Azaria Burton Benchmark Journal Entries 1-5

Azaria Burton

Benchmark Journals # 1-5

Journal 1

"Despise me

If I do not. Three great ones of the city

(In personal suit to make me his lieutenant)

Off-capped to him, and by the faith of man

I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.

But he (as loving his own pride and purposes)

Evades them with a bombast circumstance

Horribly stuffed with epithets of war,

And in conclusion

Nonsuits my mediators. For “Certes,” says he,

“I have already chose my officer.”

And what was he?

Forsooth, a great arithmetician,

One Michael Cassio, a Florentine

(A fellow almost damned in a fair wife)

That never set a squadron in the field,

Nor the division of a battle knows

More than a spinster—unless the bookish theoric,

 Wherein the toged consuls can propose

As masterly as he. Mere prattle without practice

Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had th' election

And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof

At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds

Christian and heathen, must be belee’d and calmed

By debitor and creditor. This counter-caster

He (in good time) must his lieutenant be

And I, bless the mark, his Moorship’s ancient."

In this part of the play Iago is talking to Roderigo about how upset he is that Othello chose Cassio to be his Lieutenant instead of him. Although Iago is talking to Roderigo he is also talking to the audience. Iago is telling us that he hates Othello and giving only a bit of insighton why he really hates Othello. If I were the play director I would tell Iago to stand boldly towards the audience and say very loudly, “Despise Me If I do not.” The slowly say the rest of this part of the play. While doing so showing much confidence so that the audience can get a good idea on who Iago really is. I also believe when Iago speaks about Cassio he should add sarcasm in his voice when he says, "And what was he? Forsooth, a great arithmetician,One Michael Cassio, a Florentine (A fellow almost damned in a fair wife) That never set a squadron in the field,Nor the division of a battle knows…" While I understand that Iago is talking to the audience I know that technically he was having a conversation with Roderigo, so in order to make this more obvious everyone in a while Iago should turn his attention away from the Audience and speak directly to Roderigoand give a lot eye contact to Roderigo. I believe using these techniques will really help show Iago's personality and add to the idea of Iago being an evil trickster. 

Journal 2 

Scene 2 Act 3 Line 1416, “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!” Cassio has just gotten drunk and ended acting foolishly by stabbing Roderigo. Cassio panics when he realizes that his actions make him not only look like a sloppy drunk but also, it puts negativity towards his normally p good reputation. He really does not like the idea of having a bad reputation. This part of the play shows how innocent Cassio really is.He confines in Iago not knowing that it was Iago who got him drunk on purpose. Scene 3 Act 3 Line 1640, “Ay, but, lady,That policy may either last so long, Or feed upon such nice and waterish diet, Or breed itself so out of circumstance, That, I being absent and my place supplied, My general will forget my love and service.” Cassio is talking to Desdemona about Othello. He is explaining that he really does love Othello and does not want his position to be taken away.This part shows how innocent Cassio is however, Iago is able to use this kindness and twist into something it is not. Cassio is definitely an outsider through almost the entire play until the very end when everything gets out about Iago's plan. All Cassio wanted was to help Othello and he needed the help of Desdemona to do so. Throughout the book Cassio continues to not only confess his love for Othello but also state how much he honestly would love to work for Othello after he loses his job. It is very obvious throughout the play the Cassio’s intentions are not in any way bad and he is nothing like what Iago makes Othello believe he is. 

Journal 3

Emilia is Iago's wife.She is twenty-five years old and has been married to Iago for seven years.Her parents Leonardo and Saisha Warrens both loved her very much and took great care of her. As a child her mom would always tell her that in order to get to the top in the world you must sacrifice many things and work hard.Growing up Emilia loved to read and to taking long walks. Emilia loved to take walks because it was her only way out of the secretly hectic life she had. Although Emilias mom did not know, Emilia knew that her dad, Leonard, was always cheating on Saisha. Emilia had secretly caught him in the act a few times. She often wondered how a man that seemed to love his wife so much would still cheat. That is when she came to the conclusion that most people cheat and sometimes cheating can get you ahead in life. When Emilia met Iago he was the man of her dreams. He was very sweet and did everything he could for her, it was so easy for her to fall in love with him. However, Iago would constantly complain to her about his officer Othello. He wanted to get a head in life and he felt the process was moving to slow. Emilia loved Iago so much that she was willing to do anything she though would take this burden from him. She went and had a couple of private conversations with Othello and did him some favors for him in order to get her husband, Iago, ahead. A couple of months went by after Emilia had her private conversations with Othello, Emilia noticed that Iago was starting to create a distance between them. Iago wasn’t so nice anymore and he would often scream at her. Slowly, Emilia realized their once great marriage was going to shambles. She wanted to fix it and she would do what ever Iago asked of her in order to get their love back. Emilia becomes Desdemona's maid and seems to love Desdemona very much and she seems to be very loyal. Except the fact that she stole Desdemona's handkerchief and gave it to Iago because he asks her to. Then when Desdemona goes on to tell her about how much grief losing that handkerchief is causing Emilia does not tell her that she found it on the floor and gave it to Iago. Emilia only gave the handkerchief to Iago because he begged of her and she thought that maybe if she stole it for him he would be sweeter to her. After Othello kills Desdemona Emilia walks in. Othello tells her that Iago told him that Desdemona was not faithful. Emilia realizes how sneaky and manipulative Iago is and that quickly, falls out of love with him. Although she stole the handkerchief from Desdemona, she did love her and wouldn’t ever want anything to happen to Desdemona especially if it was her husbands, Iago, conniving ways that caused it. Emilia goes on to tell Othello, in front of Iago, that she stole the handkerchief because Iago asked her too. After she airs out Iago’s dirty laundry he gets angry and kills her. It is very surprising to Emilia that the man she once worshiped would kill her, it hurt her to her core. However, she died knowing she did the right thing. 

Journal 4 

During my performance Emilia is almost arguing with Iago in order to prove Desdemona's innocence to Othello. In order to get this strain and fight for truth to come forth in my acting I will be doing a number of things. When I speak to Iago I will be sarcastic and rude. I will make it obvious that I find Iago sickening by scrunching up my face and specifically when I say, "…if thou'st be'st a man…" I will be really obnoxious and try my best to make this statement seem very belittling by looking at Iago as if I already know the answer. When I speak to Othello I am trying to be convincing and so I will give eye contact and I will touch him in order to get his full attention. But, I will also be a little rude by speaking mockingly towards him. I will do this because when I read the play I feel like Emilia is mocking Othello. She calls him "dull" which can be considered quite rude and she calls him cruel. It seems although Emilia wants to prove Desdemona's faithfulness to Othello she also wants him to feel stupid for believing such nonsense by speaking down to him. For my prop I am going to bring a handkerchief and two X's to put over my eyes when I die. I will use the handkerchief when I talk about me giving one to Iago. I will swing it around Othello's face just to make the scene more dramatic. I think if as a group we make the scene between Iago and Emilia seem more like an argument and a fight for Othello's trust the scene will be more interesting. Also, I get stabbed in this scene and Othello kills himself so the scene alone is very dramatic and interesting. When I worked with my group we all tried to make the scene less bland by touching each other and moving around instead of standing there reading off the paper so the presentation will stand out. 

Journal 5 

"You told a lie, an odious,damned lie,upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie. She false with Cassio!-- did you say with Cassio?" Emilia is talking to Iago in front of Othello about Desdemona. Emilia asked Iago what he had told Othello about Desdemona and Iago tells her that he told Othello that Desdemona was cheating on him. At this point Emilia flips out and tells Iago that he is a liar. I think this part is important in the play because it is the first time someone calls Iago out for what he really is and it just so happens to be his “loyal” wife that does it. Iago has been lying to everyone except the audience the entire time and he gets caught in his lies way too late in the game but, it is important that what he has been doing comes out. When I read this line while performing I spoke with hatred in my voice and I also spoke very fast because I find when someone is really angry and they are calling someone out, their adrenaline starts to pump and everything they say seems rushed. I wanted it to make it obvious that Emilia did not only catch on to Iago's plan but, she is also very angry about it and is ready for the truth to come out. It didn't go exactly how I expected it but, it didn't go bad either. I do know that sometimes when you practice things alone and then in front of people, your group members may get nervous and forget certain little details that were given to make to scene go by smoother but, in all it was good. I am proud of how I delivered the lines. I tried my best to put forth the anger and pain Emilia must have been feeling at this point in my voice so that the audience could really get a sense of how terrifying the whole experience was for Emilia, finding out that Desdemona was dead and it was her husbands fault. Also, Emilia played a part in Iago's plan without even knowing it. If she hadn't had stolen the handkerchief, Iago wouldn't have been able to perfect his plan the way he did.I would practice my emotions more because showing emotions is really important for the audience to understand the mood of the play at that particular point in the play. But, also I would love to remember all my lines so that the play could look more professional. When I acted out the play I really got a good understanding on how Emilia must have felt at the end out the play standing in front of Desdemona's dead body. Having to try to prove Desdemona's innocence to Othello all the while looking at her husband who is not only insulting her but, boldly and arrogantly stating that he had a major part in everything that is happening.