By the end of Othello Act II.iii,
Cassio is very worried about his reputation, which, like a "soul," he calls the
"immortal part" of himself:
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 lost standing as Othello's lieutenant and fallen so low that he must ask Desdemona,
a woman, to put in the good word for him with her husband. So, Cassio has gone from
"the chosen one" to "outcast," from the rank of "right-hand man" to below the rank of
women. He is alone, on an island, away from home, struggling with a disease
(alcoholism), during war, and his only advisor (Iago) is pure evil--a horrible turn of
events for the once "golden boy."
Cassio is very angry at
himself for having gotten drunk. He calls his condition the "devil drunkenness." Like
Othello with jealousy, Cassio becomes a monster after drinking. He has no defense
against his condition, and he knows that Othello will never trust him again for fear of
being drunk on duty--a cardinal sin for a soldier during
wartime.
Cassio is confused about who to trust: Iago or
Desdemona. Iago urges him to not be so hard on himself and seek Desdemona's help.
Cassio agrees, playing into Iago's plan of revenge. Later, Iago will use Cassio's
secret pleadings with Desdemona as evidence of an affair. So, Cassio is torn between
all options: he cannot go to Othello directly (he is too angry), so he must go through
Iago (male villain) and Desdemona (source of jealousy) to retain his repuation. All
options lead to death.
Ironically, Cassio is not exactly
worried about who he was fighting: was it Montano or another mystery man, Roderigo?
Since it was night and he was drunk, Cassio internalizes the problem, blaming himself
and selfishly seeking to restore his reputation. In other words, he is not at all
worried about the men he might have injured.
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