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Othello Flashcards

1
Q

Act 1

A
  • Introduction of characters: Othello, Desdemona, Iago, Cassio, and others.
  • Iago begins to plot against Othello, planting seeds of doubt about Desdemona’s fidelity.
  • Othello and Desdemona’s love is established.
  • Othello is sent to Cyprus to defend against the Turkish invasion.
  • Iago’s manipulation of Roderigo is revealed.
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2
Q

Act 2

A
  • Arrival in Cyprus.
  • Othello’s reunion with Desdemona.
  • Iago continues to manipulate characters, especially Othello and Cassio.
  • Cassio is stripped of his rank due to a drunken brawl.
  • Iago begins to implement his plan to make Othello believe that Desdemona is unfaithful.
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3
Q

Act 3

A
  • Iago continues to manipulate Othello, planting further doubts about Desdemona’s loyalty.
  • Othello becomes increasingly jealous.
    Iago arranges for Othello to overhear a conversation between Cassio and Iago, further fueling Othello’s suspicions. Othello’s seizure is induced.
  • Othello’s jealousy intensifies, leading to his decision to kill Desdemona.
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4
Q

Act 4

A
  • Othello confronts Desdemona about her alleged infidelity.
  • Desdemona pleads her innocence, but Othello remains unconvinced.
  • Iago fabricates evidence to further incriminate Desdemona and Cassio.
  • Othello becomes consumed by jealousy and rage, deciding to murder Desdemona.
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5
Q

Act 5

A
  • Desdemona prepares for bed, unaware of Othello’s intentions.
  • Othello smothers Desdemona in her sleep.
  • Emilia discovers the truth about Iago’s manipulation and reveals it to Othello.
  • Othello kills himself out of remorse.
  • Iago’s treachery is exposed, and he is arrested.
    The play ends with the revelation of Iago’s motives and the tragic consequences of his actions.
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6
Q

Iago - i follow

A

I follow him to serve my turn upon him
p.5

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7
Q

Iago - I am

A

I am not what I am
demonstrates his duplicity and cunningness, hinting at manipulation

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8
Q

Iago - an old black

A

an old black ram is tapping your white ewe

father ownership over daughter and Iago racism

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9
Q

Iago - your daughter and

A

your daughter and the moor are now making the beast with two backs
use of animalistic imagery - racism and hatred

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10
Q

Brabantio - O heaven

A

“O heaven! How got she out? O treason of the blood, Fathers from hence trust not your daughter’s minds By what you see them act. Is there not charms by which the property of youth and maidhood may be abused”

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11
Q

Roderigo - I would not

A

“I would not follow him then”
shows his idealisation of Iago and gullibility

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12
Q

Brabantio and Iago Tho art a

A

B: Thou art a villain I: You are a senator
(Iago’s quick response, he’s manipulative, doesn’t deny that he’s a villain)

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13
Q

Iago - I will wear

A

I will wear by heart upon my sleeve

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14
Q

Emily Context

A

Elizabethan attitudes to “otherness” - seen in Iago’s racist language. Strong cultural stereotypes of outsidership OR savage villains prevailed.
VENICE V CYPRUS: Venice = order and reason, a major trading hub, politically stable (The Venetian Republic), whereas Cyprus is an ISOLATED Venetian military outpost under threat. Cyprus = liminal space between Christian Venice and the Ottomans, it is a vulnerable space under constant threat from the Ottoman empire.
Role of women - Desdemona is a noblewoman and is expected to be obedient and chaste.
Iago is established as a Machiavellian villain (The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli advised leaders to manipulate others for his own gain.)

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15
Q

Brabantio - aye to me

A

Senator: “dead?”
Brabantio: “Ay to me, she is abused, stol’n from me, and corrupted By spells and medicines bought of montebanks”

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16
Q

Othello - She gave me

A

She gave me for my pains a world of sighs

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16
Q

Othello - if i had a freind

A

“If I had a friend that loved her, I should but teach him how to tell my story … This is the only witchcraft I have used”

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17
Q

Desdemona- to you

A

To you I am bound for life and education

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18
Q

Desdemona - storm of

A

“storm of fortunes may trumpet to the world… I saw Othello’s visage in his mind… a moth of peace” close connection to Othello

19
Q

Duke - your son in

A

your son in law is far more fair than black

20
Q

Iago- put money

A

put money in thy purse. These moors are unchangeable in their wills- fill thy purse with money

21
Q

Iago - I hate

A

I hate the moor. My cause is hearted …. let us be conjunctive in our revenge against him…. go provide thy money

22
Q

Iago - thus do make my

A

thus do make my fool my purse

23
Q

Iago - solilogouy

A

I hate the moor.

24
Emily Key Quotes
Brabantio’s grief ‘engluts’ and ‘swallows’ (metaphor/hyperbole for his GRIEF!) Brabantio: ‘She is abused, stol’n from me, and corrupted’ by ‘spells…medicines…witchcraft’ Semantic field of magic Othello ‘I won his daughter’ Othello’s monologue about his life story: ‘with a greedy ear / Devour up my discourse’ Personification.. ‘She wished that heaven had made her such a man’ Parallelism ‘She loved me for the dangers I had passed / and I loved her that she did pity them’ Desdemona ‘I saw Othello’s visage in his mind’ Iago (to Roderigo) ‘go make money’ (Imperative and repetition of money) Iago in his soliloquy ‘abuse Othello’s ear’
25
More Emily Context
Xenophobia - 1601 Q Elizabeth I issued a proclamation calling for “blackamoors” to be expelled from England Brabantio sees Desdemona’s marriage as theft - women seen as fathers’ possessions.
26
othello - O, my fair
O my fair warrior
27
AO5 - engllish travelling theatre
open scene, no props blank costumes Emilia picks up handkerchief to play as a game with husband - not implicit in plan at all
28
Act 3 scene 3 - handkerchief
kneeling - proxemics Othello - "arise black vengeance from thy hollow cell" Othello - "honesty is a fool" Iago - "the moor already changes with my poison" - motif of poison - his lies and stories Iago - " a good wench" Othello - " O curse of marriage, that we can call these delicate creatures ours" Iago - "beware my lord of jealousy, It is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on" Desdemona - "Why then, tomorrow night, or Tuesday morn, on Tuesday noon or night; or Wednesday morn" Othello - "and when I love thee not, Chaos is come again" Iago - "Look to your wife, observe her well with Cassio" Othello - "I would rather be a toad and live upon the vapour of a dungeon" -- reputation in Elizabethan times Iago speaks in imperatives Othello - "her name that was as fresh as Dian's Visage, is now begrimed and black as mine own face" Othello "Yield up ….. to tyrannous hate"
29
Act 3 Scene 3 context
Tragic structure - Othello’s hamartia revealed Aristotelian tragedy has tragic heroes choose a wrong path. Religious corruption - biblical imagery - kneeling imagery
30
Act 4 Scene 1 quotes
Othello has a seizure Iago - "Work on my medicine work!" Othello - "A horned man's a monster and a beast" -- horned man(a man thought to have an unfaithful wife would grow horns) Iago - "It is a creature that dotes on Cassio, as tis the strumpets plague" Bianca - "What did you mean by that same handkerchief ... find it in your chamber ... this is some minx's token" Othello - "How should I murder him Iago" Othello - "Ay, let her rot and perish and be damned tonight ... she might lie by an emperor's side and command him tasks" Othello - " She would sing savageness out of a bear" Othello - "woman's tears, each drop she falls would prove a crocodile" Desdemona - "I will not stay to offend you" Lodovico - "Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain" right before seizure Othello's words turn into single words - shows the affect Iago's "poison" has had. Iago's poison and medicine - knows what he doing his bad but sometimes frames it as good. Juxtaposes
31
Emily Act 4 Scene 1 quotes
Othello - ‘Confess? Handkerchief O devil!’ [He falls into a trance] ‘Lie with her? Lie on her?...’ Iago - ‘Work on / My medicine, work!’ ‘I marry her? What! A customer!’ Cassio Subversion of roles - ‘Let the devil and his dam haunt you!’ Bianca ‘This is some minx’s token’ ‘How shall I murder him, Iago?’ [He strikes her]
32
Emily Act 4 Scene 1 context
Madness - Four Humours - Elizabethan belief that extreme emotions lead to physical illness Fragmented and incoherent language mirrors King Lear’s descent into madness Public shaming of Desdemona - Renaissance focus on women’s reputation would make this even more of a shameful moment
33
Willow Tree song
Hamlet - ophelia dies by a willow tree an interpretation could be that Desdemona know what is about to happen to her song is about a man who goes mad and kills his wife in bed song is a ballad - often about tragic heroins of women who are killed/ exploited by men.
34
Othello - Threw a pearl
"threw a pearl away, Richer than all his tribe"
35
Othello - "demand that demi-devil"..,
"demand that demi devil, Why he hath ensnared my soul and body"
36
Iago stab stage directions
Iago stabs Emilia from behind and exits
37
Emilia - O lay me
O lay me by my mistress' side
38
Emilia - speaking out/ going against norms and husband wishes
"I will speak as liberal as the North .... All, all cry shame against me, yet ill speak" "I will not" "he begged of me to steal it" "disprove this villain" "I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak" "O villainy" x5 "I will ne'er go home"
39
Iago - O villainous
O villainous whore
40
Emilia - Nay, lay thee down
"Nay lay thee down and roar, For thou hast killed the sweetest innocent"
41
Othello - put out thy li..
put out the light ... put out thy light
42
Desdemona "kill me tom..
"kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight"
43
Othello stage directions
he smothers her
44
Emilia "O the more angel"
O the more angell she, and you the blacker devil
45
Iago speaks to Emilia in imperatives
"I charge you get home" "get you home" emilia defies both and refuses him
46

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