Othello: Iago's Potential Motives

“But he, sir, had th’ election; And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds” (I, I, 28-30).

            Iago expresses his anger about Othello’s decision to choose Cassio instead of him. Iago explains that he is more qualified, because of his experience.  Iago explains that his anger stems from Cassio getting the promotion, and that these feelings are the reason he is seeking revenge on Othello. Iago is explaining his motive to Roderigo,  and the conversation seems like a set-up, because Roderigo is in love with Desdemona, which makes him an easy person to manipulate against Othello. Iago could then be covering up his real motive for seeking revenge on Othello.  

“And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets  ’Has done my office. I know not if ’t be true, But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, will do as if for surety” (I, III, 430-433).

            Iago explains another possible motive at the end of the act, when he proclaims that Othello might have slept with his wife. Iago has only heard this rumor, and has not confirmed the suspicion, but instead of looking into the rumor, he is simply going to act on the information, as if it were true. Iago seems to be desperately searching for reasons why he should hate Othello and take revenge on him. His logic does not make any sense, and all his motives seem to be excuses for his hatred. None of his specified motives are consistent with his deep hatred, and it could be possible that he is unwilling to admit to himself why he hates Othello, or that he has no true motive for ruining Othello’s life.

Sound and Sense Chapter 12 Notes

Rhythm and Meter

Rhythm – the flow of actual, pronounced sound

Meter- the patterns of sound when the poet has put them in a metrical verse

                                Foot- unit of meter

Name of Foot

Iamb- unstressed, stressed

Trochee- stressed, unstressed

Anapest- unstressed, unstressed, stressed

Dactyl- stressed, unstressed, unstressed

Pondee- stressed, stressed

*Metrical Lines are measured by naming the number of feet in them (monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter).

Steps to Scanning a Poem

1.       Read it normally (following its prose meaning)

2.       Listen to where the accents fall natural

3.       If we don’t know how a line should be marked, move on and fill it in later

4.       If you are struggling to go in order, go to lines that you are more confident with.

Key Terms

End- Stopped Line- the end of the line corresponds with a natural speech pause

Run-On Line- the sense of the line moves on without pause into the next line

Caesuras—adding additional pauses in the lines

Metrical Variations- calls attention to certain sounds because they differ from what is regular

Substitution- replacing the regular foot for another one

Extrametrical Syllables- added syllables at the end or beginning of a line

Truncation- taking away an unaccented syllable at either end of line

Grammatical and Rhetorical Pauses- can introduce variation

Clues

Metrical Verse will often have and sometimes two leftover unaccented syllables

In iambic and anapestic verse unaccented syllables will come at the end of the line

Diversions between feet have no meaning except to help us identify meter

Perfect regularity is not part of the criteria for merit

The idea of regularity helps us be aware of the actuality of sounds

The Stranger Essay Outline

Thesis: Camus creates situations where an average person assumes certain responses. By ignoring the expected behavior for an individual Camus entices the reader to construct meaning out of the meaningless.

  

Example 1: “Then I dozed off again. I woke up because my back was hurting more and more” (Camus 11).

Mersault fell asleep at his mother’s funeral and this is the exact opposite of the behavior that one would expect. Mersault mother has died and typically a person would be crying or show some sense of loss. Instead, it seems that Mersault is reacting in an opposite, because he is completely comfortable with the situation. The scenes makes a person wonder what Mersault’s relationship was with his mom, or was his mom mean to him, and many other questions to make sense of why Mersault deemed falling asleep at a funeral acceptable behavior. Camus puts the scene in because he wants us to make sense of meaningless because an absurdist would never do that.

Example 2: “Then she wanted to know if I loved her. I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t love her” (Camus 41).

Marie and Mersault are talking and Marie continued to question Mersault about his love for her. Mersault does not love her, and he vocally expresses that fact. Marie still believes that he loves, because she over analyzes everything. A simple smile in her eyes appears as a declaration of love. Camus creates Marie, because she is an example of our responses to Mersault; we want to find meaning.

Example 3: “He looked upset and told me that I never gave him a straight answer, that I had no ambition, and that that was disastrous in business” (Camus 41).

Mersault has just shown no interest in a job offer in Paris that his boss wanted Mersault to take. His reaction is different from a typical person, because most people leap at any suggestion of moving forward in their career. Camus illustrates that an absurdist sees a typical response as ridiculous because in the end, we all end up in the same place.

Example 4:  “They always came at dawn, I knew that. And so I spent my nights waiting for that dawn” (Camus 113).

Mersault focuses on the time that his beheading will occur. The expected behavior is that a person will cling to the hope of an appeal. Mersault instead focuses on the time, because the end result does not matter. He is following the absurdist view, because he must face the consequences of his actions.

Reading #5 The Stranger

“The chaplain knew the game well too, I could tell right away: his gaze never faltered. And his voice didn’t falter, either, when he said, “Have you no hope at all? And do you really live with the thought that when you die, you die, and nothing remains?” “Yes”, I said” (Camus 117).

            The chaplain has come to visit Mersault, because Mersault has refused to talk to the chaplain. The chaplain confronts Mersault and tries to figure out why Mersault does not believe in God. Their conversation represents the absurdist philosophy and religion inability to coincide with each other. An absurdist can never believe in a higher power because that would mean they were trying to find meaning in the meaningless and to satisfy their need for answers. Mersault cannot all of a sudden believe in god, because Mersault has been sentenced to death. Mersault has to face the consequences of his actions. Mersault is still allowed to be anxious about the vagueness of when he will be sentenced, but the actual sentence is pointless, because the end result is always the same. During the conversation, Mersault is upfront with the chaplain, and he makes it clear that he is an atheist, and he does not need any form of a higher power to help him accept his sentence, because Mersault already has.

Reading #4 The Stranger

“She shouted again, “You’ll get out and we’ll get married!” I answered, “You think so?” but it was mainly just to say something” (Camus 75).

            Marie visits Mersault in prison, and she forces their conversation. When she brings up their pending marriage, Mersault compels himself to say something. His behavior is not normal. Ideally, two people, when they are engaged, should be excited and happy. Mersault has a neutral tone towards their engagement, and his love for Marie has not been illustrated in the book. His response to her is irritating, because he appears to not realize that he should consider himself blessed that Marie is visiting him and that she even wants to marry him after he killed a person. Even more so, Mersault is not even affectionate towards Marie and he does not illustrate any intense emotions towards her. Their conversation contributes to Marie’s characterization, because her want to marry him does not make sense. The conversation may lead to the conclusion that she is a needy woman, who desperately wants to get married, and will choose anyone, even a person, who says ‘“You think so?”’, but who is judging? 

(I am)