Act 5 scenes 1-2 - Act V scenes iii Summary Act V scene i...

Act V, scenes i–ii
Summary: Act V, scene i
Iago and Roderigo wait outside the brothel where Cassio visits Bianca . Iago positions Roderigo with a rapier (a type
of sword) in a place where he will be able to ambush Cassio. Iago then withdraws himself, although Roderigo asks
him not to go to far in case he needs help killing Cassio. Cassio enters, and Roderigo stabs at him but fails to pierce
Cassio’s armor. Cassio stabs and wounds Roderigo. Iago darts out in the commotion, stabs Cassio in the leg, and
exits. Not knowing who has stabbed him, Cassio falls. At this moment, Othello enters. Hearing Cassio’s cries of
murder, Othello believes that Iago has killed him. Inspired by what he believes to be Iago’s successful vengeance,
Othello returns to his bedroom to kill Desdemona .
Lodovico and Graziano enter and hear Cassio’s and Roderigo’s cries. They can see nothing because of the
darkness, and they are wary of helping the crying men in case it is a trap. Iago enters carrying a light. He first
pretends to discover Cassio, who begs him for help, and then stumbles upon Cassio’s assailant, Roderigo, whom
Iago stabs without hesitation. Graziano and Ludovico are still unable to see Iago, and they are unaware of what he is
doing. Finally, the three men come face-to-face, and they question Cassio about his injuries.
Bianca enters and begins to cry out when she sees the wounded Cassio. Iago questions Cassio about his assailant,
but Cassio can provide no explanation for what has happened. Iago suggests that Roderigo is to blame. Cassio says
that he does not know Roderigo. Attendants carry off Cassio and Roderigo’s corpse. Emilia enters, and Iago tells her
what has happened, adding the explanation, “This is the fruits of whoring” (V.i.118). He and Emilia chastise Bianca, at
whose house Cassio had dined that evening. Iago takes Bianca under arrest, and sends Emilia to tell Othello and
Desdemona what has happened. Iago ends the scene with an aside: “This is the night / That either makes me or
fordoes [undoes] me quite” (V.i.130–131).
Summary: Act V, scene ii

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; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe. . . .
(See Important Quotations Explained )
Holding a candle, Othello stands over the sleeping Desdemona and prepares to kill her. He bends down to kiss her
once before he does the deed, she wakes, and he tells her to prepare to die. Growing frightened, Desdemona asks
her husband why he means to kill her, and Othello responds that she has been unfaithful to him with Cassio—he has
seen the proof in the handkerchief. Othello refuses to believe Desdemona’s denial of the charge, saying that Cassio
has confessed but will speak no more, since he has been killed by Iago. Desdemona begins to weep for Cassio,
which only drives Othello into a greater rage. Wrestling with her as she begs to be allowed to live just a little longer,