In Act III we are introduced the character of the Clown. He appears in two seemingly minor scenes and speaks only briefly, and yet I was left with an impression that his inclusion in the play was not a mere accident.

Observing the Clowns speech, I was drawn to the way in which he appears to obfuscate the language of others, and yet appears prescient in his knowledge.

In the first scene he enters following Cassio and a band of musicians. Music is a trope of Shakespearean plays often associated with peace, harmony, and trust. Yet the Clown appears to tell the musicians that Othello wishes them to cease playing.

From the Merchant of Venice there is the quote:

“The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;

The motions of his spirit are dull as night

And his affections dark as Erebus:

Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.”

Granted this is taken from a different play, I still believe we can view the Clowns representation for the opinion of Othello as foreshadowing of the foul and tragic actions that are to overwhelm Othello. Because the Clown states Othello wishes no music, we can imagine he, Othello, is becoming close minded to any peace, harmony, or trust between himself and those whom he feels or is about to feel betrayed by, such as Cassio and Desdemona.

Cassio then questions the Clown:

“Dost thou hear, my honest friend?”

“No, I hear not your honest friend; I hear you.”

Shakespeare is here again using the Clown as a representation on the state of Othello. The Clowns lines are likely speaking of both Cassio and Iago, as Othello is not hearing the honest friend, Cassio, but hearing the other, Iago.  And yet Othello believes Iago to be the honest one, and so the clown depicts this by referring to Cassio as the other.

The second and final appearance of the clown is in scene 4 when he speaks to Desdemona. In this conversation Shakespeare utilizes the confusion of the word lie, meaning either to speak dishonest or to lay in bed i.e make whoopee.

“Do you know, sirrah, where Lieutenant Cassio lies?”

“I dare not say he lies any where.”

“Why, man?”

“He’s a soldier, and for one to say a soldier lies, is stabbing.”

“Go to: where lodges he?”

“To tell you where he lodges, is to tell you where I lie”

“Can any thing be made of this?”

“I know not where he lodges, and for me to devise a lodging and say he lies here or he lies there, were to lie in mine own throat.”

The obvious relation of this conversation to the main plot is how there is a great deal of confusion going on between who is lying on someone, being dishonest, and who is lying with someone, sleeping together.

Also following this conversation, we then witness a series of lies. Up until now, the only real liar was Iago, but in scene 4 after the Clown brings to direct attention this confusion of lies, we see Emilia lie to Desdemona after stealing the handkerchief, Desdemona lie to Othello about it not being lost, and Othello lie to Desdemona about the origin of the handkerchief. And so once more the Clown appears as a foreshadowing figure and as a chronicler of the thematics and tensions of the play.