OTHELLO

• ACT 1 SCENE 1

  roderigo wants desdemonas love

  iago is mad othello promoted cassio instead of him to lieutenant

  they wake up barbantio and tell him about the secret marriage

  they go to confront othello 


  iago admits he is deceptive and selfish - "in following him i will follow myself" - line 59

  "poison his delight" (69) "plague him with flies" (72) - language filled with disease and poison

  "i am not what i am" biblical reference - yahweh in a burning bush when he said " i am what i am"
• ACT 1 SCENE 1

  themes

  • jealousy - iagos jealous of cassios new position - challenges his masculinity - he has no more knowledge than a spinster
  • sexuality - "making the beasts with two backs" cruel animal imagery - presents marriage as unnatural
  • honesty - iago is decieving othello who is also decieving brabantio
  • racist language - roderigo calls othello "the thick lips" and uncivilised. defines by his race

  iago makes a comparison othello to a barbary horse - he jokes barbantios descendants will be horses
• act 1 scene 2

  iago warns othello that his secret marriage has been discovered

  othello is summoned to see duke to discuss situation in cyprus

  brabantio enters and accuses othello and brings case to duke 


  Iago can adapt to any situation - calls othello sir and threatens to attack roderigo "come sir i am for you"

  compares himself with janus - 2 faced roman god
• act 1 scene 2

  othello is very different to how he is described in act 1 scene 1

  savage uncivilised - "old black ram" "thing"

  actually is controlled - "keep up your bright swords for the dew will rust them" avoids violence

  "i love the gentle desdemona"


  O and Ds love is presented as unnatural - brabantio accuses othello of binding desdemona to chains of magic to force her into marriage

  brabantios - rhyming couplet at the end suggests the worlds gone to madness - "bondslaves will become statesmen" - foreshadows destruction
• act 1 scene 3

  Brabantio accuses othello of stealing desdemona from him, duke asks for evidence

  othello and desdemona explain love story - convinces duke but not brabantio

  iago plans to get revenge on othello 


  brabantio views desdemona as his property - describes her as a jewel

  othello and desdemon go against claim that their relationship is immoral - equal effection rather then lust - she pledges her "duty" to othello

  RACISM - brabantio believes their love is "against all laws of nature" - line 101

  othello is defined by his race - duke: othello is far more fair than black"