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READ THIS
The setting for this scene is Cyprus. Everyone is awaiting anxiously the arrival of Othello.
A massive storm has swept the Mediterranean and the Turkish fleet has been destroyed. The threatened
Ottoman invasion is therefore over.
First to arrive is Iago, bringing Desdemona and Roderigo with him. Then Othello reaches the island. Iago
immediately sets in motion his plan to revenge himself on his enemy.
THE PURPOSE OF THE STORM
The Turkish threat to Venice appeared to be enormous, and yet it was so soon over. What then was its
purpose in the overall plot of the play?
Othello was a Moor or outsider who had control of the Venetian defences. He was good at his job as a
soldier but was insecure when it came to the complicated Venetian customs and etiquette.
As long as he was in Venice, however, he always had others whom he could serve and who, in turn, would
guide him, thus keeping his insecurities in check.
The Turkish threat served to take Othello out of his safety zone and expose his insecurities. It was
necessary to the plot, therefore, because it removed him from Venice to the island of Cyprus.
While there was still a war, on the other hand, Othello would have known how to behave but no sooner
had he set sail for Cyprus than the Turkish threat dissipated. All their ships were destroyed in the storm.
Suddenly, therefore, Othello found himself in a new and quite unaccustomed position as Governor of
Cyprus. It would be a largely civilian role in which he would be out of his depth.
Indeed, he was now the highest ranking officer with no-one to guide him. As a result, he was quickly
placed at the mercy of his lesser officers -- and leaned heavily upon the conniving Iago.
He therefore found himself at the mercy of Iago's evil machinations. He needed strength of character, but
his weaknesses were mercilessly exploited by Iago.
The storm -- the instrument for the destruction of the Turkish threat -- then becomes a metaphor in its
own right: an image of the storm unleashed by Iago which will quickly destroy Othello and all about him.
Othello and his entourage are ripped to pieces by the waves of Iago's cunning, just as the Turkish
warships had been ripped apart by the waves of nature.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"MONTANO:
If it hath ruffian'd so upon the sea,
What ribs of oak, when mountains melt on them,
Can hold the mortise? What shall we hear of this?"
- Comment on the word "ruffianed" as a suitable metaphor to describe the
storm. (4)
[Need help?]
A "ruffian" is described as "a lawless person or a bully".
It is the perfect metaphor for this raging storm. The storm is "lawless", doing exactly as it wants.
It is a "bully" to all ships riding on the waves, lashing them and destroying them.
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- Explain the meaning of "ribs of oak". (4)
[Need help?]
Ships had curved framing members in their hulls which rose outward and upward from the keel, onto
which the outer planks of the ship would be fastened. Traditionally they would have been made of oak
because this wood was both very strong and long lasting.
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- Why would Shakespeare use such a metaphor as "ribs of oak"? (4)
[Need help?]
The ribs of the ship were similar to the ribs of a body and performed much the same function.
The ribs in a body are attached to a backbone; the ribs of a ship were attached to the keel.
Each performed the task of keeping the main part of the body together: the ribs in the body houses the
heart and the lungs; the ribs of a ship housed the primary quarters of the ship.
A layer of skin covers the body while a layer of planks covered the ribs of the ship.
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- How could "the mountains" melt on the "ribs of oak"? (4)
[Need help?]
The "mountains" is a metaphorical description of the waves which were as big as mountains.
When these monstrous waves hit the side of the ship -- striking on the "ribs of oak" -- they
disintegrated and disappeared. They therefore "melted" in a metaphorical sense.
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- What is a mortise? What would happen if the "mortise" should come loose from the "ribs
of oak"? (4)
[Need help?]
The old sailing vessels were held together by "mortises", i.e. wooden joints. These would be better
than nails because they wouldn't rust but they would also swell in the water and lock the parts of the ship
more firmly together.
Of course, should the "mortise" come loose because of the wood twisting too much under pressure
from the waves, then the entire structure would immediately begin to disintegrate.
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"SECOND GENTLEMAN:
The chidden billow seems to pelt the clouds;
The wind-shaked surge, with high and monstrous mane,
seems to cast water on the burning bear,
And quench the guards of the ever-fixed pole:
I never did like molestation view
On the enchafed flood."
- What is "chidden"? Why would the wind be described as "the chidden
billow"? (4)
[Need help?]
"Chidden" means to be scolded, reproached or harassed.
The wind, with its howling ferocity, is said to be chiding the clouds and the sea: i.e. scolding them,
harassing them. To "billow", on the other hand, is to blow fiercely.
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- What features of the stormy sea are particularly dwelt upon in this passage? (4)
[Need help?]
The speaker refers to the fierceness of the wind, as well as the monstrous waves which rise up like angry
animals -- gargantuan horses of the sea with white foaming manes. The waves are so enormous that
they appear to rise up into the sky and quench the very stars themselves.
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"MONTANO:
If that the Turkish fleet
Be not enshelter'd and embay'd, they are drown'd:
It is impossible they bear it out."
- In what way would the ships being "embayed" have helped save them? (2)
[Need help?]
If a ship caught in a storm could find a sheltered bay, it would find protection from both the wind and the
waves. It would then have a chance of survival.
It was for this reason that early navigators around the Cape of Storms would seek the shelter of Table
Bay, False Bay or even Mossel Bay.
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- Is it possible that Montano is playing with words when he says, "It is impossible they bear it
out"? Explain how this could be so. (4)
[Need help?]
It is possible that Montano is making reference to the bear fight, when animals were put into a cage with
an enraged bear. Such a fight brought certain death to one of the animals. It was impossible to "bear
it out", impossible to endure such a struggle.
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"THIRD GENTLEMAN:
News, lads! our wars are done.
The desperate tempest hath so bang'd the Turks,
That their designment halts: a noble ship of Venice
Hath seen a grievous wreck and sufferance
On most part of their fleet."
- What was the purpose of this Turkish attack in the context of the play? (10)
[Need help?]
The plot of the story had started in Venice. Othello, however, could never be entrapped by Iago at the
heart of civilization.
The plot therefore needed some excuse for Othello, Desdemona and Iago to be isolated on the remote
island of Cyprus where Othello would have little moral support.
How to get them there? A planned Turkish attack on Venice would see Othello's presence needed on
Cyprus.
Once Othello was on the island, however, the war was no longer necessary. In fact, it would ruin the
future plot.
The war is therefore summarily dismissed and immediately forgotten: a massive storm erupts and
destroys the Turkish fleet. Othello is now on the island and the tragedy of stupidity and betrayal can
thereupon unfold.
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