Othello Flashcards
(21 cards)
Act One Scene One
. Iago reveals his plan to bring about Othello’s downfall
. He recruits Roderigo to help him
. They go to Brabantio and tell him his daughter has married Othello
. Iago’s skilled word play is revealed to us
Key quotes from Act One Scene One
. “Zounds, sir, you’re robbed” swears, wakes him up
. “You are a Senator” - tone suggests insult
. “I must show our flag and sign of love” - faking love
. “Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty”
. “Even now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” racist lang, animalistic, vivid, visceral
. “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” conniving
. “he sir had th’ election” bitter that Cassio got the job
. “In following him I follow myself” using role for gain
. “you’ll have your nephews neigh to you, you’ll have coursers for cousins” - he’s enjoying himself
Act One Scene Two
. Iago goes to warn Othello about Brabantio
. Othello is shown as a peaceful, sensitive man
. Brabantio accuses Othello of bewitching Desdemona
. Othello set up as tragic hero, seems undeserving of Iago’s deviance
Key quotes from Act One Scene Two
. “Tis better as it is” O’s 1st line contrasts I’s desc.
. “Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them” O is averse to violence
. “let him do his spite” calm and sanguine
. “My parts, my title, and my perfect soul/shall manifest me rightly” elegant and formal speech
. “I had thought t’have yerked him here under the ribs”
Act One Scene Three
. The Duke and his senior officers in council, awaiting Othello’s arrival
. Brabantio’s accusal and Othello’s defense
. Desdemona arrives (with Iago) to confirm Othello’s story and ask to accompany him to Cyprus
. Iago consoles the disappointed Roderigo
1.3 Othello’s Speech
. He’s in total command of the situation
. He acknowledges master/servant relationship
. Establishes truth from fiction
. Says he only knew war before Desdemona: claims he can’t speak well bc of this (not true)
1.3 Fair and foul blend
. “fair”, “blonde”, “maiden” - Desdemona
. “foul” “dark” “Moor” - Othello
1.3 “She loved me for the dangers I had passed and I loved her that she did pity them.”
- Purity/balance:
. Love on both sides: equal adoration
. Balanced phrase
. He excites her, she settles him down - Disparity/imbalance:
. Pity isn’t a good basis for a relationship
. She loves him for what he was in the past: construct
. He loves that she pities him: all focus on him
1.3 Desdemona as Strong
. “I am hitherto your daughter, but here’s my husband”
. “And so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father”
. “My downright violence and storm of fortunes/May trumpet to the world” she knows that marrying a black man will make it hard for her, doesn’t care
. “Let me go with him” demands to be with him
1.3 Desdemona as Passive
. “To you I am bound for life and education”
. “And to his honours and his valiant parts/Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate” religious imagery, devotion, self sacrifice for him
. “A moth of peace” without him she’d be useless, she feels she has to go with him, no choice
. “Come Desdemona, I have but an hour” she automatically follows O without response.
1.3 Othello’s story
. “the vices in my blood” - flaws in his race, lang refers to racism directed at him. Internalised racism. Double meaning suggests insecurity
. O + B were close, O told him stories of his past: B thinks he has betrayed him, D abandons him
. “travel’s history” travels + travails - struggles through hard journeys
. “pilgrimage” D is an idle, he worships her
1.3 Iago comforting Roderigo
. D won’t love O long: “It can not be that Desdemona should long continue her love to the Moor”
. O will stop loving her: “These Moors are changeable in their wills”.
1.3 “Virtue? A fig! Tis in ourselves that we are thus.”
. Chides Roderigo
. He rejects religious values
. We define ourselves, pro-to existential
. “fig”: dismissive, euphemism - misogynistic
. contradicts himself: says we define our own feelings but he’s consumed by jealousy and resentment
1.3 “There are many events in the womb of Time which will be delivered”
. Tragedy: the events aren’t a surprise
. Chaos predicted, “delivered”, inevitable tragedy
. Child birth imagery, something growing
. Bad actions, useful results
The Cuckold
. A man whose wife cheated without him knowing
. Derives from ‘cuckoo’, bird that lays its eggs in another bird’s nest
. Public humiliation to have the name
. Have horns: cuckold wore horns as a sign of his wife’s infidelity
Tragic Villain
Contributes towards tragic outcome.
Morally ambiguous - not always intending to be evil, or the resulting conclusion from his involvement
Machiavel
Amoral, ruthless, manipulative in pursuit of power and status
1.3 Iago’s Plan
. It has become about destruction of O + D’s marriage
. Jealous of Cassio “proper man” “daily beauty”
. Initially hopes B will split them up, has to improvise
. He talks to us but knows when to stay silent and let the chaos unfold: staging - pauses, deliberations
1.3 Iago’s Reasoning
. Unconvincing
. “thought abroad” - he doesn’t know if E slept with O but “it will do”
. Repeats “I hate th’ Moor” not clear why - racism?
. Wants Cassio’s position but also “he hath a daily beauty which makes me ugly”
Setting of Cyprus
. Civil Venice vs Discordant Cyprus
. Characters are placed in a world without boundaries of established city state
. Fortified outpost of civilisation: less controlled
. D isolated from Venetian support system, vulnerable to arch manipulator Iago
. Soldiers in claustrophobic confines turn on each other: no turks to fight
1.3 Key Quotes from Othello’s Defense
. “Rude am I in my speech” modesty, untrue
. “And little of this great world can I speak” sarcastic
. “She loved me for the dangers I had passed/ And I loved her that she did pity them”
