SOURCE: King, Rosalind. “‘Then Murder's out of Tune’: The Music and Structure of Othello.” Shakespeare Survey 39 (1987): 149-58.

In the following essay, King traces a pattern of musical metaphors and connotations in Othello that underscores the disintegration of the harmonious partnership between Othello and Desdemona. She contends that Iago's two songs, the military drums and trumpets, and Desdemona's “willow song” are integral to the play's narrative, characterization, and thematic development.

                                                            O, you are well-tuned now, But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, As honest as I am. 

(2.1.177-9)

Iago's commentary on the reunion of Othello and Desdemona on the island of Cyprus is more than just a fanciful statement of his intentions. Iago as a character deliberately sets out to destroy the harmony of love, but Shakespeare, the dramatist, presents his words and actions as part of an extensive pattern of musical images and effects. This...