Othello - Othello 5 - Othello's Change

At the beginning of Othello, the title character is a man who is quite rational. He states in the first act of the play: "My parts, my title, and my perfect soul / Shall manifest me rightly" (I.ii.36-37). He sees himself as having desirable and respected qualities, being high in power (due to his rank as a general), and also having a pure and guiltless soul. He speaks with authority and certainty that comes from a place of ethos. A man like Othello needs to keep a steady head, for he leads troops for a living. He must be strategical and organized; However, once he makes the move to Cyprus, he begins to lose his rationality. Cyprus is between Venice, which is seen as rational and logical, and where the Turks are from, which is viewed as instinctual and emotional. Being in this split place makes a change start to brew in Othello, which is stirred even more by Iago's insinuating ideas. The change manifests itself in two ways, the first being the way that Othello speech starts to become less rational as the play progresses. At one point he begins to use many dashes to break up his words: "Handkerchief - confessions - handkerchief" (IV.i.45-46). This jolted speech seems broken and irrational compared to the beautiful and skillful way Othello speaks in the beginning of the book. The other way the change in Othello is shown is when he strikes his wife Desdemona near the end of Act 4 Scene 1. Desdemona does not understand why Othello does this, and Iago explains to a bewildered Lodovico that "[Othello] is much changed" (IV.i.302-303). Othello used to love his wife with all his heart, but since getting to Cyprus, he has started to love her less and less due to Iago's penetrating lies. If Othello was in his right mind, he would never have done this to his wife who he views as pure and innocent and loving.