The Importance of Act III in William Shakespeare's Othello

The Importance of Act III in William Shakespeare's Othello

William Shakespeare's tragedy 'Othello' is a dramatic story about a

highly respected coloured military general, Othello, whose life and

marriage is slowly broken down by an evil and sadistic manipulator,

Iago. As a result of Iago's successful plotting, Othello is degraded

from a caring and loving husband to Iago's level, becoming jealous,

violent, paranoic and malevolent along the way. Love, hate, jealousy

and devotion all come together to create this epic and unforgettable

play, written by the most infamous playwright of all time; William

Shakespeare.

Many people say that Act III (iii) in Shakespeare's play Othello is

the most important scene throughout the entire play, because the main

characters' personalities are revealed in their truest form of all,

along with their plans and feelings. Strangely though, none of the

characters' motives are revealed in this or any other scene, thus

leaving the audience of the play guessing as to what drove the

characters to perform the acts they ended up doing.

The audience in Shakespeare's time would have been extremely gripped

by this play because they would have been thinking about it more then

than people would now. They would have tried to work out why this was

happening to this person, what they were doing it for, why they were

doing it, and so forth. This would therefore make the audience more

'in touch' with the film throughout, making them get more 'interacted'

as it went along, slowly unfolding.

"Good madam, do I warrant it grieves my husband, as if the cause were

his". At the start of this scene, Emilia immediately says...

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... This very cleverly shows how strongly Othello

trusts Iago and that he believes in him and his word, so he makes his

bond with Iago stronger by becoming a part of him.

In my opinion Act III (iii) is the most important scene throughout the

whole of the play.

This is because I believe that you find out more about the leading

characters in this scene than in any other throughout the play, Iago

starts his plan to manipulate Othello which creates drama and

interest, and also because it has the most memorable lines in it than

any other, such as "I am your own forever" and "If she be false, Oh

then Heaven mocks itself."

All of these pieces come together to create an amazing story of love

and heartache, and it shows us how people can be changed in hideous

ways just by a small and false idea being put into their mind.