Act 1 Scene 3

Question 1

Scene 3 Summary

Answer 1

• Othello is informed he must fight at Cyprus
• Brabantio reveals the marriage and Othello is asked to explain himself
• Desdemona is called to support or deny his claims
• Desdemona seeks permission to be allowed to go with Othello to the war considering they are married
• Iago assures Roderigo that he will still be able to marry Desdemona despite Roderigo’s suicidal intentions
• Iago lays out his plan in its entirety

Question 2

‘The valiant Moor’

Answer 2

1st Senator - Juxtaposition of a respectful term and a derogatory one

Question 3

‘Valiant Othello we must straight employ you’

Answer 3

Duke - No need for consideration of who to send because Othello’s reputation precedes him

Question 4

‘My particular grief is of so flood gate and overbearing nature’

Answer 4

Brabantio - Seeks attention for his matter in a rather selfish manner considering there is evident imminent war

Question 5

‘My daughter!’/’Dead?’/’Ay to me’

Answer 5

Brabantio/Senators - Overdramatic and almost comedic because in the face of war this is not a priority (Authorial method; fast paced and dramatic due to interruptions)

Question 6

‘What in your own part can you say to this?’

Answer 6

Duke - Respectful and diplomatic as he considers both sides

Question 7

‘Rude am I in my speech and little blessed with soft phrase of peace’

Answer 7

Othello - Ironic; he opposes both of these things in his following speech, indicator of his insecurity about his self worth as a person despite this not coming through as a general

Question 8

‘I won his daughter’

Answer 8

Othello - He believes he is worthy of her love but an alternate explanation suggests an argument of objectification

Question 9

‘Against all rules of nature’

Answer 9

Brabantio - Whilst speaking for his daughter and being overbearing he holds his claim that this opposes natural order (Consider Great Chain of Being)

Question 10

‘Send for the lady and let her speak of me before her father’

Answer 10

Othello - Picture of love; overwhelming trust in her

Question 11

‘Let your sentence even fall upon my life’

Answer 11

Othello - Willing to die to prove his love for Desdemona and hers for him

Question 12

‘Her father loved me, oft invited me, still questioned me the story of my life’

Answer 12

Othello - Shows that it is a personal motivation; Othello was mere entertainment to him before

Question 13

‘This to hear would Desdemona seriously incline and with a greedy ear devour up my discourse’

Answer 13

Othello - Demonstrative of the fact that their love is pure and based on love and mutual care/respect

Question 14

‘She gave me for my pains a world of sighs’

Answer 14

Othello - Speaks of Desdemona in an extremely poetic manner

Question 15

‘She wished that heaven had made her such a man’

Answer 15

Othello - Hints at a God ordained relationship between them’

Question 16

‘She loved me for the dangers I had passed and I loved her that she did pity them’

Answer 16

Othello - Evidence of the love between the,

Question 17

‘My noble father, to you I am bound for life and education but here’s my husband’

Answer 17

Desdemona - Defiance of societal and familial norms before the whole state proving her love is pure and genuine

Question 18

‘Takes, makes, thief, grief’/’Beguile, smile, bears, hears, sorrow, borrow’

Answer 18

Duke/Brabantio - The Duke concludes there is nothing unnatural about the marriage and restores order with rhyming couplets, Brabantio picks up on them to convince himself that everything is okay 9contrasts later when he dies of heartbreak)

Question 19

‘I crave fit disposition for my wife’

Answer 19

Othello - His priority is taking care of Desdemona

Question 20

‘That I did love the Moor to live with him, the rites for which I love him are bereft me, and I a heavy interim shall support by his dear absence, let me go with him’

Answer 20

Desdemona - Appears besotted with him; overdramatic love to contrast their later downfall

Question 21

‘She has deceived her father and may thee’

Answer 21

Brabantio - Foreshadowing but also just proves his bitterness

Question 22

‘My life upon her faith’

Answer 22

Othello - Foreshadowing and dramatic irony

Question 23

‘I have but an hour of love, of worldly matters and direction to spend with thee’

Answer 23

Othello - Plans on consummation but also the more pure suggestion that he could die in this war and wishes to spend his last moments of safety alone with her

Question 24

‘I will incontinently drown myself’

Answer 24

Roderigo - Reinforces the role of the fool

Question 25

'Drown thyself? Drown cats and blind puppies'

Answer 25

Iago - He attempts to console Roderigo just to get him off his back; everything he does is a façade

Question 26

'I say, put money in thy purse'

Answer 26

Iago - Authorial Method; repetition, Iago can continue to exploit Roderigo as a villain and Roderigo will accept it as a lovesick fool

Question 27

'These Moors are changeable in their wills'

Answer 27

Iago - Racist remark that he is able to play on as Othello begins to fit it as he becomes mad

Question 28

'I hate the Moor'

Answer 28

Iago - Can be honest with Roderigo as they have a mutual affinity now

Question 29

'Thus do I ever make my fool my purse'

Answer 29

Iago - Authorial Method; Soliloquy to set out his plan

Question 30

'It is thought abroad that twixt my sheets he has done mine office. I know not if it be true but I, for mere suspicion, will do as if for surety'

Answer 30

Iago - Irony as he doesn't care for his wife. Jealous that Othello chose Emilia over him? He lies to himself and others so also lies to the audence

Question 31

'The Moor is of a free and open nature that thinks men honest'

Answer 31

Iago - Very emotionally intelligent character

Question 32

'Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light'

Answer 32

Iago - Hellish imagery to describe Othello once more, the angrier he gets the darker his metaphors become; emotionally intelligent but lets his anger dictate his actions