act 1 scene 1 Flashcards
roderigo:
‘iago, who hast my purse as if the strings where thine’
stolen money - accused of dishonesty
continued imagery throughout - heart strings - of roderigo to desdemona and her love - rationale why he allows this to happen
accepts manipulation- satan’s manipulation of god’s word to deceive eve.
unrestricted access to his money and is in control
purses carry something valuable is inherent in this play – everyone that comes into contact with iago is, to some extent, a ‘purse’.
iago:
‘i know my price, i am worth no worse a place’
believes he deserves it - pompous attitude of upper class
hierarchy of the very important men, who should have had more power of persuasion over othello.
alliteration of the ‘w’ sound gives the line a more mellow tone, and the effect it makes is to put us in a sort of a dazed state. iago uses this when he talks about himself which suggests his infatuation with himself
jealousy rooted in hatred
racist - black people seen as inferior
iago:
‘a great arithmetician, one michael cassio, a florentine’
duplicitous
from florence
studied war from books, rather than actual battle. iago is mocking him
machiavelli was considered the archetypal florentine. by calling cassio a florentine, iago is comparing him to machiavelli, who was considered manipulative and devilish.
demonstrates iago’s awareness of outsiders and foreigners, ironic due to the spanish heritage of his own name. jacobean audiences would’ve been aware of the venetian practice of employing mercenary officers, and might have identified iago as a spaniard, particularly as his name recalls spain’s patron saint,
identifies Iago as a foreigner when, as the end, he has him return to his country
effeminate
iago:
‘i am not what i am’
declarative tone
not as he appears
constantly referred to as ‘honest iago’ by the characters he deceives,
only the audience are ever allowed to hear his true thoughts, in his soliloquies
like a false god, iago views himself as the puppeteer and the other characters as puppets
biblical quote, in which moses asks god his name and god offers an enigmatic response. by transforming god’s words into a negative formulation, iago indicates his identity as a diabolical figure.
roderigo:
‘thick lips’
racist stereotypes
black people were still looked down upon in society
implies that othello is an animal/ inhuman
iago:
‘your heart is burst; you have lost half your soul’
hyperbole
manipulating brabantio into how to feel
implies something has become too much, possibly illuding to desdemona did not want her fathers love anymore
lost the force in his life
foreshadowing
iago:
‘an old black ram is tupping with your white ewe’
symbolism of age and colour difference
animalising othello
rams symbolise penetration and achievement
ewes symbolise gentleness, purity and innocence/ innocent sacrifice
illustrates a corruption of a pure, chaste and innocent desdemona
ewe makes a pun on word ‘you’ that iago uses to victimise brabantio as a victim of social and natural disorder.
iago:
‘your daughter and the moor are making the beast with two backs’
euphemism for sex
‘beast’ - sex was taboo?
animalistic metaphor
othello is hypersexualised
