Sound and Sense #14

Take Haste for Death Awaits

 

I am not afraid of death

In life is a beginning

In death is an end

They come together, hand in hand

 

I am not afraid of death

Who will be there I can’t say

What will come after I know not

But that it will come is a sure shot

 

Face the inevitable

Face your fears

Face your fate

Take haste for death awaits

Othello #7

            In this final scene of Othello, the tragedy finally strikes. Othello kills Desdemona. Iago kills Emilia. Othello stabs Iago but does not kill him. Finally, Othello kills himself. However, just before killing himself, Othello perfectly sums up his transformation. He says how he is no longer deserving of praise for his duty to the state. He states that he “threw a pearl away/ Richer than all his tribe” (V.ii.407-8). In doing so he acknowledges that he wrongly dismissed Desdemona. He expresses that he has been swindled by Iago. Othello begins the novel as a pure hearted, noble man, and along the way that appearance is marred with Iago’s trickery. He loses sight of that honest man and becomes a dark, vengeful animal. However, only after letting these heinous emotions overcome him and killing Desdemona does he finally see the error in his ways. Emilia, revealing Iago for the demon that he is, opens Othello’s eyes, but it is too late, and Othello realizes this. Thus, he takes his own life, which he sees as the only just punishment, but before this act he takes responsibility for his actions and repents.

Othello #7ish

          At the beginning of Act 5, Scene 2, Othello is getting ready to seek his revenge on Desdemona, hovering over her sleeping. However, Othello quickly shows the audience that there is still an internal struggle in his mind. Killing Desdemona is still a sad event for him though he believes that she betrayed him. He decides to kill her in a way that will not “scar that whiter skin of hers than snow” (V.ii.4). Therefore, in his mind she is still beautiful and has some sense of purity to be compared to snow. Then, Othello transitions into discussing the idea of Desdemona as a light, and his internal struggle is truly revealed. In putting out his physical torch, he can “again thy former light restore” (V.ii.9). However, in putting out Desdemona’s light in killing her, he cannot bring her back. In comparing Desdemona to a rose, another sign of affection, he states that he “cannot give it vital growth again” (V.ii.15). In this discussion with himself about the consequences of ending Desdemona’s life, he almost persuades himself to not commit the act. He almost “persuade[s]/ Justice to break her sword!” (V.ii.17-8). However, he does not change his mind. Moreover, he describes killing Desdemona to be the just thing to do, showing that he truly believes that she has wronged him so greatly that she deserves to die. Thus, as he cries before waking her up, he states that these are not tears of pity; Desdemona is receiving what she deserves, but that does not mean that her death does not sadden him greatly because at one point she was the love of his life.