Act Summaries Flashcards
1
Q
What happens in 1.1
A
- Play begins in city state of Venice
- Iago is upset that Othello has not promoted him
- Roderigo there too. Roderigo wants Desdemona and Iago has promised to help him for money.
- So they tell Brabantio , the father of Desdemona that Othello (a black man) and her are together ‘making the beast with two backs’ ‘tupping your white ewe’ and tell him his nephews will ‘neigh’ (miscegenation)
2
Q
What happens in 1.2
A
- Othello is a successful general and has worked his way up the ranks of venetian society
- Iago pretends to have friendship with him
- Iago tells Othello what has happened but acts naïve
- Soldier tells Othello that Duke wants to meet him. This is because a Turkish fleet is headed towards Cyprus ( context of 1570 Turkish invasion of Cyprus).
3
Q
What happens in 1.3
A
- Duke enlists Othello’s help.
- Brabantio tells senators that Othello has ‘black magic’ to take Desdemona from him (link to context about ownership of women)
- Othello defends himself to senators (long speech about it)
- Desdemona wants to go with Othello and the army to Cyprus
- Emilia is Desdemona’s attendant
- Iago has a soliloquy where we learn of his plan
4
Q
What happens in 2.1
A
- Turkish fleet sinks because of a storm. No war…but there still will be conflict and death
- Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, and Cassio arrive before Othello. It is then when Iago sees that Desdemona and Cassio are close so builds on his plan.
- Iago plants the idea in Roderigo that Desdemona that Desdemona will get bored with Othello and leave him for Cassio. So tells him to fight Cassio so that Cassio will be demoted.
5
Q
What happens in 2.2
A
• Tells the news of a party due to the defeat of a party. Also congratulates Othello. Comic relief
6
Q
What happens in 2.3
A
- There is a party
- Othello and Desdemona go off
- Iago takes advantage of Cassio being susceptible to bad behaviour from drinking.
- Cassio stabs Montano
- Cassio fired Iago is hired
- Iago tells Cassio to enlist the help of Desdemona to convince Othello he is good
7
Q
What happens in 3.1
A
- Clowns and musicians
* Emilia tells Cassio where Desdemona is
8
Q
What happens in 3.2
A
Othello tells Iago to send ‘letters’ back to Venice, he is so oblivious of what is happening
9
Q
What happens in the beginning of 3.3 ( up to handkerchief being dropped)
A
- Desdemona and Cassio talk and she swears she will get him his job back
- Emilia is there too
- Cassio hears Othello coming up and runs off
- Desdemona asks Othello whether he will listen to Cassio’s case
- Iago begins planting seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind. Othello denies them at first ‘Away at once with love or jealousy’. But Iago tells him to ‘look to your wife, observe her well’ because ‘she did deceive her father to marry you’.
- Othello has a soliloquy where he talks about how good Iago is and how he can’t fully trust his wife
10
Q
What happens in Act 3.3 part 2
A
- Desdemona drops the handkerchief (oh no!)
- Emilia picks it up because Iago has been asking for it she does it because she wants to ‘please his fantasy’
- Emilia gives handkerchief to Iago even though he calls her a ‘thing’
- Iago tells of his plan to leave handkerchief with Cassio
- Othello now thinks Desdemona is cheating on him for real and says ‘farewell sound mind’ ‘farewell Othello’s occupation’ but he wants ‘ocular proof’
- Othello says that as long as there are ‘cords or knives, poison or fire or suffocating streams he will not stand for this’ he will either commit suicide or murder
- Iago tells Othello he saw Cassio with the handkerchief
- Othello is angry and says he could kill Cassio he wants ‘blood,blood,blood’
- Othello promotes Iago and calls his wife a ‘lewd mix’ and says to ‘damn her’
- Iago says ‘I’m yours forever’
11
Q
What happens in 3.4
A
- Desdemona is looking for Cassio and asks a clown where he is. We see a moment of comic relief here.
- Desdemona is freaking out about the handkerchief and asks Emilia where she thinks it is
- Desdemona thinks her husband is ‘free of jealousy’ because the ‘sun where he was born drew such humours from him’
- Othello questions Desdemona about the handkerchief he wants to know where it is.
- Othello storms off and Desdemona is sad that she lost it. Othello has become jealous and she is surprised.
- Emilia does her speech about men being stomachs and women being food. Feminist critics
- Iago asks Desdemona why she’s upset even though he quite obviously knows why.
- Bianca enters and she is angry at Cassio for not seeing her more. He shows her the handkerchief he found in his room
12
Q
What happens in 4.1
A
- Othello has a fit because Iago tells him that Cassio told him that he slept with Desdemona. (falls down in a trance) SD
- Cassio shows up. Othello wakes up. Iago tells Othello to hide. Cassio and Iago talk
- Othello hides nearby and listens to Iago and Cassio talk
- Iago tells Othello that he is going to get Cassio to talk about Desdemona when in actual fact he is getting her to talk about Bianca.
- Bianca shows up with handkerchief and asks who it belongs to.
- Othello is raging. He’s ready to kill Desdemona. Othello wants to poison her but Iago says that he should strangle her in the bed instead.
- Desdemona arrives with Lodovico
- Othello now slaps Desdemona in public
- Desdemona is told she will be leaving cyprus
13
Q
4.2-3
A
- Desdemona denies being unfaithful
- Othello calls Emilia a ‘bawd’ aka a female pimp
- Desdemona tells Emilia to lay out her wedding sheets for this night
- Iago carries on lying to everyone
- They have dinner with diplomats
- Iago tells Roderigo to kill Cassio
14
Q
5.1-2
A
- Iago and Roderigo show up at Bianca’s brothel to ambush Cassio as he comes out
- Othello returns to his room to kill Desdemona
- Cassio is stabbed by Roderigo
- Iago comes to Cassios aid but pretends he doesn’t know what is going on
- Bianca is told that it is the ‘fruits of (her) whoring’ that caused this
15
Q
5.3
A
- Othello smothers Desdemona
- Desdemona lies to emilia and says she killed herself and tha she wasn’t murdered
- Othello pulls out a sword at Emilia when she tells him about the handkerchief
- Iago kills Emilia
- Othello kills himself
- Graziano is heir to Othello’s role. Montano in charge of execution of Iago. Order restored (Aristotelian tragedy)
