act one Flashcards
Exposition
Exposition – where the plot is set in motion
Rising action
Rising action – where the plot is developed.
Usually proportioned across plays, but in Othello the rising action dominates the play
Falling action
Falling action – where the plot is unravelled.
Dénouement
Dénouement – where the plot is solved and concluded.
Comes very quickly in tragedy, often culminating in the final scene of the play
Comedic structure: movement from an Old World to New World
Comedy structure – most comedies begin in an Old World, which is ordered and restrictive, a change in the Old World then occurs and characters rage against it
Movement into a Green World where everything is upside-down
Resolution means movement back into the New World
Ironically, whereas in comedy marriage solves problems of the play, in Othello…
Ironically, whereas in comedy marriage solves problems of the play, in Othello it is a marriage which initiates many
Brabantio’s accusation of Othello using ‘charms’ a03
people had limited worldly knowledge and thus attached myths to certain people, in particular those who were any kind of ‘other’ e.g people assumed those from pagan lands engaged in impious activities like witchcraft
Importance of Act 1.1
introduces fundamental aspects of Othello, including opening with an introduction to conflict and strife and familiarising the audience with the order of Venetian society contrasted with Iago’s chaotic deviance
Iago’s psychological manipulation is apparent from the beginning of the play
How does act 1.1 open? What other Shakespeare plays also open like this?
Opens ‘in medias res’ – Hamlet and Tempest
Act 1.2 - importance of Iago playing ‘By Janus’
Iago swears ‘By Janus’ – an allusion to the Roman god who was represented by a doubled-faced head, symbolising duality implies Iago’s duplicitous, devious nature
Key events act 1.3 (3)
Opens with Duke and Venetian senators discussing the news of the Turkish threat before the marriage is debated in court
Profess their love for each other, Iago and Roderigo cement their plans further
How does Act 1.3 introduce the contrast of Public vs Military conflict? What does the Senator mention?
- Opens with Duke and Venetian senators discussing the news of the Turkish threat before the marriage is debated in court
- parallel begins – Senator makes a references to Turks’ attempted trickery to convince Venice they had set sail for Rhodes instead of Cypus (‘false gaze’) links to the fraudulence of Iago against Othello, reasserting the link between private and public conflict
How does Act 1.3 end?
The Duke and Brabantio’s rhyming couplets seems to suggest a swift conclusion to this particular conflict
What is the importance of Brabantio’s statement? (3)
- continuation of Brabantio’s behaviour being a display of patriarchal aggression
- Marriage is doomed – foreshadows the future violence and tempestuous nature of their marriage
- Brabantio’s prophetic warning of promiscuity – establishes foundations for Othello’s tortured jealousy later in the play
Iago uses___ when talking to Roderigo. What happens next?
Iago uses imperatives when talking to Roderigo – Iago lefty alone and begins to soliloquise, low course nature of love (may reflect own insecurities)
Dichotomies
Dichotomies – reveals the dichotomy between public, military matters of the Venetian state and private, personal relationships between characters – conflict defines both
Act 1.3: ___ is immediately threatened by the arrival of the ___ fleet. Brabantio disowns his daughter and ____ propels the plot forward. Revealing the brewing off ____ _____.
Cyprus imminently threatened by arrival of Turkish fleet – Brabantio disowns daughter and Iago propels plot forward, revealing the brewing of dark machinations
Where is dramatic irony seen in Act 1.3?
Dramatic irony in Iago’s archaic villainy seen in his soliloquy – wants to destroy Othello for ‘spot and profit’
Where is irony seen in Act 1.3?
- Irony – Desdemona is views as promiscuous, Iago is honest -> APP VS REALITY, Elizabethan audiences fascinated by gaps between private and public persons
- Dramatic irony in Iago’s archaic villainy – wants to destroy Othello for ‘spot and profit’
Importance of Othello stating he ‘won’ Desdemona from Brabantio
Othello speaks sincerely about his love yet is still implicitly misogynistic as he too ‘won’ her from Brabantio – alluded to chivalric romance
- gender relations
