Act 1, Scene 3 - Key Themes Flashcards
What does this scene reveal the dichotomy of?
Public and private matters
Who do Cyprus become imminently threatened by?
Turkish fleets
What does Brabantio do to Desdemona?
Disown her
What does Iago reveal in his soliloquy?
Dark machinations
How is Desdemona presented by other men? What is she sincere in?
Promiscuous and carnal
Her love for Othello
How is Iago seen by the characters? How do the audience see him?
“Honest and noble”
Truly wicked
What key theme is explored in this scene? Who was this a central tenet for?
Appearance vs reality
Shakespeare’s plays
What were Elizabethan audiences fascinated by? What would many citizens do?
Gaps in private and public personas
Portray a public persona dissimilar to them
What does the use of a soliloquy and an aside reveal? What does this allow the audience to reflect critically on?
Private personas
Their own identities and use of personas
What does Brabantio metaphorically use to describe his grief? What does this highlight?
“flood-gate”
Paternal love for Desdemona
How does Brabantio’s metaphor turn patriarchal? How is Desdemona seen by him?
He claims Desdemona was “stol’n” from him
Property
What does Brabantio not accept about Desdemona’s role in her marriage? How is she described?
How she loves Othello
“A maiden never bold”
Why does Brabantio speak for Desdemona? What does this accentuate?
Because Othello is something “she fear’d to look on”
Women’s opinions were the responsibility of men
How does Othello speak of his love? How is he stull implicitly misogynistic?
Sincerely
He “won” her from Brabantio
What culture influenced Shakespeare’s work? What does Othello and Desdemona’s marriage allude to?
Medieval
Typical Medieval romance
