The word “heaven” is one of the most frequently used words in the play Othello. Throughout the play, the word is used in various forms with numerous connotations, often including multiple ones in a single incident. “Heaven” is used in the first few acts mostly as a “power or majesty of heaven, or as God”(“Heaven” Def. 7a). The people refer to the heavens as a God or a divine being, such as when Cassio says “Oh, let the heavens Give him defense against the elements, For I have lost him on a dangerous sea. (2. 1. 49-51). The word gives a positive connotation, where the people ask the heavens, or God, to keep them safe, or to look over their loved ones. The word is most frequently used by Othello, Desdemona, Emilia, and Iago, in that order. However, the connotation of the word differs depending on the character saying it. While the rest of the characters use the word with true emotions and sincerity, the word has an ironic connotation when Iago says it. The word heaven is used by Iago whenever he is hiding his true intentions to make people trust him.
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Even when he says, “He’s that he is. I may not breathe my censure What he might be. If what he might he is not, I would to heaven he were” (4. 1. 305-307), he is pretending to care for Othello, when he is the cause of Othello’s troubles. The word also changes connotation depending on the scene of the play. While the word portrays a heavenly and divine figure in the first few Acts, the word demonstrates a slightly more negative connotation in the last Act. In Act 5 Scene 2, the word is frequently used as “the opposition of hell” (“Heaven” Def. a). When Emilia decries Desdemona’s innocence, she says, “Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, All, all, cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak” (5. 2. 262-263) and emphasizes her willingness to speak the truth by juxtaposing two opposite words: heaven and hell. Moreover, when Othello shouts out, “This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven, And fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl! ” the connotation of the word heaven is relatively negative compared to the other references previously in the book.
The differences in connotation by scenes show how Shakespeare has brilliantly utilized the various nuances of the word heaven to create a gloomy ambiance within the last Scene, and thus emphasize the tragedy. Lastly, the different connotations within the word often blur to create a more in-depth meaning throughout the book. For example, when Iago says, “I would to heaven he were” (4. 1. 307), as mentioned in the previous paragraph, the surface meaning is of a divine figure. However, the word “heaven” also has a meaning of “supreme bliss” (“Heaven” Def. 6a).
The secondary definition may give a latent meaning saying that Iago would be extremely happy if Othello were to actually be that ignoble and foolish. Also, when Othello tells Desdemona to pray, he says, “If you bethink yourself of any crime Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace, Solicit it for it straight” (5. 2. 30-32). When he says this, he is telling Desdemona to pray for her sins, since he still wants her to go to heaven. With the secondary meaning of “heaven” as a “blessed life after death” (“Heaven” Def. 5d), Othello still shows to love Desdemona.
Despite the fact that he is impending to kill her for her adultery, he still wants her to have a blessed life after her death. Regardless of what the author tried to express to the reader with the word, such secondary meanings give a more deep understanding to the play. Works Cited “Heaven. ” Def. 5a. Oxford English Dictionary.
