All reviews and analysis of West African Examination literature ,NECO AND JAMB 4

Act three

 

SCENE ONE

Hardcastle enters alone, confused over what his friend Charles Marlow meant by describing the young Marlow as modest, considering the young man's behaviour thus far. Hardcastle is particularly worried that the behaviour will put off his daughter.

Kate enters, in a plain dress per her father's wishes, and both express their shock at how different Marlow is from his or her expectations. Of course, Kate is confused over his modesty (expecting impudence), and Hardcastle over his impudence (expecting modesty). They realize the contradiction but Hardcastle does see they both know enough to "reject him," a decision Kate approves unless she can reveal him more pleasing to each of them than they can yet realize. Hardcastle finds such an outcome unlikely, but grants her license to attempt to correct his first impression, assuming her desire to do so is only because she thinks he is good-looking, and so wants to find something to like in his character.

They leave, and Tony rushes on, holding the casket containing Constance's jewels. Hastings joins him, and Tony reveals he has stolen the jewels, which concerns Hastings since he knows Constance is slowly finding success at convincing the old woman to turn over the jewels willfully. Tony calms him, assuring Hastings that he himself will take care of any resentment that might arise in Mrs. Hardcastle.

They hear the women approaching, so Hastings exits quickly with the casket. Mrs. Hardcastle attempts to convince Constance that a young woman does not need jewels, to disguise her faded beauty when she gets older. Constance does not accept the argument, so Mrs. Hardcastle attempts to have Tony praise her beauty to dissuade her from pursuing the jewels.

Tony pulls his mother aside, and suggests she lie to Constance, claiming the jewels are stolen to put an end to the matter. Mrs. Hardcastle, who admits to him that she merely wants to save the jewels for him (and hence does she try to set them up in marriage), gladly accepts the plan. Mrs. Hardcastle makes a mock confession of the missing jewels, which Constance refuses to believe until Tony stands as witness to the lie, claiming he too has seen them missing. Constance is upset, and Mrs. Hardcastle's offer to lend the girl her garnets does nothing to comfort her, but Mrs. Hardcastle nevertheless leaves to fetch them.

While she is gone, Tony confesses his plan to Constance, who is happy. However, Mrs. Hardcastle returns quickly, having discovered the jewels have actually been stolen. She laments their loss dramatically, and Tony plays along, as though this is still their play-acting for Constance's benefits. Her attempts to convince him the jewels are actually stolen (which he of course knows to be the case) only lead him to play-act harder, which makes her angrier until she charges offstage.

 

SCENE TWO

All exit, and Kate enters with a Maid, laughing about the joke Tony played on the men. The Maid tells Kate that, as they passed Marlow moments before, he asked the Maid about Kate, believing her to be a barmaid because of her simple dress, and because he was so shy with her before that, he had never seen her face. Kate sees in this mistake an opportunity to deceive him, and decides to continue playing the barmaid so that she can glimpse his true character and so that she "shall be seen." The Maid wonders whether Kate can pull off such a ruse, but Kate promises she has the required acting skills.

Marlow enters; remarking to himself how terrible his situation is and how he will leave soon. Kate, acting the barmaid, approaches him and asks if she can offers help, he refuses until he notices her beauty. He grows immediately flirty and open, remarking on the "nectar" of her lips. They speak with great wit, and he confesses to his ability with ladies in town, speaking in lively tones of his life there. Kate asks whether he was so free when he spoke with Miss Hardcastle (which is of course herself, but he does not realize that), and he insists he is not in awe of her. Kate also says, in character, that she has lived in the house for 18 years. Overcome with passion, he pulls her close right as Mr. Hardcastle enters. Marlow quickly exits, and Hardcastle confronts Kate, accusing her of lying about Marlow's modesty before since, he just saw such an aggressive move. Kate asks for more time to reveal his true character—his "virtues that will improve with age." Hardcastle denies her until she promises to prove her point by the end of the evening, a limit to which he agrees.

 

Act four

 

Scene one

Hastings and Constance enter, bringing news that Charles Marlow (father of our young hero) is expected to visit the house that evening. Since he would surely recognize Hastings and thereby ruin the plan for elopement, the lovers know they must move with speed. Hastings has meanwhile sent the casket with jewels to Marlow for safekeeping. Before she exits, Constance says to herself that she will delude her aunt "with the old pretense of a violent passion for [Tony]" so as to keep her off their trail.

Marlow enters with a servant, confused why Hastings sent him the casket. He asks the servant to bring the casket to Mrs. Hardcastle (whom he still believes is the landlady) for safekeeping (uh oh!) and then speaks to himself about his nascent passion for the barmaid.

Hastings enters and Marlow tells him about the barmaid and his new infatuation. Hastings is shocked that Marlow would rob a girl of her virtue, whereas Marlow insists he will "pay" for the virtue. When Hastings inquires after the casket, he's angered to hear Marlow has sent it to the landlady (since that has returned it to the hands of his antagonist Mrs. Hardcastle). However, Hastings cannot reveal the reasons for his displeasure without alerting Marlow to the duplicity being played on him, and so Hastings must decide on his own that he and Constance will leave without the jewels.

Hardcastle enters to find Marlow, whom he welcomes again as son to his old friend. However, Hardcastle (who Marlow still thinks the landlord) wishes Marlow to control Marlow's servants, who are getting drunk and causing a ruckus. When Jeremy, one of the servants, enters drunkenly and makes a fool of himself, Marlow refuses to discipline him but instead mocks Hardcastle's request. Fed up, Hardcastle demands Marlow and his servants leave immediately. Marlow is disgusted with the idea of being put out in the middle of the night, but Hardcastle insists until Marlow asks for his bill. In the confusion over why Marlow is requesting a bill, Marlow suddenly realizes what is going on, but not before Hardcastle exits angrily.

As Marlow is grappling with his mistake, Kate (still disguised as barmaid) passes through, and he confronts her immediately about where they are. Realizing she needs to play the situation right so as not to counteract her well-designed ruse, she answers him that it is Hardcastle's house, and laughs at the prospect that he considered it an inn. What's more, she provides she is not a barmaid but a "poor relation" who relies on the Hardcastles for the charity of shelter. Marlow is shocked to have potentially treated her as a lower class woman, and apologizes for having mistaken her behavior for that of a barmaid. He admits to her that he cannot pursue her since "the difference of our birth…makes an honourable connexion impossible" and so he must not endeavor to ruin her. Kate is impressed with the virtue he shows here, and she suggests that they could be wed even if she lacks fortune. He is touched by her "pretty simplicity" but admits "I owe too much to the opinion of the world, too much to the authority of a father," and so he leaves her as an act of courage. When he leaves, she decides to herself that she will maintain the deceit long enough to show her father his true character.

 

SCENE TWO

Tony and Constance enter, with the former explaining, that his mother believes the missing jewels were due simply to a servant's mistake but that he cannot steal them again. However, he has prepared some horses for their escape, and if he and Constance can fool his mother for a while longer, she and Hastings should be able to escape. As Mrs. Hardcastle enters, they pretend to be caught fondling each other, and she, so happy to see it, promises she will have them married the next day.

A servant brings a letter for Tony, the handwriting of which Constance immediately recognizes as belonging to Hastings, which could ruin them. Tony, who cannot read, tries to sort it out, but before he can give it to his mother to read, Constance grabs it and pretends to read it, making up a nonsense letter on the spot. Her attempts to blow it off do not deter Tony, who gives it to his mother to read. She reads from it that Hastings awaits them in anticipation of the elopement. Though polite, she insists she will not be bested at this game, and decides she will use the horses Tony prepared to bring Constance far away from Hastings and any attempt to run away. She then leaves.

Constance, now depressed, joins by Hastings, who accuses Tony of betraying them. Before he can suitably defend himself, Marlow enters, angry at having been duped. In short order, everyone turns on Tony. A servant enters to inform Constance that Mrs. Hardcastle awaits her for a quick departure. In the meanwhile, the resentment between everyone grows harsher. With a quick and sad goodbye, Constance exits. Tony suddenly develops a plan, and tells everyone to meet him in two hours at the "bottom of the garden" where he'll prove to all he's more good-natured than they believe

 

 

 

 

Act five

 

Scene one

Hastings enters with a servant, who tells him that Mrs. Hardcastle and Constance left a while before, and must be far away. The servant also tells him that Charles Marlow has arrived, and Hastings, who still wants to avoid detection, heads to the garden even though he has little faith Tony will save him.

He exits as Hardcastle and Charles Marlow enter, laughing about young Marlow mistaking Hardcastle for an innkeeper, and Charles Marlow offers that his son will not need much fortune in the way of dowry, since he is already wealthy. Hardcastle shares that Kate believes the two young people like one another, but Charles Marlow waits to see for himself.

Marlow enters to apologize again for his impudence, but Hardcastle is able to laugh it off. They discuss his daughter, whom Marlow praises but says he did not share any intimacy with. Hardcastle, who saw Marlow take her hand in Act III, accuses him of lying, while Marlow continues to insist that their meeting was "without emotion." Sir Charles attempts to rectify the situation, but neither man understands why the other believes what he does, and Marlow leaves.

Kate enters almost right away, and the two elders interrogate her. When she answers that Marlow did indeed meet her more than once and spoke in effusive tones, Sir Charles is certain she lies, since he knows his son's manner to be "modest." There is an irreconcilable perspective amongst them, so Kate proposes they all meet in a half-hour, and the men can listen behind a screen while she confronts Marlow. All agree.

 

SCENE TWO

 

The scene moves now to the back of the garden.

Hastings waits alone, sure Tony will not come, when the latter finally arrives, covered in mud. He assures Hastings he is "the best friend you have in the world" and explains what he's done. He drove the horses around in circles, through difficult areas, until he finally crashed the carriage into a horse-pond nearby. Thinking herself 40 miles from home, Mrs. Hardcastle is in a panic. Tony stresses that his means of conflict resolution has proved superior since no one has been harmed, and Hardcastle agrees.

Mrs. Hardcastle enters, terrified and lamenting being so far from home. She wonders whether the night could grow worse through a robbery, and almost right away, Tony points out a hat that can be spied over the bushes. He realizes it must be Mr. Hardcastle out on his nightly walk, and so exaggerates the appearance to convince his mother it must be a highwayman. He instructs her to hide in the thickets, which she does.

Hardcastle enters and is surprised to find Tony back so soon. As Mrs. Hardcastle prays to herself that Tony will come to no harm, Tony tries to dissuade Hardcastle from investigation by claiming he was talking to himself and so the latter did not hear any voices.

Hastings and Constance enter, the former begging the latter to join him in eloping. But Constance, having been through so many trials in this night, no longer wants any part of duplicity and wants instead to apply to Hardcastle for leniency and permission to marry. Hastings insists he lacks the power to grant their wish (that lies with Mrs. Hardcastle), but she believes his sense of justice might lead him to use his influence on their behalf.

 

SCENE Three

 

The scene moves back to the house.

Sir Charles laments his situation to Kate. Kate suggests it might not be so bad, and the man retires to observe the meeting between the young people.

Once he arrives, Marlow again laments his situation, where his passion is enflamed by the grace and appearance of this girl who lacks the fortune to please his father. He insists he must quit her immediately, and she grants him this, herself sad that "all [his] serious aims are fixed on fortune." He assures her fortune was not what drew him to her but rather her qualities, which he is learning to see as "refined simplicity." Through his speech to himself, he resolves to stay with her despite his father's lack of approval. She refuses him, claiming such a union will surely result in resentment, but he claims otherwise, and gets down on one knee before her.

At such a move, Sir Charles and Hardcastle charge from behind the screen and each accuse Marlow of falsehood, though for different reasons. In the attacks they launch at him, the truth of Kate's identity is revealed and Marlow is immediately leveled, saying "Oh, the devil." Having been caught, Kate continues to mock him, asking which of his "characters" he intends to use now. Hardcastle softens and asks Kate to forgive him, at which point the lovers move off to speak privately.

Mrs. Hardcastle enters, claiming loudly that her niece has eloped with Hastings and that she will not ever release the girl's fortune. Hardcastle accuses her of being "mercenary" but she tells him to mind his own business, reminding him that if Tony refuses to marry Constance of his own volition once he is of age, then her fortune goes automatically to her.

As Hastings and Constance arrive to beg forgiveness, Hardcastle reveals that Tony is actually of age and pretends otherwise, and so the fortune is for Constance after all. They had kept Tony's true age a secret in hopes it might induce him to mature more quickly. As his first act of age, Tony takes Constance's hand and in a wonderful parody of a marriage proposal, swears her off as a mate. Mrs. Hardcastle complains this is all "but the whining end of a modern novel" and shows no sign of having learned anything.

Mr. Hardcastle gives a final speech wherein he hopes the "Mistakes of a Night" shall lead all to never mistake in his or her beloved such faulty qualities again.

 

CHARACTERIZATION

Sir Charles Marlow

The father of Young Marlow and friend of Hardcastle, A respectable and aristocratic fellow from the town who believes his son are of very modest character.

Marlow

He is the hero of this play. A respectable fellow, he comes to Hardcastle's home to meet Kate Hardcastle. Possessed of a strange contradictory character, wherein he is mortified to speak to any "modest" woman, but is lively and excitable in conversation with barmaids or other low-class women.

Hardcastle

He is the patriarch of the Hardcastle family, and owner of the estate where the play is set. He despises the ways of the town, and is dedicated to the simplicity of country life and old-fashioned traditions.

Hastings

Hastings is Marlow's friend and lover of Constance Neville. He is a decent fellow who is willing to marry Constance even without her money.

Tony Lumpkin

Son of Mrs. Hardcastle from an earlier marriage, and he is known for his freewheeling ways of drinking and tomfoolery. He loves to play practical jokes. He proves to be good-natured and kind despite his superficial disdain for everyone. His mother wants him to marry Constance but he sets against the idea.

Diggory

Diggory is Hardcastle's head servant.

Mrs. Hardcastle

She is the Matriarch of the Hardcastle family, most notable for her pronounced vanity. She coddles her son Tony, and wants him to marry her niece, Constance Neville.

Kate Hardcastle

She is "Miss Hardcastle" in the play. The heroine of the play, she is able to balance the "refined simplicity" of country life with the love of life associated with the town. She pretends to be a barmaid in order to judge her suitor Marlow's true character.

Constance Neville

She is "Miss Neville" in the play. Niece of Mrs. Hardcastle, she is an orphan whose only inheritance is a set of jewels in the care of her aunt. Her aunt wishes her to marry Tony Lumpkin, but Constance wants to marry Hastings.

Maid

Kate's servant, the woman who tells her that Marlow believed Kate to be a barmaid, which leads Kate towards her plan to stoop and conquer.

Landlord

Landlord of the Three Pigeons, who welcomes Marlow and Hastings, and helps Tony to play his trick on them.

Jeremy

Jeremy is Marlow's drunken servant. His drunken impertinence offends Hardcastle, which leads Hardcastle to order Marlow to leave.

 

Themes

Class

While the play is not explicitly a tract on class, the theme is central to it. The decisions the characters make and their perspectives on one another, largely based on what class they are a part of. Where Tony openly loves low-class people like the drunks in the Three Pigeons, Marlow must hide his love of low-class women from his father and “society.” His dynamic relationship with Kate (and the way he treats her) defines by who he thinks she is at the time – from high-class Kate to a poor barmaid to a woman from good family but with no fortune. Hastings and Marlow’s reaction to Hardcastle is also a great example of the importance of class—they find him impudent and absurd, because they believe him to be of low class, but his behavior would be perfectly reasonable and expected from a member of the upper class, as he truly is.

Money

One of the factors that keep the play pragmatic even when it veers close to contrivance and sentiment is the unavoidable importance of money. While some of the characters, like Marlow and Hardcastle, are mostly unconcerned with questions of money, there are several characters whose lives defined by a lack of access to it. Constance cannot run away with Hastings because she worries about a life without her inheritance. When Marlow thinks Kate is a poor relation of the Hardcastles, he cannot get himself to propose because of her lack of dowry. Moreover, Tony seems to live a life unconcerned with wealth, although the implicit truth is that his dalliances facilitated by having access to wealth.

Behaviour/Appearance

One of the elements Goldsmith most skewers in his play's satirical moments is the aristocratic emphasis on behaviour as a gauge of character. Even though we today believe that one's behaviour – in terms of “low” versus “high” class behaviour – does not necessarily indicate who someone is, many characters in the play are blind to a character's behaviour because of an assumption. For instance, Marlow and Hastings treat Hardcastle cruelly because they think him the landlord of an inn, and are confused by his behaviour, which seems forward. The same behaviour would have seemed appropriately high-class if Tony had not fooled them. Throughout the play, characters (especially Marlow) assume they understand someone's behavior when what truly guides them is their assumption of the other character's class.

 

Deceit/Trickery

Much of this play's comedy comes from the trickery played by various characters. The most important deceits come from Tony, including his lie about Hardcastle's home and his scheme of driving his mother and Constance around in circles. However, deceit also touches to the center of the play's more major themes. In a sense, the only reason anyone learns anything about their deep assumptions about class and behaviour is that they are duped into seeing characters in different ways. This truth is most clear with Marlow and his shifting perspective on Kate, but it also is true for the Hardcastles and Sir Charles, who are able to see the contradictions in others because of what trickery engenders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

William Shakespeare

Othello

 

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582, he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and travelled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part owner of the Globe Theatre. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favourite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King’s Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two.

 

TYPE OF play

It is written during Shakespeare’s great tragic period. It is a tragedy.

 

LANGUAGE

In Othello, Shakespeare uses language as a vehicle for deliberate dramatic effect. Most striking are the carefully fashioned and quite distinct idioms he has invented for use by Iago and Othello. Iago often speaks in prose, using euphemisms for a conscious calculation of effective.

 

SETTING

Othello is a play sets in both Venice and Cyprus. The play has its beginning in Venice before moving to Cyprus at the invasion of the Turks.

 

 

 

Plot overview

Roderigo learns that Desdemona marries Othello. On a street in Venice, Roderigo argues with Iago. Roderigo pays Iago to help him in his suit to Desdemona. Rodrigo hates Othello. Iago hates Othello too, who recently passed him over for the position of Lieutenant in favour of the inexperience soldier Michael Cassio. Iago and Rodrigo cry to Brabanzio that his daughter Desdemona marries Othello, the moor. Brabanzio finds that his daughter is missing and he gathers some officers to find Othello.

 

Iago leaves Roderigo and hurries back to Othello. At Othello’s lodging, Cassio arrives with an urgent message from the duke. Brabanzio arrives with Roderigo and others, and accuses Othello of stealing his daughter by witchcraft. Brabanzio accuses Othello before the assembled senate. The duke and senate are very sympathetic toward Othello. Othello explains that he wooed Desdemona not by witchcraft but with the stories of his adventures in tracel and war. Othello convinces the duke. Desdemona enters and defends her choice of husband. Brabanzio retires from his argument. The Duke tells Othello to go to cyrus to aid in the defence against the Turks. Desdemona insists to follow her husband.

 

In Cyprus the following day, two gentlemen stand on the shore with Montano, the governor of Cyprus. A third gentleman arrives and reports that the Turkish fleet has wrecked in a storm at sea. Cassio arrives after, followed by a second ship carrying Iago, Roderigo, Desdemona and Emilia. Othello arrives, greets his wife and announces celebration. Everyone leaves; Roderigo complains to Iago that he has no chance of breaking up Othello’s marriage. Iago assures Roderigo that soon as Desdemona’s “blood is made dull with the act of sport” she will lose interest in Othello and seek sexual satisfaction elsewhere (11.i.222) Iago counsels Roderigo that he should cast Cassio into disgrace by starting a fight with him. Iago gets Cassio drunk and then sends Roderigo to start a fight with him. Cassio chases Roderigo across the stage. Governor Montano attempts to hold Cassio down, and Cassio stabs him. Iago sends Roderigo to raise alarm in the town.

 

The alarm rings, Othello arrives soon and demands to know who began the fight, Iago tells the whole story. Othello then strips Cassio of his rank of Lieutant. Cassio laments to Iago. Iago assures Cassio that he can get back into Othello good grace by using Desdemona as an intermediary.

 

 

 

Summary: Act I, scene i

 

“In following him I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so for my peculiar end.”

“Othello begins on a street in Venice, in the midst of an argument between Roderigo and Iago. The rich Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him in his suit to Desdemona, but he has seen no progress, and he has just learned that Desdemona has married Othello, a general whom Iago serves as ensign. Iago reassures Roderigo that he hates Othello. Chief among Iago’s reasons for this hatred is Othello’s recent promotion of Michael Cassio to the post of lieutenant. In spite of Iago’s service in battle and the recommendation of three “great ones” of the city, Othello chose to give the position to a man with no experience leading men in battle. As he waits for an opportunity to further his own self-interest, Iago only pretends to serve Othello.

Iago advises Roderigo to spoil some of Othello’s pleasure in his marriage by rousing Desdemona’s family against the general. The two men come to the street outside the house of Desdemona’s father, Brabanzio, and cry out that he has been robbed by “thieves.” Brabanzio, who is a Venetian senator, comes to the window. At first, he doesn’t believe what he hears, because he has told Roderigo to stay away from his daughter before and thinks Roderigo is merely scheming once again in order to see Desdemona. Iago speaks in inflammatory terms, vulgarly telling the senator that his daughter and Othello are having sex by saying that they are “making the beast with two backs” (I.i.118). Brabanzio begins to take what he hears seriously and decides to search for his daughter. Seeing the success of his plan, Iago leaves Roderigo alone and goes to attend on Othello. Like Brabanzio, Othello has no idea of Iago’s role in Roderigo’s accusations. As Iago departs, Brabanzio comes out of his house, furious that his daughter has left him. Declaring that his daughter has been stolen from him by magic “charms,” Brabanzio and his men follow Roderigo to Othello.”

 

Summary: Act I, scene ii

 

“Iago arrives at Othello’s lodgings, where he warns the general that Brabanzio will not hesitate to attempt to force a divorce between Othello and Desdemona. Othello sees a party of men approaching, and Iago, thinking that Brabanzio and his followers have arrived, counsels Othello to retreat indoors. Othello stands his ground, but the party turns out to be Cassio and officers from the Venetian court. They bring Othello the message that he is wanted by the duke of Venice about a matter concerning Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea controlled by Venice. As Cassio and his men prepare to leave, Iago mentions that Othello is married, but before he can say any more, Brabanzio, Roderigo, and Brabanzio’s men arrive to accost Othello. Brabanzio orders his men to attack and subdue Othello. A struggle between Brabanzio’s and Othello’s followers seems imminent, but Othello brings the confrontation to a halt by calmly and authoritatively telling both sides to put up their swords. Hearing that the duke has summoned Othello to the court, Brabanzio decides to bring his cause before the duke himself.”

 

Act I, scene iii

Summary

 

“But here’s my husband,
And so much duty as my mother showed
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord.”

“The duke’s meeting with his senators about the imminent Turkish invasion of Cyprus takes an unexpected turn when a sailor arrives and announces that the Turks seem to have turned toward Rhodes, another island controlled by Venice. One of the senators guesses that the Turks’ change of course is intended to mislead the Venetians, because Cyprus is more important to the Turks and far more vulnerable than Rhodes. This guess proves to be correct, as another messenger arrives to report that the Turks have joined with more forces and are heading back toward Cyprus.

This military meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Brabanzio, Othello, Cassio, Iago, Roderigo, and officers. Brabanzio demands that all state business be put aside to address his own grievance—his daughter has been stolen from him by spells and potions purchased from charlatans. The duke is initially eager to take Brabanzio’s side, but he becomes more skeptical when he learns that Othello is the man accused. The duke gives Othello the chance to speak for himself. Othello admits that he married Desdemona, but he denies having used magic to woo her and claims that Desdemona will support his story. He explains that Brabanzio frequently invited him to his house and questioned him about his remarkable life story, full of harrowing battles, travels outside the civilized world, and dramatic reversals of fortune. Desdemona overheard parts of the story and found a convenient time to ask Othello to retell it to her. Desdemona was moved to love Othello by his story.

The duke is persuaded by Othello’s tale, dismissing Brabanzio’s claim by remarking that the story probably would win his own daughter. Desdemona enters, and Brabanzio asks her to tell those present to whom she owes the most obedience. Brabanzio clearly expects her to say her father. Desdemona, however, confirms that she married Othello of her own free will and that, like her own mother before her, she must shift her primary loyalty from father to husband. Brabanzio reluctantly resigns himself to her decision and allows the court to return to state affairs.

The duke decides that Othello must go to Cyprus to defend the island from the Turks. Othello is willing and ready to go, and he asks that appropriate accommodations be provided for his wife. The duke suggests that she stay with her father, but neither Desdemona nor Brabanzio nor Othello will accept this, and Desdemona asks to be allowed to go with Othello. The couple then leaves to prepare for the night’s voyage.

The stage is cleared, leaving only Roderigo and Iago. Once again, Roderigo feels that his hopes of winning Desdemona have been dashed, but Iago insists that all will be well. Iago mocks Roderigo for threatening to drown himself, and Roderigo protests that he can’t help being tormented by love. Iago contradicts him, asserting that people can choose at will what they want to be. “Put but money in thy purse,” Iago tells Roderigo repeatedly in the paragraph that spans lines 329–351, urging him to follow him to Cyprus. Iago promises to work everything out from there. When Roderigo leaves, Iago delivers his first soliloquy, declaring his hatred for Othello and his suspicion that Othello has slept with his wife, Emilia. He lays out his plan to cheat Roderigo out of his money, to convince Othello that Cassio has slept with Desdemona, and to use Othello’s honest and unsuspecting nature to bring him to his demise.”

 

Summary: Act II, scene i

 

“On the shores of Cyprus, Montano, the island’s governor, watches a storm with two gentlemen. Just as Montano says that the Turkish fleet of ships could not survive the storm, a third gentlemen comes to confirm his prediction: as his ship traveled from Venice, Cassio witnessed that the Turks lost most of their fleet in the tempest. It is still uncertain whether Othello’s ship has been able to survive the storm. Hope lifts as voices offstage announce the sighting of a sail offshore, but the new ship turns out to be carrying Iago, Emilia, Desdemona, and Roderigo. Desdemona disembarks, and no sooner does Cassio tell her that Othello has yet to arrive than a friendly shot announces the arrival of a third ship. While the company waits for the ship, Cassio and Desdemona tease Emilia about being a chatterbox, but Iago quickly takes the opportunity to criticize women in general as deceptive and hypocritical, saying they are lazy in all matters except sex: “You rise to play and go to bed to work” (II.i.118). Desdemona plays along, laughing as Iago belittles women, whether beautiful or ugly, intelligent or stupid, as equally despicable. Cassio takes Desdemona away to speak with her privately about Othello’s arrival. Iago notices that Cassio takes Desdemona’s hand as he talks to her, and, in an aside, Iago plots to use Cassio’s hand-holding to frame him so that he loses his newly gained promotion to lieutenant. “With as little a web as this I will ensnare as great a fly as Cassio,” he asserts (II.i.169).

Othello arrives safely and greets Desdemona, expressing his devotion to her and giving her a kiss. He then thanks the Cypriots for their welcome and hospitality, and orders Iago to unload the ship. All but Roderigo and Iago head to the castle to celebrate the drowning of the Turks. Iago tells the despondent Roderigo that Desdemona will soon grow tired of being with Othello and will long for a more well-mannered and handsome man. But, Iago continues, the obvious first choice for Desdemona will be Cassio, whom Iago characterizes over and over again as a “knave” (II.i.231–239). Roderigo tries to argue that Cassio was merely being polite by taking Desdemona’s hand, but Iago convinces him of Cassio’s ill intentions and convinces Roderigo to start a quarrel with Cassio that evening. He posits that the uproar the quarrel will cause in the still tense city will make Cassio fall out of favor with Othello. Left alone onstage again, Iago explains his actions to the audience in a soliloquy. He secretly lusts after Desdemona, partially because he suspects that Othello has slept with Emilia, and he wants to get even with the Moor “wife for wife” (II.i.286). But, Iago continues, if he is unable to get his revenge by sleeping with Desdemona, Roderigo’s accusation of Cassio will make Othello suspect his lieutenant of sleeping with his wife and torture Othello to madness.”

Summary: Act II, scene ii

“A herald announces that Othello plans revelry for the evening in celebration of Cyprus’s safety from the Turks, and also in celebration of his marriage to Desdemona.”

 

Act II, scene iii

Summary

 

“Othello leaves Cassio on guard during the revels, reminding him to practice self-restraint during the celebration. Othello and Desdemona leave to consummate their marriage. Once Othello is gone, Iago enters and joins Cassio on guard. He tells Cassio that he suspects Desdemona to be a temptress, but Cassio maintains that she is modest. Then, despite Cassio’s protestations, Iago persuades Cassio to take a drink and to invite some revelers to join them.

 

Once Cassio leaves to fetch the revelers, Iago tells the audience his plan: Roderigo and three other Cypriots, all of whom are drunk, will join Iago and Cassio on guard duty. Amidst all the drunkards, Iago will lead Cassio into committing an action that will disgrace him. Cassio returns, already drinking, with Montano and his attendants. It is not long before he becomes intoxicated and wanders offstage, assuring his friends that he isn’t drunk. Once Cassio leaves, Iago tells Montano that while Cassio is a wonderful soldier, he fears that Cassio may have too much responsibility for someone with such a serious drinking problem. Roderigo enters, and Iago points him in Cassio’s direction. As Montano continues to suggest that something be said to Othello of Cassio’s drinking problem, Cassio chases Roderigo across the stage, threatening to beat him. Montano steps in to prevent the fight and is attacked by Cassio. Iago orders Roderigo to leave and “cry a mutiny” (II.iii.140). As Montano and others attempt to hold Cassio down, Cassio stabs Montano. An alarm bell is rung, and Othello arrives with armed attendants.

Immediately taking control of the situation, Othello demands to know what happened, but both Iago and Cassio claim to have forgotten how the struggle began. Montano insists that he is in too much pain to speak and insists that Iago tell the story. At first Iago feigns reluctance to incriminate Cassio, emphasizing the fact that he was chasing after Roderigo (to whom Iago does not refer by name) when the fight between Cassio and Montano began, and suggesting that the unknown man must have done something to upset Cassio. Othello falls into Iago’s trap, stating that he can tell that Iago softened the story out of honest affection for Cassio. Othello dismisses Cassio from his service.

Desdemona has been awakened by the commotion, and Othello leads her back to bed, saying that he will look to Montano’s wound. Iago and Cassio remain behind, and Cassio laments the permanent damage now done to his reputation by a quarrel whose cause he cannot even remember. Iago suggests that Cassio appeal to Desdemona, because she commands Othello’s attention and goodwill. Iago argues that Desdemona’s kindheartedness will prompt her to help Cassio if Cassio entreats her, and that she will persuade Othello to give Cassio back his lieutenantship.

When Cassio leaves, Iago jokes about the irony of the fact that his so-called villainy involves counseling Cassio to a course of action that would actually help him. He repeats what he told Cassio about Desdemona’s generosity and Othello’s devotion to her. However, as Iago reminds the audience, he does the most evil when he seems to do good. Now that Cassio will be spending time with Desdemona, Iago will find it all the easier to convince Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, thus turning Desdemona’s virtue to “pitch” (II.iii.234).

Roderigo enters, upset that he has been beaten and angry because Iago has taken all his money and left Roderigo nothing to show for it. Iago counsels him to be patient and not to return to Venice, reminding him that they have to work by their wits. He assures Roderigo that everything is going according to plan. After telling Roderigo to go, Iago finishes telling the audience the plot that is to come: he will convince Emilia to speak to Desdemona on Cassio’s behalf, and he will arrange for Othello to witness Cassio’s suit to Desdemona.”

 

Summary: Act III, scene i

 

“In an effort to win Othello’s good graces, Cassio sends musicians to play music beneath the general’s window. Othello sends his servant, a clown, or peasant, to tell the musicians to go away. Cassio asks the clown to entreat Emilia to come speak with him, so that he can ask her for access to Desdemona. When the clown leaves, Iago enters and tells Cassio that he will send for Emilia straightaway and figure out a way to take Othello aside so that Cassio and Desdemona can confer privately. After Iago exits, Emilia enters and tells Cassio that Othello and Desdemona have been discussing his case. Desdemona has pleaded for Cassio, but Othello worries that Montano’s influence and popularity in Cyprus would make Cassio’s reappointment impractical, no matter how much Othello cares for his former lieutenant. Emilia allows Cassio to come in and tells him to wait for Desdemona.”

 

Summary: Act III, scene ii

 

“Iago, Othello, and a gentleman walk together at the citadel. Othello gives Iago some letters to deliver and decides to take a look at the town’s fortification.”

 

Summary: Act III, scene iii

 

“This was her first remembrance from the Moor,
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Wooed me to steal it, but she so loves the token. . . .

Desdemona, Cassio, and Emilia enter mid-conversation. Desdemona has just vowed to do everything she can on Cassio’s behalf when Othello and Iago enter. Cassio quickly departs, protesting to Desdemona that he feels too uneasy to do himself any good. Othello asks whether it was Cassio he saw leaving the room, and Iago responds that surely Cassio would not behave like a guilty man at Othello’s approach.

Desdemona entreats Othello to forgive Cassio and reinstate him as lieutenant. Othello assures her that he will speak to Cassio, but he answers evasively when she tries to set a meeting time. She criticizes Othello for responding to her request so grudgingly and hesitantly, and he tells her that he will deny her nothing but wishes to be left to himself for a little while.

Alone with Othello, Iago begins his insinuations of an affair between Cassio and Desdemona by reminding Othello that Cassio served as Othello and Desdemona’s go-between during their courtship. Othello asks Iago whether he believes Cassio to be honest, and Iago feigns reluctance to answer. Iago plants in Othello’s mind thoughts of adultery, cuckoldry, and hypocrisy, until Othello screams at the ensign to speak his mind. Iago suggests that Othello observe his wife closely when she is with Cassio.

Othello tells Iago to have Emilia watch Desdemona when she is with Cassio. Iago appears to retreat from his accusations and suggests that Othello leave the matter alone. But he has already made his point. By himself, Othello muses that his wife no longer loves him, probably because he is too old for her, because he is black, and because he doesn’t have the manners of a courtier. “She’s gone,” he laments (III.iii.271).”

 

Act III, scene iv

Summary

 

“Desdemona orders the clown to find Cassio and bring him the message that she has made her suit to Othello. As the clown departs, Desdemona wonders to Emilia where her handkerchief might be. Othello enters and tells Desdemona to give him her hand. She does so, and he chastises her for her hand’s moistness, which suggests sexual promiscuity. He then asks her to lend him her handkerchief. When Desdemona cannot produce the handkerchief he wants to see, Othello explains the handkerchief’s history. An Egyptian sorceress gave it to his mother and told her that it would make her desirable and keep Othello’s father loyal, but if she lost it or gave it away, Othello’s father would leave her. Othello’s mother gave him the magic handkerchief on her deathbed, instructing him to give it to the woman he desired to marry. Desdemona is unsettled by the story and says that she has the handkerchief, but not with her. Othello does not believe her. As he accuses her, demanding “The handkerchief!” with increasing vehemence, she entreats for Cassio as a way of changing the subject.

 

After Othello storms off, Emilia laments the fickleness of men. Cassio and Iago enter, and Cassio immediately continues with his suit to Desdemona for help. Desdemona tells Cassio that his timing is unfortunate, as Othello is in a bad humor, and Iago promises to go soothe his master. Emilia speculates that Othello is jealous, but Desdemona maintains her conviction that Othello is upset by some political matter. She tells Cassio to wait while she goes to find Othello and bring him to talk with his former lieutenant.

While Cassio waits, Bianca, a prostitute, enters. She reprimands him for not visiting her more frequently, and he apologizes, saying that he is under stress. He asks her to copy the embroidery of a handkerchief he recently found in his room onto another handkerchief. Bianca accuses him of making her copy the embroidery of a love gift from some other woman, but Cassio tells her she is being silly. They make a plan to meet later that evening.”

 

Act IV, scene i

Summary

 

“Othello and Iago enter in mid-conversation. Iago goads Othello by arguing that it is no crime for a woman to be naked with a man, if nothing happens. Iago then remarks that if he were to give his wife a handkerchief, it would be hers to do as she wished with it. These persistent insinuations of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness work Othello into an incoherent frenzy. He focuses obsessively on the handkerchief and keeps pumping Iago for information about Cassio’s comments to Iago. Finally, Iago says that Cassio has told him he has lain with Desdemona, and Othello “[f]alls down in a trance” (IV.i.41 stage direction).

 

Cassio enters, and Iago mentions that Othello has fallen into his second fit of epilepsy in two days. He warns Cassio to stay out of the way but tells him that he would like to speak once Othello has gone. Othello comes out of his trance, and Iago explains that Cassio stopped by and that he has arranged to speak with the ex-lieutenant. Iago orders Othello to hide nearby and observe Cassio’s face during their conversation. Iago explains that he will make Cassio retell the story of where, when, how, and how often he has slept with Desdemona, and when he intends to do so again. When Othello withdraws, Iago informs the audience of his actual intention. He will joke with Cassio about the prostitute Bianca, so that Cassio will laugh as he tells the story of Bianca’s pursuit of him. Othello will be driven mad, thinking that Cassio is joking with Iago about Desdemona.

The plan works: Cassio laughs uproariously as he tells Iago the details of Bianca’s love for him, and even makes gestures in an attempt to depict her sexual advances. Just as Cassio says that he no longer wishes to see Bianca, she herself enters with the handkerchief and again accuses Cassio of giving her a love token given to him by another woman. Bianca tells Cassio that if he doesn’t show up for supper with her that evening, he will never be welcome to come back again. Othello has recognized his handkerchief and, coming out of hiding when Cassio and Bianca are gone, wonders how he should murder his former lieutenant. Othello goes on to lament his hardheartedness and love for Desdemona, but Iago reminds him of his purpose. Othello has trouble reconciling his wife’s delicacy, class, beauty, and allure with her adulterous actions. He suggests that he will poison his wife, but Iago advises him to strangle her in the bed that she contaminated through her infidelity. Iago also promises to arrange Cassio’s death.

Desdemona enters with Lodovico, who has come from Venice with a message from the duke. Lodovico irritates Othello by inquiring about Cassio, and Desdemona irritates Othello by answering Lodovico’s inquiries. The contents of the letter also upset Othello—he has been called back to Venice, with orders to leave Cassio as his replacement in Cyprus. When Desdemona hears the news that she will be leaving Cyprus, she expresses her happiness, whereupon Othello strikes her. Lodovico is horrified by Othello’s loss of self-control, and asks Othello to call back Desdemona, who has left the stage. Othello does so, only to accuse her of being a false and promiscuous woman. He tells Lodovico that he will obey the duke’s orders, commands Desdemona to leave, and storms off. Lodovico cannot believe that the Othello he has just seen is the same self-controlled man he once knew. He wonders whether Othello is mad, but Iago refuses to answer Lodovico’s questions, telling him that he must see for himself.”

 

Summary: Act IV, scene ii

 

“Othello interrogates Emilia about Desdemona’s behavior, but Emilia insists that Desdemona has done nothing suspicious. Othello tells Emilia to summon Desdemona, implying while Emilia is gone that she is a “bawd,” or female pimp (IV.ii.21). When Emilia returns with Desdemona, Othello sends Emilia to guard the door. Alone with Desdemona, Othello weeps and proclaims that he could have borne any affliction other than the pollution of the “fountain” from which his future children are to flow (IV.ii.61). When Desdemona fervently denies being unfaithful, Othello sarcastically replies that he begs her pardon: he took her for the “cunning whore of Venice” who married Othello (IV.ii.93). Othello storms out of the room, and Emilia comes in to comfort her mistress. Desdemona tells Emilia to lay her wedding sheets on the bed for that night.

At Desdemona’s request, Emilia brings in Iago, and Desdemona tries to find out from him why Othello has been treating her like a whore. Emilia says to her husband that Othello must have been deceived by some villain, the same sort of villain who made Iago suspect Emilia of sleeping with Othello. Iago assures Desdemona that Othello is merely upset by some official business, and a trumpet flourish calls Emilia and Desdemona away to dinner with the Venetian emissaries.

Roderigo enters, furious that he is still frustrated in his love, and ready to make himself known in his suit to Desdemona so that she might return all of the jewels that Iago was supposed to have given her from him. Iago tells Roderigo that Cassio is being assigned to Othello’s place. Iago also lies, saying that Othello is being sent to Mauritania, in Africa, although he is really being sent back to Venice. He tells Roderigo that the only way to prevent Othello from taking Desdemona away to Africa with him would be to get rid of Cassio. He sets about persuading Roderigo that he is just the man for “knocking out [Cassio’s] brains” (IV.ii.229).”

 

Summary: Act IV, scene iii

 

“After dinner, Othello proposes to walk with Lodovico, and sends Desdemona to bed, telling her that he will be with her shortly and that she should dismiss Emilia. Desdemona seems aware of her imminent fate as she prepares for bed. She says that if she dies before Emilia, Emilia should use one of the wedding sheets for her shroud. As Emilia helps her mistress to undress, Desdemona sings a song, called “Willow,” about a woman whose love forsook her. She says she learned the song from her mother’s maid, Barbary, who died singing the song after she had been deserted by her lover. The song makes Desdemona think about adultery, and she asks Emilia whether she would cheat on her husband “for all the world” (IV.iii.62). Emilia says that she would not deceive her husband for jewels or rich clothes, but that the whole world is a huge prize and would outweigh the offense. This leads Emilia to speak about the fact that women have appetites for sex and infidelity just as men do, and that men who deceive their wives have only themselves to blame if their wives cheat on them. Desdemona replies that she prefers to answer bad deeds with good deeds rather than with more bad deeds. She readies herself for bed.”

 

Summary: Act V, scene i

 

“Iago and Roderigo wait outside the brothel where Cassio visits Bianca. Iago positions Roderigo with a rapier (a type of sword) in a place where he will be able to ambush Cassio. Iago then withdraws himself, although Roderigo asks him not to go too far in case he needs help killing Cassio. Cassio enters, and Roderigo stabs at him but fails to pierce Cassio’s armor. Cassio stabs and wounds Roderigo. Iago darts out in the commotion, stabs Cassio in the leg, and exits. Not knowing who has stabbed him, Cassio falls. At this moment, Othello enters. Hearing Cassio’s cries of murder, Othello believes that Iago has killed him. Inspired by what he believes to be Iago’s successful vengeance, Othello returns to his bedroom to kill Desdemona.

Lodovico and Graziano enter and hear Cassio’s and Roderigo’s cries. They can see nothing because of the darkness, and they are wary of helping the crying men in case it is a trap. Iago enters carrying a light. He first pretends to discover Cassio, who begs him for help, and then stumbles upon Cassio’s assailant, Roderigo, whom Iago stabs without hesitation. Graziano and Lodovico are still unable to see Iago, and they are unaware of what he is doing. Finally, the three men come face-to-face, and they question Cassio about his injuries.

Bianca enters and begins to cry out when she sees the wounded Cassio. Iago questions Cassio about his assailant, but Cassio can provide no explanation for what has happened. Iago suggests that Roderigo is to blame. Cassio says that he does not know Roderigo. Attendants carry off Cassio and Roderigo’s corpse. Emilia enters, and Iago tells her what has happened, adding the explanation, “This is the fruits of whoring” (V.i.118). He and Emilia chastise Bianca, at whose house Cassio had dined that evening. Iago takes Bianca under arrest, and sends Emilia to tell Othello and Desdemona what has happened. Iago ends the scene with an aside: “This is the night / That either makes me or fordoes [undoes] me quite” (V.i.130–131).”

 

Summary: Act V, scene ii

 

“Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well,
Of one not easily jealous but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe. . . .”

“Holding a candle, Othello stands over the sleeping Desdemona and prepares to kill her. He bends down to kiss her once before he does the deed, she wakes, and he tells her to prepare to die. Growing frightened, Desdemona asks her husband why he means to kill her, and Othello responds that she has been unfaithful to him with Cassio—he has seen the proof in the handkerchief. Othello refuses to believe Desdemona’s denial of the charge, saying that Cassio has confessed but will speak no more, since he has been killed by Iago. Desdemona begins to weep for Cassio, which only drives Othello into a greater rage. Wrestling with her as she begs to be allowed to live just a little longer, Othello finally succeeds in smothering his wife. Emilia calls from outside the door, and Othello, apparently delirious, confuses her cries with his wife’s and concludes that Desdemona is not yet dead. Thinking himself to be merciful, and not wanting to have his wife linger in pain, he smothers her again.

Othello draws the bed curtains and lets Emilia in. Emilia informs Othello that Cassio has killed Roderigo. Othello asks if Cassio has been killed as well, and Emilia informs him that Cassio is alive. As Othello begins to realize that his plans have gone awry, Desdemona cries out that she has been murdered. She stays alive long enough to recant this statement, telling Emilia that she was not murdered but killed herself. She dies. Othello triumphantly admits to Emilia that he killed Desdemona, and when she asks him why, Othello tells her that Iago opened his eyes to Desdemona’s falsehood. Unfazed by Othello’s threat that she “were best” to remain silent, Emilia calls out for help, bringing Montano, Graziano, and Iago to the scene (V.ii.168).

As the truth of Iago’s villainy begins to come out through Emilia’s accusations, Othello falls weeping upon the bed that contains the body of his dead wife. Almost to himself, Graziano expresses relief that Brabanzio is dead—the first news the audience has heard of this—and has not lived to see his daughter come to such a terrible end. Othello still clings to his belief in Iago’s truth and Desdemona’s guilt, mentioning the handkerchief and Cassio’s “confession.” When Othello mentions the handkerchief, Emilia erupts, and Iago, no longer certain that he can keep his plots hidden, attempts to silence her with his sword. Graziano stops him and Emilia explains how she found the handkerchief and gave it to Iago. Othello runs at Iago but is disarmed by Montano. In the commotion, Iago is able to stab his wife, who falls, apparently dying. Iago flees and is pursued by Montano and Graziano. Left alone onstage with the bodies of the two women, Othello searches for another sword. Emilia’s dying words provide eerie background music, as she sings a snatch of the song “Willow.” She tells Othello that Desdemona was chaste and loved him.”

 

(Sparknotes Editors)

 

SparkNotes.Editors.(2002).SparkNote on Othello.Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://m.sparknotes.com/lit/othello.

 

 

CHARACTERIZATION

 

Othello  

 

The play’s protagonist and hero, A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his life as a soldier, and his race. He possesses a “free and open nature,” which his ensign Iago uses to twist his love for his wife, Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy (I.iii.381).

 

 

 

 

 

Desdemona   

 

The daughter of the Venetian senator Brabanzio, Desdemona and Othello are secretly married before the play begins. While in many ways stereotypically pure and meek, Desdemona is also determined and self-possessed. She is equally capable of defending her marriage, jesting bawdily with Iago, and responding with dignity to Othello’s incomprehensible jealousy.

 

Iago   

 

Othello’s ensign (a job also known as an ancient or standard-bearer), and the villain of the play. Iago is twenty-eight years old. While his ostensible reason for desiring Othello’s demise is that he has been passed over for promotion to lieutenant, Iago’s motivations are never very clearly expressed and seem to originate in an obsessive, almost aesthetic delight in manipulation and destruction.

 

Michael Cassio  

 

Othello’s lieutenant. Cassio is a young and inexperienced soldier, whose high position is much resented by Iago. Truly devoted to Othello, Cassio is extremely ashamed after being implicated in a drunken brawl on Cyprus and losing his place as lieutenant. Iago uses Cassio’s youth, good looks, and friendship with Desdemona to play on Othello’s insecurities about Desdemona’s fidelity.

 

Emilia   

 

Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant, A cynical, worldly woman, she is deeply attached to her mistress and distrustful of her husband.

 

Roderigo   

 

A jealous suitor of Desdemona, Young, rich, and foolish, Roderigo is convinced that if he gives Iago all of his money, Iago will help him win Desdemona’s hand. Repeatedly frustrated as Othello marries Desdemona and then takes her to Cyprus, Roderigo is ultimately desperate enough to agree to help Iago kill Cassio after Iago points out that Cassio is another potential rival for Desdemona.

 

 

 

 

Bianca   

 

A courtesan, or prostitute, in Cyprus, Bianca’s favorite customer is Cassio, who teases her with promises of marriage.

 

Brabanzio   

 

Desdemona’s father, he is a somewhat blustering and self-important Venetian senator. He is a friend of Othello; Brabanzio feels betrayed when the general marries his daughter in secret.

 

Duke of Venice  

 

The official authority in Venice, the duke has great respect for Othello as a public and military servant. His primary role within the play is to reconcile Othello and Brabanzio in Act I, scene iii, and then to send Othello to Cyprus.

 

Montano   

 

The governor of Cyprus before Othello, We see him first in Act II, as he recounts the status of the war and awaits the Venetian ships.

 

Lodovico   

 

One of Brabanzio’s kinsmen, Lodovico acts as a messenger from Venice to Cyprus. He arrives in Cyprus in Act IV with letters announcing that Cassio as governor has replaced Othello.

 

Graziano   

 

Brabanzio’s kinsman who accompanies Lodovico to Cyprus. Amidst the chaos of the final scene, Graziano mentions that Desdemona’s father has died.

 

Clown   

 

Othello’s servant, although the clown appears only in two short scenes, his appearances reflect and distort the action and words of the main plots: his puns on the word “lie” in Act III, scene iv, for example, anticipate Othello’s confusion of two meanings of that word in Act IV, scene i

 

Themes

RACE

 

Othello becomes victim of his colour and identity. The moor represents barbarian with low life style. For the fact that Othello is not a handsome white man gives Brabanzio the belief that his daughter falls to Othello’s act of enchantment or witchcraft. He accuses Othello for stealing his daughter. Brabanzio believes that the Duke and senate will retrieve back his daughter, but due to Othello’s influence in the Army. They are very sympathetic towards him and allow him to explain. Iago always victimize Othello by calling him unsavoury names.

 

INTRIGUES

 

All through the lines of this play, intrigues run in the veins of Iago. He always sets out to deceive others to achieve his secre plans and sweet revenge. The play starts with Iago paying allegiance to Roderigo, to help him win Desdemona from the Moorish soldier because Othello passed him over for the position of Lieutenant in favour of the inexperienced soldier Michael Cassio. In Cyprus he counsels Roderigo that he should cast Cassio into disgrace by starting a fight with him. Iago gets Cassio drunk and then sends Roderigo to start a fight. Cassio chases Roderigo and in the course of that fight stabs Montano. Iago sends Roderigo to ring the alarm. When the alarm rings Othello comes and Iago tells the whole story. Othello strips Cassio off his rank. Here is also Othello inherited Handkerchief which Iago instructs his wife to steal from Desdemona. He uses it to set Cassio up. Iago knows that to Othello, the Handkerchief is a symbol of Desdemona’s fidelity to him. If it is lost, it means that she is no longer faithful.

 

THE DANGER OF ISOLATION

 

Shakespeare uses the nature of Cyprus to show the danger of isolation. Cyprus is an Island proctected by military fortifications. It faces little threat from external forces. Isolation opens door for an enemy to attack. Isolation enables many of the play’s most important effects. Othello is visibly isolated from the other characters by his physical stature and the colour of his skin; therefore he is never aware of anybody’s conspirancy. Iago is an expert at manipulating the distance between characters, isolating his victims so that they fall prey to their own obsessions. Shakespeare poses that the characters cannot be islands and shows that self-isolation as an act of self-preservation leads ultimately to self-destruction. Even Iago falls prey of his own obsession with revenge.

 

 

Motifs

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

“Sight and Blindness”

“When Desdemona asks to be allowed to accompany Othello to Cyprus, she says that she “saw Othello’s visage in his mind, / And to his honours and his valiant parts / Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate” (I.iii. 250–252). Othello’s blackness, his visible difference from everyone around him, is of little importance to Desdemona: she has the power to see him for what he is in a way that even Othello himself cannot. Desdemona’s line is one of many references to different kinds of sight in the play. Earlier in Act I, scene iii, a senator suggests that the Turkish retreat to Rhodes is “a pageant / To keep us in false gaze” (I.iii.19–20). The beginning of Act II consists entirely of people staring out to sea, waiting to see the arrival of ships, friendly or otherwise. Othello, though he demands “ocular proof” (III.iii.365), is frequently convinced by things he does not see: he strips Cassio of his position as lieutenant based on the story Iago tells; he relies on Iago’s story of seeing Cassio wipe his beard with Desdemona’s handkerchief (III.iii.437–440); and he believes Cassio to be dead simply because he hears him scream. After Othello has killed himself in the final scene, Lodovico says to Iago, “Look on the tragic loading of this bed. / This is thy work. The object poisons sight. / Let it be hid” (V.ii.373–375). The action of the play depends heavily on characters not seeing things: Othello accuses his wife although he never sees her infidelity, and Emilia, although she watches Othello erupt into a rage about the missing handkerchief, does not figuratively “see” what her husband has done.”

“Plants”

“Iago is strangely preoccupied with plants. His speeches to Roderigo in particular make extensive and elaborate use of vegetable metaphors and conceits. Some examples are: “Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme . . . the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills” (I.iii.317–322); “Though other things grow fair against the sun, / Yet fruits that blossom first will first be ripe” (II.iii.349–350); “And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, / Cry ‘O sweet creature!’, then kiss me hard, / As if he plucked kisses up by the roots, / That grew upon my lips” (III.iii.425–428). The first of these examples best explains Iago’s preoccupation with the plant metaphor and how it functions within the play. Characters in this play seem to be the product of certain inevitable, natural forces, which, if left unchecked, will grow wild. Iago understands these natural forces particularly well: he is, according to his own metaphor, a good “gardener,” both of himself and of others.

Many of Iago’s botanical references concern poison: “I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear” (II.iii.330); “The Moor already changes with my poison. / Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons, / . . . / . . . Not poppy nor mandragora / Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world / Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep” (III.iii.329–336). Iago cultivates his “conceits” so that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic way in which Iago’s plots consume the other characters and determine their behavior makes his conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago’s efforts.”

“Animals”

“Iago calls Othello a “Barbary horse,” an “old black ram,” and also tells Brabanzio that his daughter and Othello are “making the beast with two backs” (I.i.117–118). In Act I, scene iii, Iago tells Roderigo, “Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon” (I.iii.312–313). He then remarks that drowning is for “cats and blind puppies” (I.iii.330–331). Cassio laments that, when drunk, he is “by and by a fool, and presently a beast!” (II.iii.284–285). Othello tells Iago, “Exchange me for a goat / When I shall turn the business of my soul / To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises” (III.iii.184–186). He later says that “[a] horned man’s a monster and a beast” (IV.i.59). Even Emilia, in the final scene, says that she will “play the swan, / And die in music” (V.ii.254–255). Like the repeated references to plants, these references to animals convey a sense that the laws of nature, rather than those of society, are the primary forces governing the characters in this play. When animal references are used with regard to Othello, as they frequently are, they reflect the racism both of characters in the play and of Shakespeare’s contemporary audience. “Barbary horse” is a vulgarity particularly appropriate in the mouth of Iago, but even without having seen Othello, the Jacobean audience would have known from Iago’s metaphor that he meant to connote a savage Moor.”

“Hell, Demons, and Monsters”

“Iago tells Othello to beware of jealousy, the “green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on” (III.iii.170–171). Likewise, Emilia describes jealousy as dangerously and uncannily self-generating, a “monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself” (III.iv.156–157). Imagery of hell and damnation also recurs throughout Othello, especially toward the end of the play, when Othello becomes preoccupied with the religious and moral judgment of Desdemona and himself. After he has learned the truth about Iago, Othello calls Iago a devil and a demon several times in Act V, scene ii. Othello’s earlier allusion to “some monster in [his] thought” ironically refers to Iago (III.iii.111). Likewise, his vision of Desdemona’s betrayal is “monstrous, monstrous!” (III.iii.431). Shortly before he kills himself, Othello wishes for eternal spiritual and physical torture in hell, crying out, “Whip me, ye devils, / . . . / . . . roast me in sulphur, / Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!” (V.ii.284–287). The imagery of the monstrous and diabolical takes over where the imagery of animals can go no further, presenting the jealousy-crazed characters not simply as brutish, but as grotesque, deformed, and demonic.”

Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

“The Handkerchief”

“The handkerchief symbolizes different things to different characters. Since the handkerchief was the first gift Desdemona received from Othello, she keeps it about her constantly as a symbol of Othello’s love. Iago manipulates the handkerchief so that Othello comes to see it as a symbol of Desdemona herself—her faith and chastity. By taking possession of it, he is able to convert it into evidence of her infidelity. But the handkerchief’s importance to Iago and Desdemona derives from its importance to Othello himself. He tells Desdemona that it was woven by a 200-year-old sibyl, or female prophet, using silk from sacred worms and dye extracted from the hearts of mummified virgins. Othello claims that his mother used it to keep his father faithful to her, so, to him, the handkerchief represents marital fidelity. The pattern of strawberries (dyed with virgins’ blood) on a white background strongly suggests the bloodstains left on the sheets on a virgin’s wedding night, so the handkerchief implicitly suggests a guarantee of virginity as well as fidelity.”

“The Song” “Willow”

“As she prepares for bed in Act V, Desdemona sings a song about a woman who is betrayed by her lover. She was taught the song by her mother’s maid, Barbary, who suffered a misfortune similar to that of the woman in the song; she even died singing “Willow.” The song’s lyrics suggest that both men and women are unfaithful to one another. To Desdemona, the song seems to represent a melancholy and resigned acceptance of her alienation from Othello’s affections, and singing it leads her to question Emilia about the nature and practice of infidelity.”

(SparkNotes Editors)

 

 

 

 

Poetry: “Piano and Drums” by Gabriel Okara

 

Gabriel imomotimi gbaingbain okara (born April 21, 1921, Bumodi, Nigeria), Nigerian poet and novelist whose verse had been translated into several languages by the early 1960s.

 

 

Piano and Drums

When at break of day at a riverside
I hear the jungle drums telegraphing
the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw
like bleeding flesh, speaking of
primal youth and the beginning
I see the panther ready to pounce
the leopard snarling about to leap
and the hunters crouch with spears poised;

And my blood ripples, turns torrent,
topples the years and at once I’m
in my mother’s laps a suckling;
at once I’m walking simple
paths with no innovations,
rugged, fashioned with the naked
warmth of hurrying feet and groping hearts
in green leaves and wild flowers pulsing.

Then I hear a wailing piano
solo speaking of complex ways in
tear-furrowed concerto;
of far away lands
and new horizons with
coaxing diminuendo, counterpoint,
crescendo. But lost in the labyrinth
of its complexities, it ends in the middle
of a phrase at a daggerpoint.

And I lost in the morning mist
of an age at a riverside keep
wandering in the mystic rhythm
of jungle drums and the concerto.

Gabriel Okara

[Source: Touched With Fire: an anthology of poemsHYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.co.uk/Touched-Fire-Anthology-Jack-Hydes/dp/0521315379", compiled by Jack Hydes, p.27]

 

ANALYSIS

 

In the poem, Okara shows the contrasts between traditional life and modern life. In the beginning of the poem, he narrates rustic and primal life of the ancient- the drum telegraphing, “The mystic rhythm” the narrator sees the hunter with spears hunting a leopard. This narration depicts a typical ancient African life, where hunters go hunting accompanied by the drum sounds. The narrator tells how he feels on his mother’s laps suckling, his blood moves like small wave and turns largely and quickly.

Later, civilization comes. Things change, wave of life moves on another frequency, and this new life is complex that it brings fear and confusion. This new life comes from far away lands, coaxing, persuading gradually from low tone to higher tone. The narrator lost “In the labyrinth” of this new life. This situation ends him in a dilemma. He lives a confused entity, having no path to follow. The Piano represents Modern life while Drum represents traditional life.

 

 

Theme

Clash of cultures, the narrator in his primal state of life encounters a new way of life different from that of the old. He tries to balance both but ends in dilemma.

 

The theme of foreign interference, the coming of civilization destabilises the persona’s way of life and puts him in dilemma.

 

Mood and Tone

Uncertainty- The narrator is in a confused state, uncertain of what next step to take or path to follow.

 

Structure

 

Written in free stanza, and it runs through with enjambment on from one line of the poem to another.

 

Imagery

 

Line 5-8, in these four lines of the poem, the narrator creates a pure and clear picture of ancient Africa. We see the hunter and the hunted. Ancient folks depend on hunting to make food for themselves and they celebrated it as part of culture, having their drummers around to lift their spirits.

 

Poetic Devices/Figures of Speech

 

Metonymy- this figure of speech refers to something by the name of something else that is closely connected with it. Piano and Drum represent the two cultures. Piano refers to Modern culture while Drum refers to Ancient culture.

 

Personification-Drum telegraphing the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw like bleeding flesh, speaking of primal youth- Drum speaks.

 

Simile- this figure of speech compares two things of different class. “The mystic rhythm, urgent, raw like bleeding flesh”

 

Synecdoche- this figure of speech uses a part to represents whole. “Warmth of hurrying feet and groping hearts”

Onomatopoeia- this figure of speech deals with words and the sound they produce. “Wailing,” “snarling”

Language

The diction of this poem is understandable, written in Standard English, filled with onomatopoeic sounds “crescendo” “diminuendo” “snarling”” wailing”

 

Vanity by Birago Diop

He was a leading African poet and traditional storyteller. He was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1906. He was educated in Senegal and in France where he qualified as a veterinary surgeon. Like most of his works, the poem Vanity portrays his close touch with and belief in African myth, rites and traditions.

 

 

 

VANITY

 

If we tell, gently, gently
All that we shall one day have to tell,
Who then will hear our voices without laughter,
Sad complaining voices of beggars
 Who indeed will hear them without laughter?

If we cry roughly of our torments
Ever increasing from the start of things
What eyes will watch our large mouths
Shaped by the laughter of big children
What eyes will watch our large mouth?

What hearts will listen to our clamoring?
What ear to our pitiful anger
Which grows in us like a tumor
In the black depth of our plaintive throats?

 When our Dead comes with their Dead
When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices;
Just as our ears were deaf
To their cries, to their wild appeals
Just as our ears were deaf

They have left on the earth their cries,
In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs for us blind deaf and unworthy Sons
Who see nothing of what they have made
In the air, on the water, where they have traced their signs

And since we did not understand the dead
Since we have never listened to their cries
If we weep, gently, gently
If we cry roughly to our torments
What heart will listen to our clamoring,
What ear to our sobbing hearts? 

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

The poet laments about the lack of concern the living gives to the dead. In African society, the dead still forms part of the society (Ancestral spirits). People go to them for help and solution; people consult them for several reasons. They take up another important role of watching over the living and saving them from unseen forces. Africans evoke the spirits of their ancestors during ceremonies and celebration of life. They honour them and they come spiritual to take part in any occasion. However, the poet says here that the living pay no allegiance to them anymore. “When our Dead comes with their Dead” “When they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices” “Just as our ears were deaf” “To their cries, to their wild appeals” “Just as our ears were deaf”

Probably, civilization comes with a new belief and takes away the African children “Unworthy Sons” who no longer care for their ancestors. The poet says that in case anything should go wrong in their new ways. Since, they pay no allegiance to their ancestors any more. “If we weep, gently, gently” “If we cry roughly to our torments” “What heart will listen to our clamouring?”

 

 

 

 

 

Theme

The rejection of African cultural values and tradition, Africans leave their ancestral ways, practices and embraces civilization.

 

Ancestral beliefs and worshipping, Africans believe in their ancestral spirits and worship them as gods.

 

Mood and Tone

The mood is that of worry with a corresponding tone of concern, condemnation, sarcasm and ridicule. He expresses his worry through a number of rhetorical questions.

 

Structure

Though written in stanzas and with some rhythm, the poem is a free verse, and it does have a metrical pattern.

 

Imagery

He paints the image of the Dead coming with their Dead. The Dead walks with their fellow dead while the living walks with the living.

Imagery of the dead speaking in clumsy voices, the dead does not speak like real human beings. Masquerades represent the spirit of the dead in real life, when they speak, they sound abnormal.

 

Poetic Devices/Figures of Speech

 

Rhetorical Question: This runs throughout the poem. It expresses the poet’s worry and emphasises his seriousness over the subject matter of the poem. Examples: “Who then will hear our voices without laughter?” “Who then will hear us without laughter?” “What eyes will watch our large mouth?” “What heart will listen to our clamouring?” “What ear to our sobbing hearts?”

 

Sarcasm: This is mocking humour. Examples: sad complaining voices of beggars; large mouth; plaintive throats

 

Repetition: involves the act of repetiting a particular idea repeatedly to create impression. It runs throughout the poem. Example: What eyes will watch our large mouth? 

 Simile: This is direct comparison using the words “like” or “as”. Example: “What ear to our pitiful anger which grows in us like a tumor”

 

Synecdoche: this entails using a part to represent a whole or a whole for a part. Example: “What hearts will listen to our clamouring?”

 

Personification: This figure of speech involves the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions. In Vanity, the poet gives life to dead ancestors using personification. Examples: “When our Dead comes with their Dead, when they have spoken to us in their clumsy voices”

Language

The diction of this poem is simple and easy to understand.

 

 

 

The Dining Table by Gbanabom Hallowell

 

Elvis Gbanabom Hallowell is a Sierra Leonean with some 20 years experience in the media. He currently serves as his country's first Director-General of Africa's second public broadcaster, The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). He is a writer, poet, musician, activist, lecturer and political commentator. Author of Drumbeats of War (poems), My Immigrant Blood (poems), The Lust of Cain (stories) and the forthcoming new and collected poems from Karantha Publishers, Manscape in the Sierra, he has led NGOs, social movements, activist organizations and human rights groups such as Journalists for Human Rights (Sierra Leone).

 

 

 

The Dining Table

 

Dinner tonight comes with
gun wounds. Our desert
tongues lick the vegetable
blood—the pepper
strong enough to push scorpions
up our heads. Guests
look into the oceans of bowls
as vegetables die on their tongues.

The table
that gathers us is an island where guerillas
walk the land while crocodiles
surf. Children from Alphabeta with empty palms dine
with us; switchblades in their eyes,
silence in their voices. When the playground
is emptied of children`s toys
who needs roadblocks? When the hour
to drink from the cup of life ticks,
cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips

 

Under the spilt
milk of the moon, I promise
to be a revolutionary, but my Nile, even
without tributaries comes lazy
upon its own Nile. On this
night reserved for lovers of fire, I’m
full with the catch of gun wounds, and my boots
have suddenly become too reluctant to walk me.

 

ANALYSIS

 

The Dinning table is one of the poet’s life experiences during the eleven-year sierra Leonean war. When, guerrillas started a movement against the nation’s corrupt government. Though the war was between the government and the guerrillas, it affected the civilians greatly. At the centre of the conflict is the control of Sierra Leonean diamonds. The poet witnesses the war. He describes the horrendous nature of the war. He paints the picture of shooting and sickness. “Gun wounds” “Cholera breaks” he recalls how the guerrillas kill and terrorise the people.

In the third verse, the poet welcomes the idea of a revolutionary. He desires a political revolution, but he lacks the power and support, after surviving the war with gun wounds.

 

 

Theme:

The poem portrays the cruelty of war, people suffer and fall victims to bullets, sicknesses and starvation.

Political struggle for natural resources is also a theme in this poem. We see the guerrillas fight against their government, to take control of the Sierra Leonean diamonds.

 

Setting

This poem is set in Sierra Leone during the war period.

 

Structure

The Dining Table is a free verse poem with three irregular stanzas. A free verse poem is an open form of poetry without a consistent meter pattern or a rhyme scheme. The poet uses the stanzas to create a pause and organise his thoughts.

It is a narrative poem as the poet recounts the collective experience during the war and his resolve using words like “our” “us” “I”.

 

Mood and Tone

The mood is chaotic, menacing and mournful. However, at the end of the lines the poet’s mood swings to that of revolutionary, a completely new way that leads to great improvements of bad situation.

 

Imagery

The poem has concrete imagery. “Our desert tongues like the vegetable blood” reflects the maiming and killings that took place during the war. “Island where guerrillas walk the land while crocodiles surf” The Sierra Leonean army and allied forces. He paints the picture of “Cracked lips” to show the sign of Cholera.

 

 

 

Figures of Speech

 

Personification– “the pepper strong enough to push scorpions up our heads”; “cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips”

 

Metaphor– The entire poem is metaphoric. “Desert tongues”, “oceans of bowls” “spilt milk of the moon”

Rhetorical Question: This is a figure of speech in the form of a question asked in order to make a point, rather than to elicit an answer. “When the playground is emptied of children’s toys who needs roadblocks?”

 

Hyperbole: This is a ridiculous exaggeration. Example “the pepper strong enough to push scorpions up our heads”

 

Allusion: This figure of speech refers to a well-known story, event, person, or object in order to make a comparison in the readers’ minds. Example: “Nile…comes lazy upon its own Nile”

Language

Elevated diction curbs with war registers. “Gun wounds” “Blood” “Guerrillas” “Switchblades” “Roadblocks” “Revolutionary”

 

Tennyson’s Poetry

Alfred Lord Tennyson

(6 August 1809- 6 October 1892) was poet laureate of Great British and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria’s reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.

 

 

“Crossing the Bar”

 

Sunset and evening star
   And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
   When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
   Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
   Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
   And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
   When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
   The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
   When I have crossed the bar.

 

ANALYSIS

 

“Crossing the bar,” it is thought that it in elegy, as the poem has a tone of finality about it. The narrator uses an extended metaphor to compare death to crossing the “Sandbar” between the tide or river of life, with its outgoing “Flood” and the ocean that lies beyond death, the “Boundless deep” to which we return. Tennyson wrote the poem after a serious illness while at sea, crossing the Solent from Aldworth to Farringford on the Isle of Wight. The extended metaphor of “Crossing of bar,” represents travelling serenely and securely from life through death. The pilot is a metaphor for God whom the speaker hopes to meet face to face.

 

Theme:

 

End of Life, maybe during his sick period, the persona thinks that he has come to the end of his life. He uses the metaphor “crossing the Bar” to show the readers his inner most thought and elegiac farewell to life and the hope to see his maker “Pilot”

 

Divine expectation, the narrator is a Christian and exhibits his faith greatly in this poem. “Life after death” he hopes to see his creator face to face.

 

Mood and Tone

The tone is elegiac and sad… expressing feelings towards a journey that he has no control over.

 

Imagery

“And one clear call for me!” this call refers to his call to glory. He creates the image of crossing the bar as living the world to another world, where he sees the maker face to face.
 

 

“And may there be no sadness of farewell,” the persona paints an image of Mourners here, though in the poem he warns that there should be no sadness of farewell for him.

 

Structure

This poem consists of four quatrain stanzas rhyming ABAB. The first and third lines of each stanza are always a couple of beats longer than the second and fourth lines, although the line lengths vary among the stanzas.

 

Figures of Speech

Metaphor- compares death to crossing the bar between the tide or river of life, with its outgoing “flood” and the ocean that lies beyond death, the “boundless deep” to which we return.

 

Euphemism- this is an indirect way of referring to unpleasant and embarrassing idea to make it seem more acceptable. “And one clear call for me!” Call of death or Final call

 

LANGUAGE

The language contains an extended metaphor. Tennyson presents it as more disturbing, more confusing. The poem uses sea voyage as a metaphor of death.

 

 

 

 

George Herbert

(3 April 1593 – 1 march 1633) was a welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest. Herbert’s poetry is associated with the writing of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognized as “A pivotal figure enormously popular, deeply and broadly influential and arguably the most skilful and important British devotional lyricist”

 

The Pulley

 

              When God at first made manHYPERLINK "http://genius.com/4144272/George-herbert-the-pulley/When-god-at-first-made-man-having-a-glass-of-blesings-standing-by-let-us-said-he-pour-on-him-all-we-can",
Having a glass of blesings standing by;
Let us (said he) pour on him all we can:
Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie,
                        Contract into a span.

        So strength first made a wayHYPERLINK "http://genius.com/4227698/George-herbert-the-pulley/So-strength-first-made-a-way-the-beauty-flowd-then-wisdom-honour-pleasure-when-almost-all-was-out-god-made-a-stay-perceiving-that-alone-of-all-his-treasure-rest-in-the-bottom-lay";
The beauty flow'd, then wisdom, honour, pleasure:
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone of all his treasure
        Rest in the bottom lay.

        For if I should (said he)
Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature:
        So both should losers be.

        Yet let him keep the restHYPERLINK "http://genius.com/4144267/George-herbert-the-pulley/Yet-let-him-keep-the-rest",
But keep them with repining restlessness:
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
        May toss him to my breast.

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

“The Pulley” is a remarkable exception, structured as an explanatory tale about the creation of humankind.

In Herbert’s version, however, it is “world’s riches”, which are poured upon humankind by a beneficent God. In the biblical story of Creation in Genesis, Herbert constructs a narrative that is charming and bold. The speaker imagines himself as a witness to the moment of Creation and gives report of what transpired and what was on God’s mind as He both gave and withheld certain gifts. God gives man all gifts of wealth, wisdom, honour and pleasure, but withholds the highest gift of “rest” God knows that man would love the world but overlook him. Without the fellowship between man and God, both would lose. God keeps “rest” and gives Man all other treasures. When man gets weary of the world, he would feel the pulley or tie to God and return to him.

The images of the poem are also simple and homely. The “pulley” of the title does not appear in the poem directly as a metaphysical conceit. Rather, Herbert uses the title to draw our attention to the single fixed point that God uses to increase the force with which he lifts us up. The wheel, axle or block of the pulley system is the highest gift of “rest” by which God increases the force of his love upon us, as if using a simple machine like a pulley.

 

Theme:

Contemplation of spiritual ideas- Herbert is deeply interested in spiritual matters, therefore meditates on things of God. He narrates how God blesses man but withholds one precious gift “rest”

 

The divine concept behind the creation of man, Herbert after his deep meditation gives us his own perspective about the creation of man.

 

Mood and Tone

The mood of the poet is Contemplative, calm and meditative.

Imagery

The images of the poem are simple about the creation of man and his endowment.

 

Structure

Structured as an explanatory tale about the creation of human kind, this poem contains cinque lines in four stanzas rhyming ABABA.

 

LANGUAGE

One of the striking things about “The pulley” is its simplicity of language.

 

Figures of Speech

Paradox is a statement that at first seems contradictory but then it starts to make sense. – “Let him be rich and weary, that at least.”

 

Synecdoche- using part to represent whole. “Breast” represents the bosom of God, comfort and consolation that only God can give.

 

 

The School Boy

William Blake

 

William Blake (28 November 1757-12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.

 

I LOVE TO RISE IN SUMMER MORN

WHEN THE BIRD SINGS ON EVERY TREE

THE DISTANCE HUNTS MAN WINDS HIS HORN,

AND THE SKYLARK SINGS WITH ME.

OH WHAT SWEET COMPANY!

 

BUT TO GO TO SCHOOL IN SUMMER MORN,

OH! IT DRIVES ALL JOY AWAY.

UNDER A CRUEL EYE OUTWORN

THE LITTLE ONE SPEND THE DAY

INSIGN AND DISMAY.

 

AHH! THAN AT TIMES I DROOPING SIT

AND SPEND MANY AS ANXIOUS HOUR,

NOR IN MY BOOK CAN I TAKE DELIGHT

NOR SIT IN LEARNING’S BOWER

WORN THRO’ WITH THE DREARY SHOWER.

 

HOW CAN A BIRD THAT BORN FOR JOY

SIT IN CAGE IN SING

HOW CAN A CHILD, WHEN FEARS ANNOY,

BUT DROOP HIS TENDER WING

AND FORGET HIS YOUTHFUL SPRING?

 

OH! FATHER AND MOTHER IF BUDS ARE NIPPED,

AND IF THE TENDER PLANTS ARE STRIPPED

OF THEIR JOY IN THE SPRINGING DAY

BY SORROW AND CARE’S DISMAY;

 

HOW SHALL THE SUMMER ARISE IN JOY

OR THE SUMMER FRIUTS APPEAR?

OR HOW SHALL WE GATHER WHAT GRIEFS DESTROY,

OR BLESS THE MELLOWING YEAR,

WHEN THE BLAST OF WINTER APPEARS?

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

The speaker in this poem is a young boy who feels joyful to wake up in the fresh and delightful summer morning. The chirping of the birds announces the daybreak. The boy gets acquaint with nature. “When the Bird sings on every tree” “The distance hunts man winds his horn” “Oh! What sweet company”

The speaker feels disappointed to go to school that summer morning. He is tired and even puzzled under the strict supervision of his teacher. The phrase “outworn” refers to the eyes of the teacher that actually tires the boy. Instead of enjoying the pleasures of summer, the child compulsorily attends to school where he spends his day in boredom and dismay.

The child expresses his weariness. He sits drooping out in the sea of tediousness. The child complains the assault on him by the oppressive personality of the teacher and unnecessary lectures. The finicky teacher imposes his words of erudition without even attempting to understand the child’s intention and his urge for unchecked freedom. The learning’s “bower” refers to a garden where the child can learn in an interesting way, only if nature accompanies him instead of the schoolteacher.

A bird, born cheerful and jovial can never sing sweet songs if caged. Similarly, a child if remained under the umbrella of annoying fear and tension, the scepticism of his teacher can never enjoy the natural instincts of joy and playfulness. Indeed a world full of rigid course of discipline will ruthlessly take away the beautiful springs (the childhood days) of a person’s life.

The boy complains to the highest authority, to father and mother, if a budding child is picked and swept of in the early stage of life in an ocean of sorrow, where there is no one to care for. If misery withers the tender plants the beautiful buds and the newborn buds, summer can never be joyful

If care and concern rule over the plants, flowers, birds, such a summer will be dry and will bear no fruit. The child enquires his parents as to how they can win back what grieve has destroyed. If the plants withered due to the canker of grief, no fruit will be, there in the season of autumn “mellowing year” this implies that if childhood pleasures and joys, censored and truncated one has to be very sure that the adult life will be utterly dry and unproductive.

 

Theme:

 

Freedom- the speaker voices out his desire to be free from the oppressive hands of human, because his teacher does not understand his feelings. However, he tends to share willingly the company of nature, where wisdom and pleasure come satisfactorily without any subjection.

 

Mood and Tone

The mood of the speaker is lamentable and expressive.

 

Imagery

“UNDER A CRUEL EYE OUTWORN” this is a good image of the oppressive eye of the teacher watches the Schoolboy.

“HOW CAN A BIRD THAT BORN FOR JOY

SIT IN CAGE IN SING” this image refers to the imprisonment of his feelings under his teacher. The bird refers to the Schoolboy.

 

Structure

The five-line stanzas rhyme ABABB; the first four stanzas are self-contained. Each presents a point in the speaker’s argument or an illustration of it. The fifth stanza differs, by running on to the final stanza.

 

Figures of Speech

 

Synecdoche- “Under a cruel eye outworn”

 

Metaphor- of birds and plant: “Little one” “Drooping/droop”

 

Personification- “AND IF THE TENDER PLANTS ARE STRIPPED

OF THEIR JOY IN THE SPRINGING DAY”

 

Rhetorical Question- “AND FORGET HIS YOUTHFUL SPRING?” “WHEN THE BLAST OF WINTER APPEARS?”

 

LANGUAGE

The voice of the poem appears much more that of the experienced adult speaker who sees and appreciates the child’s plight and is intent on persuading us of his/her view. The language is that of the omniscient; he knows the mindset of everybody and depicts the mindset of the Schoolboy accurately.

 

LENRIE PETER

 

Lenrie Leopold Wilfred Peters (1 September 1932- 28 May 2009) was a Gambian surgeon, novelist, poet and educationist.

 

 

 

The Panic of Growing Older

 

At twenty

Stilled by hope

Of gigantic success

Time and exploration

 

At thirty

A sudden throb of pain

Laboratory test

Having nothing to show

 

Legs cribbed

In domesticity, allow

No sudden leaps

At the moon now

 

Copybook bisected

With red ink

And failures-

Nothing to show the world

 

Three children the world perhaps

The world expects

It of you, No

Specialist’s effort there

 

But science give hope

Of twice three score

And ten, hope

Is not a grain of sand

Inner satisfaction

Dwindles sharp

Blades of expectation,

From now on, the world has you.

 

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

Lenrie Peter’s “The Panic of Growing Older” portrays the chronology of man’s life cycle from younger age, when life sprouts ambitious without worries until the older age of fearful adrenalin. Every bright dawn of a man comes with dreams, vision, imagination and zeal to achieve a certain desirable goal. A young man at twenty fantasizes, dream tirelessly with enthusiasm of greatness. Seasons come and go and more ten years tell the story and status of this young man. When the dream of man disappears unfulfilled into the oblivion of illusion, depression sets in and body system changes.

 

The poet tells us that now in a man’s life, science has nothing to prove about his pains and sensual deformity. The man goes for a laboratory test and there is nothing to show. The man gets entangle with his family affairs because naturally a man is expected to marry at least give birth to three children. With the emergence of his family life, the man’s dream gets old and fades because domestic affairs will not allow the man to explore anymore.

 

However, at the last stanza of the poem the poet tells us that science gives hope of no age limit, practically that anybody can achieve his dream at any point in time and at any age in life.

 

Theme:

Dynamism of Life Cycle... human beings move from one stage of life to another, and every new stage comes with a new problem to tackle.

 

Ambition… man lives with his intense desire to achieve a certain goal.

 

Aging… this is a source of great despair to humankind, especially when you failed to fulfil your dreams.

 

Hope… hope keeps dreams alive, and science gives such.

 

Mood and Tone

Worries and panic- the persona intensely worries about his old age and his inability to achieve his dream on time.

 

Imagery

 

“At twenty stilled by hope of gigantic success”

Younger age full of dreams and exuberance- the poet creates an age of hope when a young man has nothing to worry about but his dream and set out goals.

 

 

Structure

The poem is written in six (6) stanzas with no rhyme scheme, it is a free verse. In a stanza, each line runs into another line, which is known as enjambment in poetry.

 

Figures of Speech

Climax- at twenty, at thirty

 

Synecdoche- “legs cribbed in domesticity allow”

 

Personification- “Sharp blades of expectation”

 

 

LANGUAGE

The diction employed in this poem is simple and lyrical; any reader can easily appreciate the piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

KOFI AWOONOR

 

Kofi Awoonor (13 March 1935- 21 September 2013) was a Ghanaian poet and author whose work combined the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa during decolonization.

 

 

The Anvil and the Hammer

 

Caught between the anvil and the hammer

In the forging house of a new life

Transforming the pangs that delivered me

Into the joy of new songs

The trapping of the past, tender and tenuous

Woven with fibre of sisal and

Washed inn the blood of the goat in the fetish hut

Are laced with the flimsy glories of paved streets

The jargon of a new dialectic comes with

The charisma of the perpetual search on the outlaw’s hill

 

Sew the old days for us, our fathers

That we can wear them under our new garment,

After we have washed ourselves in

The whirlpool of the many rivers’ estuary

Determined to ignore these we use snatches from their tunes

Make ourselves new flags and anthems

While we lift high the banner of the land

And listen to the reverberation of our songs

In splash and moan of the sea

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

This is a pure lamentation about African loss of identity. The personage narrates with excruciating mood and oceanic feelings. He anxiously raises the storm and tide of protest against a new and powerful dominant force. The personage of the poem laments his condition in-between the Anvil and the Hammer. The Anvil and the Hammer represent external forces with their strong philosophy and manipulation to reshape the personage in the forging house into a new creature.

 

Literally, the Anvil and Hammer represent modernity trying to purge out the old tradition in the personage. The personage decries the decadent spectre of western influences on Africa. He criticizes the thoughtless way with which Africans embraced such things. “Make ourselves new flags and anthems” and pioneered the self- degradation that went far beyond a loss of cultural identity. “Sew the old days for us, our fathers that we can wear them under our new garment”

 

Theme:

Modernity

Western influences

Tradition

Changes

 

Mood and Tone

Anxiety and protest- with a trembling voice, the poet laments about the unsuitable and unfavourable changes on African culture.

 

 

Imagery

 

Anvil and Hammer metaphorically represent powerfully force, panging together to remould a certain element.

 

Blood of the goat in the fetish hut gives us the image of Sacrifice and ritual. Traditional Africa uses animal blood to sacrifice and cleanse spiritual stain.

 

New flags and anthems signify new way of life

 

 

Structure

Structured in two stanzas, the poem is a free verse with no rhyme scheme.

 

 

Figures of Speech

Metaphor- “Caught between the anvil and the hammer” “Flags and anthems”

 

Onomatopoeia- “The pangs that delivered me into the joy of new songs” “The reverberation of our song”

 

Personification-“Sew the old days for us” “In splash and moan of the sea”

 

 

LANGUAGE

The diction of this poem is sophisticated and selected to suit the context of the depiction.

 

 

 

 

Gbemisola adeoti

Gbemisola Adeoti is a professor of English language at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun state. He is also the director of the institute of cultural studies of the same institution.

 

 

 

Ambush

 

The land is a giant Whale that swallows the sinker with hook,

Line and bait aborting dreams of a good catch fishers turn home at dusk blue Peter on empty ships all Peter with petered out desires

 

The land is a saber-toothed tiger, that cries deep in the glade

While infants shudder home the grizzled ones snatch their guts from bayonets of tribulation halting venturous walk at dusk

 

The land is a giant hawk that courts unceasing disaster as it hovers and hoots in space

 

The Land lies patiently ahead awaiting in ambush those who point away from a direction where nothing happens toward the snare of possibilities.

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

The speaker tells us about a bizarre land, he compares the land to that of “a giant Whale that swallow the sinker with hook” aborting dreams of a good catch fishers. “Saber-toothed tiger, that cries deep in the glade” “giant hawk that courts unceasing disaster”

 

From the above metaphorical lines, we can see the abominable effects this land has on its citizens. The land yields neither fertility nor fruitfulness rather it has the dreadful tendency to devour the hope and expectations of its inhabitants. The land in this poem can be a nation, organisation or occupation, where people put all their best to get a good result, yet nothing comes out of it, which the speaker expresses his hopelessness and helplessness towards achieving his dreams. The dangerous factors behind the speaker’s misfortune are huge and mischievous. Gbemisola as an African poet carries the emblem of African tribulation in his poems. Majority of the African population are drowned in the quagmire of corruption and the causes of this phenomenon depend largely on some factors likely powerful for them to control at the moment. Whale, tiger and hawk represent strong and carnivorous animals in their kingdom and other animals see them as obstacles.

 

 

 

Theme:

Disrupted dreams

Hopelessness

Hardship

 

Mood and Tone

Depressed and conquered- the mood and the tone shows that the speaker has lost hope and gives up on his course to achieve his dream. There is a tone of criticism in his voice.

 

Imagery

“Whale” “Saber-toothed tiger”

“Hawk”- dangerous species in the animal world

 

Structure

The poem flows freely with no rhyme scheme.

 

Figures of Speech

Metaphor- “The land is a giant Whale” “The land is a saber-toothed tiger” “The land is a hawk”

 

Repetition- “The land”

 

Allusion- “Blue Peter on empty ships”

 

Personification- “The land lies patiently ahead awaiting in ambush”

 

 

William morris

 

William morris (Walthamstow, 24 March 1834- Hammersmith, 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, novelist, translator and social activist. He was associated with the British Arts and crafts movement.

 

 

THE PROUD KING ANALYSIS

 

King Jovinian’s quite unaware that his kingly status is an arbitrary social construction and his hubris even inspires him to hope for physical immortality. Deprived of his royal garments during a hunt however, the king discovers to his horror that no one knows or cares who he is and later learns at the court that another man rules contentedly in his place. Not only do the King’s former servitors rebuff his approaches, but also his own wife falls to recognize him.

 

At last, cast out of the castle in rags, the King visits a woodland anchorite, and wrests forth the sudden anguished prayer. “O lord God, give me back myself again” The monk now recognizes his former Master, and lends him his habit and donkey. When the chastened Jovinian returns with these familiar symbols of humility to the foot of his former throne, he recognizes that its new occupant is an angel, who abdicates and points the moral of his experience; only acceptance of human contingency and mortality can provide hope for their transcendence.

 

Theme:

Hubris- pride goes before downfall, blinds by pride, he thinks he is something more than man is, if not equal to God but such a judgement falls on him that none knew him for a King.

 

Reconciliation- the King suffers and learns his lesson, at the end, he humbles himself and regained his kingdom and honour.

 

 

Mood and Tone

The mood of the poet is ecclesiastical, in form of narrative; the speaker shares a didactic message to the readers, with moral tone.

 

Structure

It is a long narrative poem, written in chapters. It has no rhyme or any metrical pattern.

 

 

LANGUAGE

There is no difference between the language of this poem and that of a well-composed prose. The simplicity of the diction gives readers access to digest the literary content.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert frost

Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874- January 29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in America. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of America colloquial speech.

 

 

BIRCHES (SWINGING ON BIRCHES) analysis

 

When the speaker sees bent birch trees, he likes to think that they are bent because boys have been “swinging” them. He knows that they are in fact, bent by ice storms. Yet he prefers his vision of a boy climbing a tree’s crest to the ground. He used to do this himself and dreams of going back to these days. He likens birch swinging to getting “away from the earth awhile” and then coming back. This poem distils a temporal escape from reality and complexity facing human mentality and psyche. “And so I dream of going back to be, it’s when I’m weary of considerations, and life is too much like a pathless wood”

 

Frost was inspired by his childhood experience with swinging on birches. In the poem, the act of swinging on birches is presented as a way to escape the hard reality of the adult world.

 

Theme:

Imagination- freedom of imagination is appealing and wonderful; the poem presents it as the only means of escape from hard reality. However, the escape is a temporary one.

 

Spirituality/ Transcendence- the movement of the mind into a realm of radical imaginative freedom, It is world outside of the physical world.

 

Childhood/Youth- this period in man’s life, he is free of responsibility and has nothing to worry about.

 

 

Mood and Tone

Reflective and retrospective mood- the poet uses imagination as a means of redemptive escape from the world’s reality.

 

 

Imagery

A boy climbs up the tree- he is climbing towards “heaven” – signifies a place where his imagination can be free.

 

Structure

This is blank verse with numerous variations on prevailing iambic foot.

 

Figures of Speech

Simile- “But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay as ice storms do” “They click upon themselves as the breeze rises, and turn many coloured as the stir cracks and crazes their enamel”

 

“Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair before them over their heads to dry in the sun”

 

“And life is too much like a pathless wood”

 

Metaphor- “Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away” refers to (Snow)

 

Hyperbole- “You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen”

 

Personification- “But I was going to say when truth broke in”

 

LANGUAGE

Written in conversational language, the poem constantly moves between imagination and fact, from reverie to reflection.

 

 

 

William Shakespeare

Sonnet 18

 

 

 

SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER’S DAY

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

 

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;

 

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’s;

 

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

From the speaker’s poetic mind, he beautifies his lover with figurative words of excellence. The speaker opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved. The speaker stipulates what mainly differentiates the young man from the “summer’s day, he is more lovely and more temperate”

The poem is simply a statement of praise and adornment about the beauty of the beloved. The speaker compares his beloved to the summer season and argues that his beloved is better. He also states that his beloved will live on forever through the words of the poem.

 

Theme:

Affectionate- through the lovely images in the poem, we can see deep love towards someone of same sex or opposite sex.

 

Beauty- the superb qualities of the beloved run throughout the poem

 

Mood and Tone

Infatuated- the speaker shows off strong feeling, and praises his beloved with adorable tone.

 

Imagery

The imagery is simple and unaffected with the “darling buds of May”

 

Structure

Sonnet 18 is a typical English or Shakespeare sonnet. It consists of three quatrains followed by a couplet, and has the characteristic rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The poem carries the meaning of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet typically discussed the love and beauty of a beloved, often an unattainable love.

 

Figures of Speech

Mtaphor- “thou art more lovely and more temperate: rough winds do shake the darling buds of May”

 

Personification- Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines”

“Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade”      

 

Repetition- “And, And And” ”so long,so long”

 

Assonance- “Lives this and this gives life to thee”

 

LANGUAGE

Comparatively unadorned for the sonnets, it is nearly every line with alliteration and assonance, and nearly every line is its own self-contained clause- almost every line ends with some punctuation which effects a pause.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

Adebowale, Bayo. Lonely Days.2006, 2011.Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited, 2013.print,

 

Charley, Raymond. The Blood of a Stranger. Ibadan: Kaysho Educational Publishers Ltd, 2013.print.

 

Darko, Amma. Faceless.2003.Accra: Sub-Sharan Publishers, 2013.print.

 

Goldsmith, Oliver. She Stoops to Conquer. Ibadan: Rasmed Publications Limited, 2013.print.

 

Hansberry, Lorraine. A rasin in the Sun. Ibadan: Kaysho Educational Publishers Ltd, 2013.print,

 

Ogbeche, Frank. Harvest of Corruption. 1997, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.Abuja: Almaz Books Limited, 2013.print.

Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ibadan: Cosmopolitan Book Services, 2014.print,

 

Swift, Patience. The Last Good Man. 2006, 2008. Oyo: Extension Publications Limited, 2013.print,

 

HW, Robert W.jr, ed. (1971) Tennyson’s Poetry; authoritative texts, Juvenilia and early responses, critism. New york; W.W. Norton & Company

SparkNotes.Editors.(2002).SparkNote on Othello.Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://m.sparknotes.com/lit/othello.

 

SparkNotes.Editors.(2002). SparkNotes on Native son. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://m.sparknotes.com/lit/nativeson

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George-Herbert

 

http://m.ccel.org/ccel/herbert/temple/pulley.html.