Othello: Tragic Hero and Cassio Essay

‘Come mistress, you must tell’s another tale’. This line, spoken by Iago suggests Bianca is taken into custody. Bianca is arrested at the end of act 5 sec 1, having been set up by Iago. Write a dramatic monologue in which she reflects upon the circumstances which led to her imprisonment.

{Bianca enters with two guards and is aggressively pushed in a cell, they lock the door and exit without a glance back.}
BIANCA: {She slides down against the door and leans her head against it, feeling heartbroken, her eyes brimming with unshed tears}
O Cassio, Cassio Cassio! What have I done to deserve this? I beseech you. I hath given thou my heart and body. You were my dream and love. I had thought I had finally met the Prince of my dreams, from the stories mother told me. The ones little girls durst dreamed. You who whisper sweet things in my ear, who knows who you, have whispered such things to with your traitorous mouth.
{Bianca stands up slowly, wiping away the stray tears that dared to drop, before pacing the small cell, tapping her finger against her cheek as if in deep thought}
You ask of me to copy that strawberry handkerchief, belonging to perhaps a wench in your bed. If you had one; such a higher class than me judging by the quality of the handkerchief, you still call ‘fair’ and ‘sweet love’, as if you loved me? Why do you go back to me, when you have that minx of yours to play with? Am I just your object, for you to use as you seek pleasure? You lying scoundrel! How dare you play with my heart like a plaything?
{She stops and walks to the small bed in the corner and sits down as if in defeat. She stares at her palms as if trying to seek answers from it}
But me thinks I am at fault. My deepest desires were to feel comforted and be loved truly by a man, and like a fool, I accepted Cassio’s sweet and alluring words. {Sighs} Oh, how to be loved by everyone and to have such a status for no one to judge but also, with a loving, kind man such as Othello. Othello’s wife truly is lucky. I should have known than to give my heart to Cassio, who only used me when he wishes. I counted the hours and days when we were apart like a lovesick puppy, but did he gave me a spare thought? Nay!
{Bianca clenches her fist and grits her teeth in anguish, as she comes to her senses, before she chuckles, then starts to laugh manically}
Ha ha ha! If only if I hadn’t been so foolish. No one would ever love me; I am nothing but a mere strumpet to the eyes of society. Will anyone think of me as anything but such? Nay, they do not care. At the scene of Cassio’s stabbing, did anyone ask of my opinion? Again, nay, they all assumed I hath done it. Iago, who looked upon my pale face and accused me, with the others following him promptly, such status and power, it is truly magnificent.
{Bianca sighs deeply, and focuses her attention outside the iron bared windows at the willow tree}
{Whispers} Goodbye, my dear Cassio, my sweet Cassio.

I have chosen to write a dramatic monologue in the voice of Bianca after Act 5 Scene 1 where Iago accuses Bianca of injuring Cassio and then is arrested and taken into custody where she reflects on the circumstances which caused her to be imprisoned. I have used this monologue to show the vulnerability and innocence of Bianca; this being her tragic flaw. Aristotle’s concept of tragedy is hamartia, where tragic flaw will eventually bring the hero to their downfall. For Bianca, it was trust which was her downfall. In my re-creative piece, I have shown this trust Cassio, with his ‘sweet and alluring words’ before she acknowledges it and understood that she was betrayed; leading up to her imprisonment. Although it would appear that she is only a minor character, and not seen as a tragic hero, she is in fact an important character as she plays a substantial part in creating the tragedy of Shakespeare’s play.
The start of my monologue, the stage direction of Bianca being ‘aggressively’ thrown in the cell, shows the

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