Act 1

Question 1

scene 1: domestic vs political

Answer 1

from the beginning, it is clear that private, domestic issues and the public, professional world will collide e.g. Brabantio rousing his neighbours and an army to help him hunt down Othello: he is making his daughter’s elopement into a public, political affair.

Question 2

scene 1: deception

Answer 2

deception is established as a key theme from the very beginning - it is made clear that there were deceptions taking place within the story before the play’s beginning, e.g. Roderigo is deceived into believing he could win Desdemona’s hand, Brabantio deceived by Desdemona and Othello, Iago feels deceived as Cassio has been promoted.
The effect of this is structure is that audiences will question the difference between appearance and reality from the very very start.

Question 3

scene 1: “Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags!/ Thieves, thieves!”

Answer 3

Iago’s line makes it clear that the male characters of this world view women as possessions, as Iago includes Brabantio’s daughter within this list of commodities.

Question 4

scene 1: “treason of the blood”

Answer 4

Brabantio believes that Desdemona has usurped the natural order by eloping with Othello. The image of Desdemona in the “gross clasps of a lascivious Moor” makes it clear that her “revolt” isn’t just outrageous because she deceived her father, but also because she has chosen a “Moor”.

Question 5

scene 1: Desdemona’s “youth and maidhood” have been “abused”

Answer 5

reflects the Renaissance stereotype of the black man as a cunning sexual predator.

Question 6

scene 1: “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”

Answer 6

Iago established as Machiavellian or as untrustworthy from the very first scene

Question 7

scene 1: “not meet nor wholesome to my place,/ To be produced”

Answer 7

Iago is good at getting himself out of trouble, or avoiding it altogether: he leaves the stage just as Brabantio discovers Desdemona is gone.
The language reflects the irony that audiences will come to associate with Iago - neither his words nor his actions are “wholesome”.

Question 8

scene 1: “Thou art a villain!”

Answer 8

a prime example of dramatic irony used to raise tension by the playwright. Roderigo is blissfully unaware of the truth in Brabantio’s words.
by the end of the first scene, Shakespeare has established Iago as a powerful, manipulative figure who instigates and stage-manages chaos effectively.

Question 9

scene 1: Othello’s presence

Answer 9

Othello is not seen nor referred to by name in this scene - he is a mysterious figure at this stage.
Shakespeare has structured the scene to draw audience attentions to the role of rumour; everything we learn about Othello passes through someone else. “His Moorship” is presented, through the dialogue of Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio as being lustful, hot-headed, and animal-like (“an old black ram”, “barbary horse”) - Othello is presented, through the eyes of others, as adhering to Elizabethan/Jacobean stereotypes of black people.

Question 10

scene 1: “poison his delight”, “Plague him with flies”

Answer 10

Iago’s use of metaphors associates him with poison, corruption and disease throughout the play. Here, Shakespeare has prepared audiences for the poisoning of Othello’s mind that takes place in Act 3.

Question 11

scene 1: “My daughter is not for thee”

Answer 11

Brabantio assumes the role of an angry patriarch. This quote signifies that Brabantio looks upon Desdemona as a possession.
Brabantio’s social postion (“my spirit and my place”) is undermined not only by the “wheeling stranger” his daughter has eloped with, but also by Iago’s impudent words.

Question 12

scene 1: “an old black ram”, “a barbary horse”, “the beast with two backs”

Answer 12

Iago’s speech is crude and mocking. The reduction of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship to bestial sexuality arguably reveals more about Iago than it does about the couple, as his prurience is evident from the start.

Question 13

scene 2: “Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them”

Answer 13

Presents Othello as a successful soldier who is used to leading armies. He appears rational, commanding and cogent.

Question 14

scene 2: blank verse

Answer 14

in contrast with the other characters we have seen so far, Othello speaks with a measured calm in blank verse in scene 2. Othello and Iago appear as binary opposites: one seeks to resolve conflict whilst the other revels in it.

Question 15

scene 2: “boarded a land carrack”

Answer 15

the polysemy of “carrack” insults both Othello and Desdemona: can either mean treasure or prostitute.

Question 16

scene 2: “I love the gentle Desdemona”

Answer 16

• the first sincere reference to love in the play
• Othello’s positive view of his relationship is in contrast with the negative way it is perceived by others.

Question 17

scene 3: “honesty”

Answer 17

a good example of the irony that permeates Othello - Iago’s “honesty” is ironically referenced twice in scene 3.

Question 18

scene 3: love vs. war

Answer 18

the structure of this scene shows that Othello will constantly be pulled in two different directions: one of love, and one of war. The scene starts with discussions about the war, and moves rapidly to discussions about the marriage of Othello and Desdemona. The mix of characters - the Duke (politcal figure) and Brabantio (domestic figure) - emphasises this conflict.

Question 19

scene 3: “for the dangers I had passed/ And I loved her that she did pity them”

Answer 19

Desdemona was seduced by Othello’s story-telling powers, while Othello was enchanted by Desdemona’s sympathetic responses to his history.

Question 20

scene 3: “saw Othello’s visage in his mind”

Answer 20

raises the question of if the couple actually fell in love with eachother, or rather idealised versions of eahother. Perhaps this love is too intense, too idealistic.

Question 21

scene 3: “half the wooer”

Answer 21

Othello describes Desdemona in this way - shows her assertiveness as she chose her own husband. initial egalitarian nature of their relationship.
This juxtaposes Brabantio’s description of Desdemona as a “maiden never bold”

Question 22

scene 3: “Let me go with him”

Answer 22

imperative - Desdemona demands to go to Cyprus with Othello. Not as submissive as she claims to be

Question 23

scene 3: “I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband”

Answer 23

Desdemona speaks of transferring her duty from her father to her husband just as her mother did. Desdemona accepts male authority as much as she subverts it.

Question 24

scene 3: Iago

Answer 24

• speaks in fast-moving prose when outwitting Roderigo, suggesting he is improvising/ thinking on his feet
• alone on stage, Iago returns to talking in blank verse: this demonstrates his ability to manipulate his style to suit his audiences and his purpose.
• at the start of his soliloquy in scene 3, he has not decided how he is going to proceed with his revenge. “let me see now” and “for mere suspicion” highlight that Iago is, perhaps, trying to find justification for his innate desire to destroy Othello’s happiness.