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)
