Othello Flashcards
What story was the plot of Othello heavily influenced by?
Hecatommithi by Giambattisa Cinzio Giraldi
What major change did Shakespeare make from the source material?
Othello recognises his wrongs and commits suicide to atone for them, while in the original ‘the moor’ refuses to confess.
What locations are there in the play?
Venice and Cyprus
How is the setting of Venice significant?
During the Elizabethan era Italy was viewed as a place of intrigue and villainy as well as sophistication. Othello is set up as an outsider to this world, while Iago typifies it.
How is the move to Cyprus in act ii scene i significant?
Cyprus is a frontier, until recently a war zone. Othello has been sent there to keep the peace, however achieves the opposite.
How is the isolation of Cyprus significant?
As an isolated island, the events which occur on Cyprus have little effect on the outside world, a contrast to Shakespeare’s other plays such as Hamlet or Macbeth
E.A.J. Honigmann claims:
that Othello is ‘the most unbearably exciting’ of Shakespeare’s tragedies
Caryl Phillips on Othello’s love for Desdemona
it is ‘the love of a possession. She is a prize, a spoil of war’
What happens in act i sc i
Iago and Roderigo discuss their hatred for Othello, tell Brabantio of Othello’s marriage and set out to find them.
How is the imminent merging of public and private lives foreshadowed in the first scene?
Roderigo’s discussion of his failure to marry Desdemona is coupled with Iago’s anger at being passed over for promotion.
What three quotes from act i scene i show Iago’s deceitful nature?
Iago’s admission that he admires men who make ‘shows of service to their lords’, his later line ‘I am not what I am’ and his assertion that he only follows Othello ‘to serve my turn upon him’
What are two examples of dramatic irony from scene i?
Roderigo’s inability to recognise that the man boasting to him about being manipulative and self serving may just be using him, and Brabantio’s ‘Thou art a villain!’
What effect does dramatic irony have?
Shakespeares association of dramatic irony with Iago presents him as a figure able to cause and control chaos to an almost supernatural level
How is the role of women presented in the act i scene i? give two quotes as an example.
Desdemona is referred to almost as a possession: Iago’s ‘look to your house, your daughter and your bags! / theives!’ and Brabantio’s assertion that she is ‘in the gross clasps of a lascivious moor’ remove any agency she has
How is the theme of jealousy set up within the first scene?
Iago is jealous of Cassio, Roderigo and Brabantio are jealous of Othello
Give three ways that Othello is referred to negatively in the scene
‘old black ram tupping your white ewe’, ‘thicklips’, ‘lascivious moor’
What does Shakespeare’s use of language relating to evil show?
Use of the imagery of spells reflects belief in ideas of witchcraft, and the idea that Othello is the source of it follows follows the association of foreign people with the devil.
Give two examples of metaphors Iago uses in act i scene i and explain why these are significant:
He wishes to ‘poison his [Brabantio’s] delight’ and ‘Plague him with flies’, creating the association of Iago with death and corruption.
What happens in act i scene ii?
Othello meets Iago and is confronted by Brabantio and his men, who he calms and then invites to come to talk with the Duke.
What does Brabantio’s suggestion that the world has been ‘turned upside down’ suggest?
In Jacobean drama, subversion of natural order foreshadows oncoming tragedy
What is the audience’s first impression of Othello?
Othello comes across as calm and collected, speaking in measured blank verse and contrasting previous accounts of him
How is Othello’s ‘I love the gentle Desdemona’ significant?
It is the first sincere talk of love in the play, and also represents a pun; gentle can mean kind or of noble birth, emphasising the difference between him and her,
What happens in act i scene iii
Othello meets with the duke, answers to Brabantio’s accusations and makes a speech to defend himself. Desdemona then makes a similar speech, and their marriage is allowed to take place.
What could Desdemona’s assertion that she ‘saw Othello’s visage in his mind’ show?
That rather than loving him for who he is, he loves an image of him, which may turn out to be false.
What, according to Caryl Phillips, does Othello’s speech in this scene show about his wooing and his personality?
his lack of confidence and insecurity (‘was my hint to speak’ etc)
