Othello act 1 Flashcards
A S A N
“A street at night.” - stage directions (S1)
a. “Night”: ominous – sets tone for rest of play – darkness and malevolence afoot, cover of darkness = deception, illicit nature of Iago’s schemes – crowning theme in play
b. “Street”: blurred lines between public and private. Having a private conversation in the middle of the street – sets tone for conflicting themes throughout play.
I K M P
“I know my price.” - Iago (S1)
a. “Know”: absolute certainty – idea furthered through the short clause – feign this self-confidence.
b. “I” and “my”: could carry an indignant tone, and the sense of isolation could suggest Iago is alone in this opinion of the extent of his worth
c. “Price”: his value – use of monetary vernacular could be a reference to his greed and preoccupation with money in general – often crops up – uses very transactional vernacular to talk about everything from military prowess to sex and love.
L H O P A P
“Loving his own pride and purposes” - Iago about Othello (S1)
a. “Own”: implies Othello is self-serving and misanthropic.
b. “Pride”: a deadly sin, feeds into idea that Blackness was a mark of the devil and a symbol of impurity and corruption.
c. “Purposes”: very cold and callous – implies that he takes advantage of people and situations – uses them like tools with a “purpose” – everything is a means to an end and that end is to serve himself.
d. Dramatic Effect: Here Iago proves himself to be a master manipulator, before we even know he is one – SP gives audience a taste of what it is like to be fed Iago’s lies when we have no reason to not trust him – helps to ignite sympathy for Othello because the audience can then identify with the feeling if being toyed with – cementing Othello as a tragic hero, because anyone could have been manipulated in the way that he was. Also reveals how easily Iago can taint our perception of otherwise ‘good’ people, foreshadowing his manipulation of Othello.
I A N W I A
“I am not what I am” - Iago (S1)
a. Biblical allusion: Exodus 3:14 “I am who I am” – paints Iago as the antithesis to God – ironic bcs he repeatedly refers to Othello as a “devil” and yet he is the one who is unholy.
b. General vibes: HELLA duplicitous – speaks to audience and tells us he will serve as an agent of chaos.
c. Tone: very smug and defiant – as if he takes a sickening glee from manipulating others = complete lack of morality – makes us fear for Othello
d. Dramatic Effect: 1) he clearly states to Roderigo, in no uncertain terms that he is deceitful, duplicitous and not to be trusted and yet we see him trust him implicitly anyway. Establishes Roderigo as incredibly gullible and reveals the extent of Iago’s skill as a manipulator because he makes Roderigo trust him anyway. 2) SP sets up the dramatic irony for the rest of the play, torturing the audience by telling us of Iago’s malicious, deceitful nature, so, unlike Othello, we know exactly the extent of the danger he poses throughout the play and yet we are powerless to stop it as he ruins Othello’s life.
A O B R I T Y W E
“an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” - Iago (S1)
a. “An”: lack of specificity = it could be any Black man, they are all the same and all disgusting and vile – contrast with “your” makes him seem like an intruder – seems dangerous, as if he took advantage of her.
b. “Old”: makes him seem vile and unattractive, while also making him seem very predatory as he takes advantage of a younger woman.
c. “Black” and “White”: feeds into popular opinion that Blackness is a sign of darkness and the devil, blatant juxtaposition to “white” and its use as a symbol of innocence and purity – makes it seem as if Othello has corrupted her, while painting Desdemona as a victim as through her innocence, we can also assume her naivety and that Othello took advantage of it.
d. “Tupping”: disgustingly sexual imagery – doesn’t acc know what Desdemona and Othello are doing but immediately jumps to it all being incredibly graphic showing he has this weird preoccupation with sex – personal disgust. Stems from racist beliefs bcs he has no issue with Roderigo “tupping her” – sexual disgust stems from his racism. VERY graphic – SP uses this scene to explain to audience that such vulgar, reductive, disdainful vernacular is a sign of someone truly corrupt and malicious, meaning that once we hear Othello echoing Iago’s view of women, we know there is no hope of redemption.
e. “Your”: possessive – Desdemona is a commodity, and an object, also seen through Iago’s cry of “Thieves! Thieves!”
f. Animalistic Imagery: “ram” – makes him seem base, and vulgar, easily gives in to more primal desires to mate. Are often quite aggressive animals – Black men are a threat generally and Othello is a danger to Desdemona. “ewe” – image of a sheep is like livestock, something Brabantio would keep in a pen – dehumanises and infantilises her by implying she cannot make her own decisions. ALSO feeds into Jacobean view that sex corrupts otherwise angelic women to the point that they become akin to a beast – we see this belief cloud Othello’s judgement and taint his perception of her throughout the play. AND Iago often uses animalistic imagery to demean those who he knows are above him both personally and professionally to pander to his ego and make himself feel better.
M S W I H D T S / S O-T H C
“My services which I have done the signiory / Shall out-tongue his complaints” - Othello (S2)
a. General vibes: he is unworried that Brabantio has gone to the duke – knows his value – like Iago, except his self-confidence can be evidenced.
b. Sibilance: further his relaxed tone and his soft-spoken-ness? Maybe foreshadows that we cannot trust this (not bcs we can’t trust Othello but bcs we can’t trust his self-confidence and good reputation to last)
c. “Services” + “out-tongue”: personification in a way – obvs services cannot speak BUT shows that his reputation proceeds him, as the good he has done speaks for itself.
M P S
“My perfect soul” - Othello (S2)
a. General vibes: he knows that he is a good man who has done no wrong so knows he doesn’t need to be worried about what Brabantio will say – self-confidence that is, again, evidenced.
b. “Perfect”: 1) proleptic irony – foreshadows his downfall – not acc quite perfect – if he was, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to be manipulated 2) immediately proves that he couldn’t have bewitched Desdemona bcs his “soul” has not been corrupted by dark magic 3) emphasises Iago’s identity as an agent of chaos bcs he was able to corrupt someone so pure – HELLA GOOD MANIPULATOR 4) image of perfection conjures images of being untainted, and therefore being innocent, and therefore being naïve – suggesting that it was Othello’s “perfect soul”, that sees only the best in people, that was undoing. 5) Could allude to a sense of pride – it is his pride, intertwined with his jealousy that is his downfall as he could not believe that Desdemona would want to be with anyone but him – while here, it is not used to villainise him, it does establish the flaw of hubris that is intrinsic within every tragic hero, foreshadowing his downfall.
c. “Soul”: this “perfection” is something that is intrinsic within him, contradicting racial stereotypes of impurity, revealing that Black men are not more susceptible to sin bcs of some corruption in their very makeup, but are simply as much as a victim that anyone else.
H S A D S M
“Have sent a dozen sequent messengers” - Cassio (S2)
a. “Dozen”: willing to find him at any means necessary, using as many resources as necessary – reveals how importance he is – self-confidence is corroborated, unlike Iago’s – Othello will always be better than him.
b. “Sequent”: establishes sense of urgency that reiterates above point.
A H D Y W D O M
“Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals” - About Othello and Desdemona (S2)
a. “Abused”: feeds into racist stereotype that Black men are aggressive and violent – he doesn’t take care with anything, and certainly would not with Desdemona. In Jacobean culture, it was frowned upon for men to abuse their wives, and she was allowed to leave him if him did. QUOTES IAGO – he has him entirely convinced – speech permeating his vernacular – Iago can manipulate even the most powerful in society – makes us fear for Othello.
b. “Delicate”: she is easily breakable, and therefore needs to be protected – makes her seem like she’s been ruined.
c. “Youth”: makes Othello seem predatory.
d. “Drugs or minerals”: likely a reference to natural medicines and practices that were much more common in Africa than in Britain – demonises things that are not at all malevolent in nature. Like he ‘used his African magic to bewitch and take advantage of her’. ALSO, use of “or” and something as unspecific as “minerals” shows that he’s fumbling – acc has no idea what he’s on about – hating just to hate bcs he’s racist.
V O
“Valiant Othello” - the Duke (S3)
a. “Valiant” he is brave and courageous and is known for that – again, contradicts Iago.
b. Dramatic Effect THE FIRST TIME HE’S NAMED, and it is the duke of all people who finally grants him that honour and respect – SP showing that we all should afford him that same respect bcs if someone in such a high status finds it pertinent to do so, then who are we to go against that.
L B W T S P O P
“little blessed with the soft phrase of peace” - Othello (S3)
a. Sibilance: he’s very soft spoken – despite saying all he knows is war, he is a gentle soul – tragic hero is, in his heart, a good man.
b. “soft phrase of peace”: the phrasing makes ‘peace’ sound like a foreign concept – love and civility is not something that comes naturally to him – 1) emphasises how amazing their love is, heightening the tragedy 2) implies that he has always had the capacity to be violent and bcs violence is, in a way, his natural state, it was only a matter of time before that caught up with him
c. “Little blessed”: false modesty – acc speaks incredibly eloquently 1) he’s very humble, contrasting racial stereotypes and unpicking what Iago has told us about him so far – DON’T TRUST IAGO 2) false modesty can be a way of seeking compliments – pride (at this point harmless, is key in his undoing)
S F T L
“Send for the lady” - About Desdemona (S3)
- He gives her a voice in a room full of men – VERY rare in Jacobean era – very progressive husband – when we see him hit her later, we know that this Othello ceases to exist and there is now no hope of return.
S L M F T D I H P A I L H T S D P T
“She loved me for the dangers I had passed, / And I loved her that she did pity them.” - Othello (S3)
a. General vibes: he told her stories, and she fell for him through that – it is a very plausible, romantic way of falling in love – no sorcery, no sex, just two people bonding “soul to soul” – the audience would find it peak romance and entirely endearing – makes us care about them – heightens tragedy. “Dangers”: implies his life just generally – looked past his appearance to the events that made him the man he is
b. “Pity”: unlike her father, and likely many that Othello has told his stories to, she didn’t think of them as something grand and exciting, like a storybook hero, she recognised the man in those stories, saw all the trauma he endured, and pitied him for it – this set her apart for Othello because she did not take enjoyment/entertainment in the suffering of another person.
c. Cynical bitch (modern reading): seems like a very superficial way to fall in love – naïve in a way that he thinks they could live a life together based on that – no doubt they both believe themselves to be in love, but is there a possibility that she fell for an image, and he fell for the first person to show him sympathy
d. Slightly less cynical bitch (modern reading): naivety in the way he says they fell in love emphasises the innocence of it bcs he was “little blessed with the soft phrase of peace” (all he knows is war) and she “shunned the wealthy curléd darlings of our nation” showing they both had very little experience with love so ofc they thought they could fall in love this way – makes it like ‘young love’ and more endearing
L Y P E
“lend your prosperous ear” - Desdemona to the duke (S3)
- speaks directly to a man of high status and asks to be heard out in a room full of men. VERY rare for a Jacobean woman – she is very confident and headstrong – a contemporary audience would be aghast; a modern audience would likely have much respect for her character.
A M O P
“A moth of peace” - Desdemona (S3)
a. General vibes: doesn’t want to be left alone, away from the war and away from Othello
b. Dramatic Effect: proleptic irony – wanting to be involved in her husband’s public life is her downfall – if she’d stayed in Venice, none of this would have happened.
c. “Moth”: delicate – implies that a war is no place for her – tragedy was inevitable. Attracted to the light, often to their own detriment – so in love with Othello that she could bear to part from him – led to her death.
I T H E T S / S H D H F A M T
“if thou hast eyes to see / She has deceived her father and may thee,” - Brabantio (S3)
a. Rhyme: makes it very melodic – that + the change from unrhymed to rhymed helps it stick in the audience’s head – mimic’s how it begins to plague Othello while also being hella haunting and foreboding
b. Dramatic effect: the last thing Brabantio says in the play (bcs we eventually find out he’s died) – he then becomes a looming symbol of Desdemona’s capacity for deception, constantly in the back of the audience’s mind. FIRST SEED OF DOUBT IN OTHELLO’S MIND
c. Iago’s plan: references this later – uses it to manipulate Othello bcs it allows him a second opinion, makes Othello more inclined to believe him.
O U L […] T Y C L
“Our unbitted lusts […] that you call love” - Iago to Roderigo (S3)
a. General vibes: Iago has a very cynical view of love – he is more preoccupied with sex and the power it gives him rather than the connection himself (done my office, housewives in your beds, etc.) – shows he is bereft of connection = bitter and jealous – never felt love (at least certainly not for Emilia) so becomes preoccupied with lust.
b. “Our” vs “you”: with “our”, Iago acknowledges that he is no stranger to lustful desires (we see it in his desire to sleep with Desy) however, with “you” he removes himself from the masses of people who ‘mistake’ it for lust – not only do we see his complete lack of romanticism, but also his pride and inflated ego as he feels he is above those ‘foolish’ enough to do so.
c. “Unbitted”: meaning uncontrollable – almost him excusing his actions maybe?
d. Audience reception: this could make an audience feel sorry for Iago, not in a way that we side with him, more just pity him bcs his cynical way of looking at life and his determination to vulgarise something as pretty and pure as love mean he could never, has never and will never experience it – he’s js a lonely, emotionally stunted, pathetic little man.
I I T […] T H H D M O […] Y I […] W D A I F S
“it is thought […] He’s done my office […] Yet I […] Will do as if for surety.” - Iago (S3)
a. “thought”: rumour or suggestion
b. “done my office”: “my” = a sense of possession and ownership – affronted that Othello has taken his place “office” = giving business – very transactional view of his relationship with Emilia (his literal wife) = no love again – also sense that not only has Othello overtaken his job in the public sphere but also in his private sphere as well. Also in Jacobean society, this would have been taken as him being unable to control his wife = muy incómodo
c. “Will do as if for surety”: despite being well aware that this might js be a rumour, he will act rashly anyway as a means of protecting his masculinity bcs sure it’s been threatened, but at least he’s doing something about it – HWVR, he’s designed this so that no one acc knows its him, so really he’s doing this for himself alluding to some kind of self-hatred or inferiority complex
I O A F A O N
“is of a free and open nature” - Iago (S3)
“free and open”: makes Othello seem very naïve and almost childlike – overall it’s a very endearing image 1) establishes Othello’s fatal flaw – he is too trusting and Iago exploits this, bringing about his undoing. 2) contrasts racial stereotypes of him being corrupt and what not bcs the allusion to childhood then carries further connotations of innocence - SP is a bae
