Act One analysis

• Characterisation in Act 1

  • Characters' natures are established
  • Othello's reception by Iago and Roderigo, their deeds and outlook on Othello
  • Serves to foreground the events of the play through its subtle indicators of duplicity and jealousy
  • Use of tragic dramatic irony
• Themes in Act 1

  • Witchcraft
  • Revenge
  • Patriarchy
  • Othello's race
• Othello is relied on by the Venetian State, the Duke relies on him. This facilitates the eventual prominence of Othello 's downfall as impactful to an entire society - his identity carrying this weight characterises Othello as a tragic hero as his actions are seen to hold significance over a community, compounding the tragedy of his downfall.
• Othello is the first to be addressed by name, perhaps showing respect and fear of what may happen without him- (tragic downfall)
• Act I opens with Othello being discussed in derogatory and racist terms, being dubbed the 'Moor' before he appears on stage
• When Othello appears


  His characterisation serves to illustrate Iago's duplicity
• Othello's self-constructed image


  • Represents himself as 'other'
  • Displays intelligence without humility
  • His status is maintained
  • Refers to racial stereotypes seeking social progression
  • Associates himself with Christianity
  • Contrasts with Iago's religious proclamations and prejudices against non-Christians
  • Fulfills his role of domination over women
• Brabantio's grief


  Overwhelming nature, amplifies Othello's approach and distances Othello from Christianity

  'floodgate and overwhelming nature' - hyperbole
• Brabantio accuses Othello of using witchcraft/sorcery
• Tone in which lago speaks to Roderigo after the death of Desdemona and Othello?
• Lago addresses Desdemona and Othello as

  'guinea-hen' (prostitute) and 'baboon'
• Lago's character is amplified upon their departure and he shows disrespect even to Cassio, malicious character even when addressing him
• Lago's malicious language animalises Othello, showing racial discrimination and a disregard for the intelligence Othello possesses
• Lago wishes Roderigo to remain alive in order to become a pain in his plan, feigning care for him
• Lago's progression from addressing Roderigo as 'noble heart' to 'silly gentleman' shows a loss of respect
• Roderigo uncritically follows lago's orders despite previous disappointment
• Lago recognises the necessity of Roderigo's role in exposing his plans, while not including it in his own
• Lago dismisses Roderigo's 'noble heart' and calls him 'silly gentleman', suggesting self-importance and disregard for religious views
• Lago: '"Our bodies are gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we with our plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness or manured with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills."'
• The garden metaphor is symbolic of free will and self-sabotage, showing Lago's awareness of wrong-doing and conscious choice to pursue immoral behaviours
• Lago's awareness of good and evil but choice to turn his back on it reflects the Elizabethan value of free will
• Lago's metaphor of the garden suggests he sees himself as in control of the other characters, manipulating them like plants
• Helen Gardner: '"He is monstrous because, faced with the manifold richness of experience, his only reaction is calculation, and the desire to manipulate... Ultimately, whatever its proximate motives, Iago is motiveless: that is the secret of its power and its horror, and why it can go unsuspected and why its revelation always shocks"'
• Shakespeare aligns Lago with the devil and opposes him with Christianity, signalling his innate evil to the religious Elizabethan audience
• Lago's use of religious proclamations and pagan gods demonstrates his duplicity and security in white society, while Othello's behaviour is scrutinised
• Lago exhibits his malice through the mask of rationality and religious allusion, demonstrating the depth of his immorality compared to Othello's
• "A black ram is tupping your white ewe" - Iago