Title: Othello: Act 3 Sc 1 and Sc 2

1. What do these characters have in common?2. What is their purpose in the movies they appear in?

L.O: To define, understand and be able to identify

Comic reliefComic relief?

Comic Relief – Define it

• Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episode interposed in the midst of serious or tragic elements in a drama.

Does the play “Othello” need some comic relief at this point? Why or why not?

Purpose = Comic Relief In A

Tragedy?

Let’s Read!1. Cassio2. Clown3. Musicians4. Emilia

• Comic relief:– a clown is mincing words with a few musicians,

then has a little wordplay with Cassio

• Iago enters, and Cassio tells him that he means to speak to Desdemona, so that she may clear things up with Othello.

• Emilia comes out, and bids Cassio to come in and speak with Desdemona about his tarnished reputation.

Key points Act 3 Scene 1

Homework Act 3 Scene 1

1. What is the purpose of the clown scene?2. Would it make any difference if it were

omitted from the play?

• Note how the end of this scene prepares for the next…

Analysis: Othello’s Uniqueness

• Othello is unlike other Shakespearean dramas for two reasons:– the scarcity of comic relief, which only appears briefly

at the beginning of this short scene. – there are no subplots running through Othello as

there are in most Shakespearean plays as a whole.

• Both of these differences make Othello one of Shakespeare's most focused, intense tragedies.

• Othello gives Iago some letters that need to be delivered back to Venice

• Iago is in turn supposed to give the letters to a ship's pilot who is sailing back to Venice.

Key points Act 3 Scene 2

Homework Act 3 Scene 2

1. What is the purpose of this short scene?

2. What is the irony here?