key quotes act 1

Question 1

“never set a ________ in the _____” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 1

“never set a squadron in the field”
- imperative sentence
- establishes Cassio as a man of logic rather than action, with Iago implying he’s inexperienced

Question 2

“mere p______, without p_______” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 2

“mere prattle, without practise”
- plosive sounds
- harsh sounds emphasising the resentment Iago has towards Cassio

Question 3

“I ______ him to serve my turn upon him: We cannot all be masters, nor all _______ cannot be truly follow’d” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 3

• admits he only serves Othello so that he can plot against him, beginning of Iago’s conspiracy

Question 4

“In _________ him, I follow but ______” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 4

• following Othello means he can revenge himself upon Othello

Question 5

“I am not what I __” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 5

• claiming he is not what he seems, reference to the Bible, implying that Iago is the opposite of God: the Devil

Question 6

“thick____” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 6

“thicklips”
- derogatory epithet
- stereotyping Othello’s race, reducing Othello to a physical attribute, putting Othello as below him

Question 7

“Rouse him: make _____ him, poison his _______” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 7

“Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight”
- pattern of imperative verbs
- Iago seems jealous, wants to make Brabantio angry, obvious that Iago is going to cause trouble

Question 8

“P_____” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 8

“Plague”
- metaphor
- Iago is relentless in wanting to bring Othello down, he wants Othello dead

Question 9

“Look to your house, your ________ and your bags! Thieves! T______!” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 9

• aligns Desdemona with commodities, refers to her as an item belonging to Brabantio that isn’t prioritised above his house

Question 10

“you’re r____‘d” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 10

• claims that Desdemona has been stolen from Brabantio

Question 11

“an old black ___ is topping your _____ ewe” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 11

“an old black ram is topping your white ewe”
- animalistic sexual imagery
- presenting Othello as predatory and Desdemona

Question 12

“you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary _____; you’ll have your _______ neigh to you; you’ll have ________ for cousins and gennets for germans.” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 12

“you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; you’ll have your nephews neigh to you; you’ll have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans.”
- animal imagery
- connotes bestial and incestual images, hostility towards Othello’s ethnicity, claims that Othello will ruin a bloodline with his race
- context: links to racism against people from the Barbary coast in North Africa

Question 13

“your daughter and the ____ are now making the _____ with two _____” - Iago, Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 13

“your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs”
- euphemism
- Brabantio now understands who his daughter is with, sexual imagery is used to anger Brabantio

Question 14

“O thou foul _____, where hast thou stow’d my ________?” - Brabantio, Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 14

• dehumanising Othello

Question 15

“the sooty bosom of such a _____ as thou” - Brabantio, Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 15

• dehumanising Othello, referring to him a “thing”

Question 16

“foul ______” - Brabantio, Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 16

• accusing Othello as witchcraft, doesn’t believe that someone like him could get Desdemona

Question 17

“a practicer of ____ inhibited” - Brabantio, Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 17

• claiming he has committed a crime of inhibited arts, otherwise known as illegal magic

Question 18

“____ am I in my ______, and little bless’d with the ____ phrase of peace” - Othello, Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 18

• implies himself that he is inferior, argues he is only a soldier and not an eloquent speaker

Question 19

“From year to ____, the battles, ______, fortunes, that I have passed” - Othello, Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 19

• talking about his achievements and telling Brabantio why he’s good for Desdemona

Question 20

“of most disastrous _______, of moving accidents by flood and _____ / of hair-breadth scapes i’ the imminent ______ breach, of being taken by the insolent foe / and sold to slavery, of my redemption _____” - Othello, Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 20

“of most disastrous chances, of moving accidents by flood and field / of hair-breadth scapes i’ the imminent deadly breach, of being taken by the insolent foe / and sold to slavery, of my redemption thence”
- sibilance
- romanticises Othello’s experiences that interested Desdemona, used as his defence in court

Question 21

“twas _______, ‘twas passing ______, ‘twas _______, ‘twas wondrous _______” - Othello, Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 21

“twas strange, ‘twas passing strange, ‘twas pitiful, ‘twas wondrous pitiful”
- repetition
- showing that Desdemona was interested in his stories

Question 22

“if I had a ______ that loved her, I should but _____ him how to tell my story. And that would woo her” - Othello, Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 22

• claims his story is innocent and that he won Desdemona’s heart with fair play