By Act 5, Scene 2 of Othello, the title character has faced a series of excruciating trials. Iago, his traitorous lieutenant, has convinced Othello that his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful. Othello believes this lie and commits a number of severe crimes out of pure jealousy. At the play’s climax, Othello strangles Desdemona in her bed, realizing only too late that his helpless victim is innocent after all.
As he delivers his last lines, Othello reflects upon the span of his life and his record of service in the Venetian army. Before he is dragged away to a new life as a “close prisoner,” Othello demands audience from his captors. In the lines that follow, he describes his transformation from proud soldier to base murderer, highlighting the play’s major themes of jealousy, passion and racial identity.
Speak Of Me As I Am
Othello’s initial plea to Lodovico invokes his history as a decorated general. “I have done the state some service,” he says, “and they know’t.” He then makes a request common to many of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes. Looking toward the future, Othello asks Lodovico to record his story faithfully, as Hamlet demands of Horatio with his own last words.
The idea of reputation and persona are paramount to many of the characters in Othello’s Venice; when Cassio is caught in a drunken brawl, his thoughts turn first to his ruined good name. Othello has clearly resolved to take his own life and urges Lodovico not to speak of him maliciously when he is gone. By concentrating on the future that awaits the surviving characters, Othello speaks to the classical tragic form. It is important for the audience to believe that the world of the play will continue, purged of its sins and restored to order. Thus, Othello’s final lines help further the tragic goal of creating catharsis.
One Who Loved Not Wisely, But Too Well
Othello then goes on to describe the circumstances through which he was deceived. He instructs Lodovico, “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.” With these lines, Othello reviews the play’s dramatic arc. At the beginning of the play, he is a hero, proud, dignified and noble in spirit. His fall is engineered by forces outside his control—the machinations of the cunning villain, Iago, who preys on the baser nature common to all people. Othello condemns his own actions as unwise but motivated by a positive force, further reinforcing the archetype of a tragic hero.
A Malignant and Turbanned Turk
In his final words, Othello breaks down. Though “unused to the melting mood,” he allows himself to express his sadness at his own fate. He encourages Lodovico to record his tears, then goes on to demonstrate a maneuver he perfected in the military. With his sword drawn, he tells Lodovico how he once came upon a Turk beating a Venetian and violently killed him. Othello insists that he is killing himself the same way; “smote him, thus” are the words that precede his stab. Throughout Othello, characters use the name Turk, the common enemy of all Christendom, to refer to anyone lacking in judgment, morals and character. By placing himself in the role of the Turk as he recounts his story, Othello characterizes himself with these same ideas. Though he began the play as “far more fair than black,” he has now “turned Turk,” and become what he always feared Venice might make him: a true racial outsider.
Othello’s final words summarize his position at the end of the play. Though he began as a noble figure, he dies a murderer and an outcast. His last speech emphasizes the tragedy of his downfall and perfectly encapsulates the themes of the play.
Joshua Harrison - Joshua Harrison is originally from New Hampshire, but he currently makes his home in New York City. He is a sophomore at New York ...
