Othello
Act 5 Review
Act 5, Scene 1
 Iago and Roderigo are on the street looking for Cassio;
Roderigo plans to murder Cassio
 Iago says it doesn’t matter who kills who, any outcome will
work in his favor. Then he says, but if Roderigo lives, he tell
about the gifts he gave to him for Desdemona. He decides
that Roderigo must die to cover up his tracks. Further, if
Cassio should live, he’ll won’t be able to stand it because he
can’t stand to see all of Cassio’s good fortune. Also, Cassio
may tell Othello the truth, so Iago decides that Cassio must
also die.
 Cassio comes in and Roderigo lunges at him & misses
Act 5, Scene 1
 Then Cassio fights back, and uses his sword to wound
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Roderigo
Iago can’t have Cassio living so he sneakily comes up behind
Cassio and wounds him in the leg. Cassio doesn’t see that it is
Iago who stabs him.
Othello comes in and thinks that Cassio has been murdered
by Iago; he goes off to murder Desdemona
Lodovico and Gratiano, Desdemona’s kinsman & her uncle,
come in. At first they are reluctant to help.
Iago comes in and pretends to be just arriving on the scene to
help.
Act 5, Scene 1
 Iago asks Cassio, “What villains have done this?” (5.1.56)
 Iago pretends to help Roderigo but stabs him to make sure he
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dies
Lodovico and Gratiano realize that it is Iago who is “helping”
and greet him before he gets a chance to finish the job with
Cassio; they help too
Bianca enters and is concerned about Cassio
Iago accuses Bianca of being involved in having Cassio
attacked
Attendants come in with a stretcher & take Cassio to the
doctor
Act 5, Scene 1
 Iago accuses Bianca of looking pale and uses this to further
accuse her of having a hand in Cassio’s injury
 Emilia comes in and gangs up on Bianca with Iago, calling her
a strumpet
 Iago says to the men that they must all go together to see
about Cassio’s wounds. He sends Emilia to the castle to tell
Othello and Desdemona what has happened.
Act 5, Scene 2- Desdemona’s Bedroom
 Othello is standing over Desdemona while she is sleeping
with a light- he is contemplating killing her. He talks about
how once she is dead, he cannot bring her back to life:
“Should I repent me; but once I put out thy light/Thou
cunning’st pattern of excelling nature/I know not where is
that Promethean heat/That can they light relume” (5.2.810).
 He kisses her, and decides she must die.
 She wakes up and Othello asks her to confess her sins
 Desdemona responds, “They are loves I bear to you”
(5.2.40).
Act 5, Scene 2
 Othello accuses Desdemona of giving her handkerchief to
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Cassio, which of course, she denies. She tells Othello to send
for Cassio, himself, and he tells her she is lying.
He says Cassio had even confessed it, but he is dead now
Desdemona pleads for her life, but Othello smothers her
Emilia comes to the door wanting to speak with him and
Desdemona. Othello hides Desdemona by drawing the
curtain on the canopy bed and lets Emilia in; Emilia reports
that Roderigo is dead, but Cassio is alive.
Desdemona cries out and Emilia discovers her
Act 5, Scene 2
 Emilia asks what has happened
 Desdemona claims to have smothered herself to death
 Emilia asks Othello if this is the truth and Othello says it is what
she said, but that “She’s like a liar gone to burning hell/’Twas I
that killed her” (5.2.131-132).
 Othello and Emilia have an exchange where Emilia keeps saying
how true Desdemona was and Othello keeps calling Desdemona a
whore
 Othello finally says that Iago gave him all the details
 Emilia asks more about Iago’s role in giving Othello the details and
curses both of them. Othello threatens Emilia and Emilia ignores
him and calls for help
Act 5, Scene 2
 Montano, Gratiano and Iago answer Emilia’s call for help
 Emilia confronts Iago about what he told Othello and Iago tries to
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send Emilia home
Othello confesses that he murdered Desdemona
Gratiano says he is glad her father isn’t alive to see how things
turned out
Othello says he was justified in killing Desdemona because she had
cheated with Cassio; he knew because he had seen Cassio with
Desdemona’s handkerchief which he had given to her
Emilia asks to speak against her husband, even though she knows it
goes against custom
Act 5, Scene 2
 Iago, again, asks Emilia to go home; she refuses, so Iago draws his
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sword on her
Gratiano can’t believe Iago has drawn his sword upon a woman
Emilia tells the story of how Iago had begged her to steal the
handkerchief; Iago, upset, calls her a “villainous whore!” (5.2.229)
When Othello finds out this, he runs at Iago but is held off by
Montano. Iago stabs Emilia from behind and runs away!
Montano chases Iago and Gratiano guards Othello outside the
door
Emilia dies, singing the willow song, and asks to be laid next to
Desdemona
Act 5, Scene 2
 Othello finds another sword he has hidden in the bedroom
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and calls to Gratiano to come back in
Othello, now knowing that Desdemona had never cheated,
expects to be punished and is remorseful
Montano comes back with Lodovico, Cassio on a stretcher,
and Iago who is being held by officers
Othello tells Iago that if he is a devil, he won’t be able to kill
him; he wounds Iago. Iago says, “I bleed, sir, but not killed”
(5.2.285)
Othello isn’t sorry, he’d rather have Iago live and suffer
Act 5, Scene 2
 Othello admits that he and Iago conspired to kill Cassio as
well
 Lodovico reveals that two letters were found on Roderigo’s
body- one that tells of the death of Cassio to be done by
Roderigo; the other to Iago from Roderigo explaining his
discontent at him
 Othello asks Cassio how he got the handkerchief and Cassio
explains that the found it in his room but that Iago had
confessed to dropping it there
 Also, Roderigo’s letter also tells how Iago made him pick the
fight with Cassio to make sure Cassio would lose his job
Act 5, Scene 2
 Lodovico tells Othello he command is taken from him, and given
to Cassio. As for Iago, he is to be tortured. Othello is be arrested
and tried for his crime.
 Othello has one last speech where he says that he hopes that
people will remember him as he was, and not with malice. He says
he was one who loved too well and one who was not easily jealous
but was tricked into jealousy. He then stabs himself.
 Othello gives Desdemona one last kiss then falls on the bed next
to her and Emilia to die
 Cassio says he was afraid this would happen because even though
he thought Othello had no weapon, he knew Othello had a great
heart
Act 5, Scene 2
 The scene ends with Lodovico who speaks to Iago. He tells
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Iago to look at the dead bodies on the bed and that this is
Iago’s work.
Lodovico closes the curtain on the bed
Lodovico tells Gratiano that all the things in the house that
belonged to Othello are now his
He tells Montano to be the judge of Iago and to decide the
time, place and kind of torture and to enforce it
Lodovico is off to Venice to tell the senators what has
happened