
using actual physical objects as a way to manipulate others. In Act I, Iago uses Rodrigo’s love for
Desdemona (a nonphysical thing) to hold that against Rodrigo, forcing him to help Iago in
exchange for something and have something of value to manipulate someone’s (Rodrigo’s)
emotions. Now in Act 3, we see Iago shift from a nonphysical thing to a physical object
(Desdemona’s Handkerchief) to use as proof of Desdemona’s infidelity and to manipulate
Othello’s emotions.
3. Iago has used almost every character besides Desdemona in his plot. He started off with Rodrigo
and Brabantio with conflict around Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. Iago then enveloped
Cassio in his plots, getting him drunk and making him lose his rank. This gained Iago
manipulation over Cassio because Cassio now had to get Othello’s trust back through
Desdemona. This setup now gets up to Act 3, where Iago’s advice to use Desdemona to get to
Othello’s ear is what makes Othello become suspicious of Cassio and see him the way Iago
wants. Iago uses his wife Emilia to talk Desdemona into speaking with Cassio in the first place
and she is the one who gets Iago the handkerchief, which looks to be Cassio’s downfall.
4. Iago’s “two-faced” approach to his character interactions can trigger irony in that the characters
almost all see him as a trustworthy source and someone they can rely on. The other side to this
that the audience frustratingly sees is that Iago is the worst person in the play to trust, as he
wants to manipulate all the characters he can. The amount of trust characters like Cassio and
Othello place in Iago is ironic because of the backstabbing that is being conjured up by Iago as
the play progresses.
5. “Cassio, my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it,/That he would steal away so guilty-like,/Seeing your
coming.” (Act 3, Scene 3, Line 38) This quote shows how Iago wants to seem like it wasn’t what
Cassio was trying to do but in reality, Iago really wants Othello to see Cassio as being with
Desdemona. Iago plants this seed in Othello’s head but tries to make it seem like that wasn’t
what he wanted the whole time, speaking to his control over Othello’s emotion as Act 3
continues on.
“For Michael Cassio,/I dare be sworn I think that he is honest.” (Act 3, Scene 3, Line 124) This
quote represents the two-faced nature of Iago in Act 3 as he was so quick to bring up the
possibility of Cassio having an affair with Desdemona to Othello but when Othello starts to
agree, Iago denies. Iago seems to be trying to keep the heat off of himself and allow Othello’s
emotion to take hold, being sure to not include himself in any of the accusations.
6. Iago will continue to sit back and watch his plot continue to control everyone around him,
specifically fueling the rage of Othello against Cassio and now, his wife Desdemona. He seems to
enjoy watching the plan play out instead of fully injecting himself into the plan and manipulating
everything. Knowing Shakespearean plays, someone is bound to die at some point, it is looking
like Cassio has the best chance but maybe even Desdemona might end up dying at the hand of
Othello’s blind rage now that Iago has planted this seed of doubt in his head.