Love

Question 1

Othello about Desdemona, the audience’s first insight into their relationship. Language associated with gluttony implies a negative aspect. ‘‘pity’’ = power dynamic which forebodes the tragedy that is to come

Answer 1

'’Devour up my discourse’’

'’The gentle Desdemona’’

'’She loved me for the dangers I had passed/ And I loved her that she did pity them.’’

'’She had eyes and chose me’’

Question 2

Iago to Roderigo, transactional view on love, implies that he believes love is something to be bought. ‘‘Money’’ is repeated 10 times, hammers it into Roderigo’s mind. Imperative verb ‘‘put’’ emphasises Iago’s superiority and control over Roderigo.

Answer 2

'’Put money in thy purse’’

Question 3

Hyperbolic, portrays Roderigo as a hopeless romantic, introducing the concept of death and love co-existing early on in the play. (Roderigo to Iago)

Answer 3

'’I will incontinently drown myself’’

Question 4

Othello states emphatically that he would not risk his freedom expect for the fact he loves Desdemona. This romantic declaration provides the audience with a useful insight to their relationship. At this point in the play, Desdemona and Othello seem like Romeo and Juliet - the perfect match - this is what makes their devastating fate so tragic.

Answer 4

'’I love the gentle Desdemona, I would not my unhoused free condition/ Put into circumscription and confine/ For the sea’s worth.’’

Question 5

Suggests either that Desdemona looked past his colour or that Othello’s stories and origins excited her.

Answer 5

Desdemona ‘‘saw Othello’s visage in his mind’’

Question 6

Othello to Iago during the ‘mock marriage’ . Homosocial and hints of homoerotic desire. Close bonds between men were very common in the military due to the extended periods of time in close contact they were required to spend together.

Answer 6

'’I am bound to thee forever’’

Question 7

Othello is ecstatic to see Desdemona after her relentlessly fretting about his return. When Othello exclaims: ‘‘If after every tempest come such calms’’, he is exercising the noun ‘tempest’ and its definition of a violent, hostile storm to reflect how chaotic his time on the ship was and how he is optimistic that everything will be calm now because Desdemona is now present. He couldn’t be more wrong.

Answer 7

'’If after every tempest come such calms, / May the winds blow till they have wakened death!’’