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Othello Act 2: Reputation | Shakespeare Play by Play — Transcript

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0:00so I'm a teacher and an often overlooked
0:03and underd discussed part of my job is
0:05understanding the stories that my
0:06students have about themselves and their
0:08own learning and then helping them
0:10Orient that story in a productive
0:12Direction one that hopefully leads to
0:15creativity and service to a community
0:17one of the most difficult aspects of
0:19this part of the job is when a student
0:21has a reputation that they've either
0:23accepted about themselves or that
0:25they're trying to outgrow once a
0:27reputation exists good or bad it's very
0:29diff to move on from in the act one
0:31video about aello I discussed how each
0:33character in the play tries to craft
0:35their own reputation through the
0:37performance and the production of
0:38stories but how that reputation is also
0:41the product of the stories told by
0:43others in act one we saw aello
0:45successfully craft his own identity by
0:47overcoming the biases and stories others
0:50tried to pin on him in this video we're
0:52going to focus more directly on the
0:54reputations themselves in act two we
0:57will see how Iago builds a reputation
0:59for himself as the Arbiter of truth how
1:02Casio links the loss of reputation with
1:04damnation how someone's reputation for
1:07goodness could be used against them and
1:09how the acquisition of titles or status
1:11symbols can be used in the formation of
1:13a reputation this video is part of a
1:16series of videos about aell if this
1:18sounds like it's your kind of thing
1:19please consider subscribing to be
1:20notified about future videos and with
1:22that out of the way let's go through act
1:24two of aell play
1:26[Music]
1:28byplay
1:30so act two Begins by immediately
1:32diffusing a lot of the urgency that we
1:34had in act one in act one scene 3 people
1:37were constantly coming in and out of the
1:39scene providing news of a Turkish Fleet
1:41and it seemed to be setting up some sort
1:43of military drama like Julius Caesar or
1:45Henry V but then at the start of act two
1:49the threat in Cyprus is removed right
1:51away that entire plot line all that
1:54tension that we built up in the previous
1:55act it disappears in just a few lines
1:58the Turkish fleet has been destroyed
1:59destroyed by a storm before aell even
2:02arrives in Cyprus the potential for a
2:04military drama is over and the potential
2:06for a domestic drama begins alella will
2:10not be able to play the part of the
2:11Brave military commander now he has a
2:13reputation for leading people into
2:15battle everybody trusts him to play that
2:17role perfectly but that role isn't
2:20available anymore we're not casting for
2:23that he'll have to play the part of a
2:25husband instead and nobody knows what
2:27kind of husband he'll be I guess we're
2:29going to find out because of the chaos
2:31created by the storm everybody arrives
2:33on Cyprus before orell Michael Casio
2:36arrives first followed by Yago Amelia
2:38and dodona and when CIO kisses the hand
2:41of Amelia iago's wife he qualifies it by
2:44saying let it not g your patience good
2:46Yago that I extend my manners is my
2:49breeding that gives me this bold show of
2:52courtesy and this is a reference to the
2:54fact that Michael Casio is a Florentine
2:56not a Venetian he has different customs
2:59and in the logic of this play and this
3:01time period being Florentine comes with
3:03a reputation for bold displays of
3:05affection according to his cultural
3:07norms he's being courteous but he
3:09recognizes that according to the Norms
3:11of the venetians like Yago he might be
3:14viewed as flirtatious throughout the
3:16play it's important to remember that
3:18Casio is a big flirt Iago will leverage
3:20this reputation and guide the way that
3:22other characters read that reputation
3:25Yo's reply to casio's explanation is a
3:27quip about how Amelia talks to too much
3:30it's the first of many times Iago will
3:32insult his wife to her face
3:34interestingly though Desdemona quickly
3:37steps in to defend Amelia Amelia has
3:39actually not even said a word so far
3:42this initiates a banter between Iago and
3:44Desdemona filled with Yago making big
3:47misogynistic claims about women in
3:49general and Desdemona straight up asking
3:51him if he has the guts to apply that
3:53same critical lens to her she's bold in
3:56this confrontation with Yago and in
3:58doing so asserts her self as somebody
4:00willing to stand up and protect others
4:03she has a reputation for being the fair
4:05innocent sheltered daughter but she's
4:08clearly playing against her type here
4:10she's willing to protect the vulnerable
4:12she's willing to be a fighter but before
4:13Iago can respond to her she turns to the
4:15audience in a very quick aside and says
4:18I am not merry but I do beguile the
4:20thing I am by seeming otherwise in other
4:23words she's nervous about what Yago will
4:25say about her but she won't show it it's
4:28an innocent comment but it's also really
4:30similar to iago's statement in act one I
4:32am not what I am even the good Desdemona
4:35has to perform from time to time
4:38particularly in front of a Critic like
4:39Iago so Iago takes up the challenge in
4:42doing so he makes a few things clear
4:44first he is unambiguously misogynistic
4:48the second he's able to craft a little
4:50rhyme and a short narrative that will
4:51make anyone look bad Desdemona pitches
4:54him different combinations of fair black
4:57wise and foolish and he establishes that
4:59that he can fashion a malicious
5:01interpretation of any combination in the
5:03First Act we see him try to craft a
5:05narrative around ael's Blackness through
5:07btio which ultimately fails to convince
5:10the Duke here he's hinting that he can
5:12craft a story about desdemona's fairness
5:14her whiteness that will ruin her
5:16reputation in the world I think we can
5:18effectively call this foreshadowing
5:20after this banter with Desdemona Casio
5:22takes desdemona's hand and Iago turns
5:24again towards us and says that he'll use
5:26something as small as this to take down
5:28aell confirming that he plans to use
5:31casio's reputation as a flirt and
5:33desdemona's reputation for beauty
5:35against them both when aello arrives on
5:37Cyprus the first thing that he says is
5:38to Desdemona he says oh my fair Warrior
5:42and if you remember in act one aello
5:44says that Desdemona wished that heaven
5:46hath made her such a man as athell which
5:49could be understood in two ways first
5:51she wishes she could be as manly as AEL
5:54and second that she wishes that heaven
5:56made a man such as AEL to be her husband
5:59hband by calling her a warrior here aell
6:02seems to hint at the first
6:03interpretation she's a warrior herself
6:05an adventurer additionally her defense
6:08of Amelia a few lines earlier shows that
6:10she has a bit of the warrior in her
6:12she's a protector she is the fair
6:14Warrior it's in a small line like this
6:16oh my fair Warrior that we can see her
6:19bond with athell she wants a life of
6:21adventure and aell can provide that
6:24athell wants to be valued in Venice for
6:26being more than a warrior and she can
6:28provide that valid
6:30he can provide her with Adventure and
6:32she can provide him with love stability
6:34and comfort they work at this point in
6:37the play I kind of Believe In Their Love
6:39they talk as though no one else is
6:41around and even Yago admits that their
6:43conversation is well-tuned but as
6:45everybody else leaves the stage Iago
6:47gets to work his plan is to convince
6:49aell that Desdemona is cheating on him
6:51with Casio but before he frames his
6:54narrative to aello he practices on Rod
6:56Rigo he says of Desdemona that her ey
6:59must be fed his argument is that since
7:02her husband isn't good to look at she's
7:04hunting for something better and Casio
7:06fits it perfectly Rodrigo doesn't
7:08believe it because he's put Desdemona on
7:10a pedestal and thinks that she's some
7:11sort of goddess he doesn't think she's
7:13capable of loving one man while she's
7:15married to another Iago disabuses him of
7:18that logic promptly the wine she drinks
7:21is made of grapes if she had been
7:22blessed she would never have loved the
7:24more rodo has been fooled by a cultural
7:28expectation that a woman who is
7:29physically beautiful somehow inhabits a
7:32superhuman morality though she may have
7:34a reputation for virtue Iago knows
7:37better all humans are messy no
7:39reputation accurately reflects the
7:41individual Yago instructs Rodrigo to
7:44pick a fight with Casio when he gets a
7:46chance if Rodrigo can remove Casio from
7:48the picture then he'll have a better
7:50chance at stealing Desdemona from aell
7:52Rodrigo agrees and leaves the stage so
7:55Iago is alone on the stage once again
7:57and once again he outlines his plan for
7:59aell making us complicit in his
8:02deception we see him again search for a
8:04motive he loves Des Demona he thinks
8:07that aello has slept with his wife he
8:09wants to bring himself even with aello
8:11who has achieved all of the symbols and
8:13status and success that Venice has to
8:15offer more motive hunting for the
8:17motiveless malignity at the start of
8:19scene 3 Iago approaches Casio right away
8:22to discuss Des Demona it's another
8:24example similar to most of act one where
8:27characters shape desdemona's reputation
8:29by talking about her rather than with
8:31her the two Bros sit and chat about her
8:34and by doing so they're participating in
8:36the construction of desdemona's
8:38reputation particularly when they talk
8:40about her eyes Iago says what an eye she
8:43has me thinks it sounds a parly to
8:46provocation to which Casio responds an
8:48inviting eye and yet me thinks right
8:50modest everything Iago says in this
8:53section hints that desona is full of
8:55lust but Casio interprets all of Yo's
8:58lines as reflecting virtues like
9:00Hospitality or love they're talking to
9:02each other generally using the same
9:04words and talking about the same woman
9:06but they see different characteristics
9:09Yago is trying to make his
9:10interpretation of desdemona's identity
9:12the default interpretation he wants the
9:14world to see her in a particular way as
9:17lustful and this is not even the true
9:20interpretation that he has of her he
9:22knows that he's outlining a fictional
9:24identity for desona he wants the world
9:26to see her not as he actually sees her
9:29but as he wants the world to actually
9:31see her once again Iago seems to be the
9:34only one truly aware of his role in the
9:37construction of the reputations of
9:39others one of the major topics explored
9:41in this play is the inability to truly
9:43know anyone and the different ways that
9:46Casio and Yago see Desdemona and shape
9:48her reputation is part of that and to
9:51add complexity to this they're talking
9:53about the way that they see Desdemona
9:55through the way that Desdemona sees
9:58they're talking about the way that she
9:59looks around the world they're talking
10:02about how to interpret her inviting
10:04looks they recognize her ability to
10:06confer value on to somebody just by
10:08giving that somebody her attention her
10:11eye because this Demona is viewed as a
10:13status symbol herself she has the
10:15ability to change somebody else's
10:17reputation like ael's simply through her
10:20gaze and that's fascinating given the
10:22ways that Venice confers status onto
10:24individuals within the logic of this
10:25Play Des demona's attention is the
10:28ultimate signifier of status she is the
10:30daughter of a senator she's beautiful
10:32and she's Rich to have desdemona's
10:34attention is to win the game of status
10:36in Venice othell has bought into the
10:38cultural logic of Venice he's an
10:40outsider who has stepped into the world
10:42of Venice identified its values
10:44effectively created a reputation for
10:46himself in alignment with those values
10:49and then earned the symbols of prestige
10:51that this culture permits to those who
10:53exemplify those values Desdemona the
10:56rich white lady daughter of a senator is
10:58proof of his success she confers upon
11:01Him institutional validation she's a
11:03symbol for that validation and you know
11:05what else is a symbol a flag Iago is
11:08Othello's ancient that's the name of his
11:11position within the military an ancient
11:14carries the flag so he's in charge of
11:16the symbols that represent his community
11:19and this is the perfect job for Iago
11:21because he is the ultimate manipulator
11:23of signs and signifiers he invests
11:26people and objects with meaning and then
11:28controls their Behavior by controlling
11:30the stories told about them he
11:32recognizes desdemona's value as a symbol
11:34and can manipulate the perception of
11:36that symbol for his own end so as it
11:38turns out Shakespeare's a really good
11:39Storyteller and he knows how to assign
11:41jobs to the characters in his plays in
11:43ways that maintain and contribute to the
11:45narrative cohesion of the overall story
11:47who would have guessed that and this
11:48ability of Yago will become more
11:50apparent in act three when he works
11:52wonders with the symbol of the
11:53handkerchief but for now it's
11:55interesting to note how he is able to
11:57have this control the the other
11:59characters build their identities by
12:00finding a role for themselves within the
12:02cultural logic of their Place Des Demona
12:05plays the role of the beautiful woman
12:06aell plays the role of the military hero
12:09Casio plays the role of the flirt they
12:11link their identity to the established
12:13archetypes within the society they are
12:15personally invested in the symbols that
12:17give them status and the role within the
12:19plays community and this simply isn't
12:22true for Iago he exists outside of the
12:24cultural logic that provides everybody
12:26else with meaning he sees all of the
12:28symbols of status as simply that just
12:30symbols that can be used or manipulated
12:33and because he's not personally invested
12:35in the status symbols that everybody
12:36else uses he's in a position to see
12:38through them and disrupt them it's what
12:41makes him so dangerous and perhaps
12:43that's why he keeps confiding in us the
12:45audience we also exist outside of the
12:48play outside of Venice and the symbols
12:51that everybody else cares about we're
12:53the only people who share his
12:55perspective anyway shortly after Iago
12:57and CIO talk about deona gaze Yago
13:00convinces Casio to have a drink knowing
13:02that Casio becomes drunk very quickly
13:05then once he's drunk Yago goes to work
13:07controlling The Narrative of his
13:08drunkenness he tells Montano that
13:11casio's drunkenness should be viewed as
13:13a reason to doubt Othello's judgment
13:15when he does this he's chipping away at
13:17ael's reputation he also tells Rodrigo
13:20that it's time to pick a fight which he
13:22does Montano attempts to break them up
13:24and for that offense Casio stabs him the
13:27noise from this brawl brings aell to the
13:29party as he needs to play the judge in a
13:32situation that he did not witness
13:34Othello's position as general means that
13:36he must decide on the consequences his
13:38men deserve but again he didn't see it
13:41Montano is injured and Casio is drunk
13:44neither of them serve as unbiased
13:45Witnesses the only person who can is
13:48Yago consequently aelo asks him for a
13:51testimony anest Yago he says speak who
13:54began this on thy love I charge thee so
13:58after a bit of posturing Yago implicates
14:00Casio as the responsible party what
14:03makes Yago so clever here is that he set
14:06up this entire scene and in the scene he
14:08positions himself as the Arbiter of
14:10Truth alello has to depend on his word
14:14what Yago says here constitutes legal
14:16proof to athell who is both judge and
14:19jury and this has real consequences on
14:21the Judgment it entrenches iago's
14:24position as somebody who knows what is
14:26going on and obviously that's important
14:28for the scenes that follow additionally
14:30it's good to note here that this is the
14:32second night in a row that Othello and
14:34Desdemona have been pulled from their
14:36bedroom in act one they were called at
14:38the Duke's request and now in act two
14:40they've been called out onto the street
14:42to break up a fight lots of people have
14:44lots of opinions on whether or not they
14:46ever actually have a moment together the
14:49question being whether or not they
14:50actually ever have a chance to be
14:52intimate with each other also
14:54interesting after aell makes his
14:56decision that Casio will never more be
14:58off of officer of mine and that he will
15:00help Montano recover from his injury he
15:03tells Yago to look with care about the
15:05town and to silence Those whom this vile
15:08brawl distracted he tells Yago to co
15:11control the narrative to spin the story
15:13and calm everybody down so everybody
15:15seems to know the ancient skill set and
15:18yet nobody is safe from him instead of
15:20going about town right away Yago stays
15:22to comfort Casio who laments the loss of
15:25his reputation and even links his
15:27reputation to his Immortal soul he seems
15:29to think that if he loses reputation on
15:31Earth he'll lose his spot in heaven in
15:33the afterlife that's a dubious
15:35theological claim but he's drunk so I
15:38guess we'll forgive him that it is
15:40telling though that he makes this
15:41connection that he believes his
15:43reputation on Earth matters in some sort
15:45of cosmic way it's similar to how aello
15:48later on will link the loss of Desdemona
15:50to chaos and a descent into hell Casio
15:53has lost his position as Lieutenant a
15:55signifier of status and virtue within
15:57the logic that has has guided his life
15:59so far similarly aello believes that
16:01losing desda Mona would be tantamount to
16:04losing his status in Venice when the
16:06characters invest their identity in
16:08status symbols they risk losing their
16:10identity when they lose those status
16:12symbols the loss of reputation is the
16:14loss of oneself and for Casio the loss
16:17of Salvation because Casio is desperate
16:19to get his position and identity back
16:21Iago can leverage his Fallen position
16:23further he calls Casio a good lieutenant
16:26and cleverly says I think you think I
16:28love you before giving him some advice
16:31he says our General's wife is now the
16:33general and suggests that he asks her to
16:36speak to aell on his behalf it's good
16:39advice pray to a saint to intervene on
16:41your behalf to God I mean people do this
16:43all the time Yago finishes this act with
16:45yet another Soliloquy another
16:47opportunity to convite in us the
16:49audience he uses the opportunity to
16:51playfully compare himself to the devil
16:53and he tells us exactly what he's going
16:55to do he's going to use desdemona's best
16:58impulses her goodness her compulsion to
17:00protect people against her she will try
17:03to help Casio and he will out of her own
17:06goodness make the net that shall andmesh
17:08them all it's bone chilling how good he
17:11is at this we'll see how his plan plays
17:13out in act three which we'll go over in
17:15detail next time to be notified when
17:17that video comes out in a couple days
17:18please consider subscribing thank you
17:20for
17:23watching

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