OTHELLO - the madness of love

Question 1

Inherent, patriarchal fear embedded within Venetian society
method: motif of the weakened male sense of hegemony
Act 1 scene 1

Answer 1

“This accident is unlike my dream// belief of it oppresses me already.”

Question 2

method: imagery of thievery and male possession

Act 1 scene 2

Answer 2

“O thou foul thief, where has thou stowed my daughter?”

Question 3

Othello’s unrefined diction is a manifestation of his loss of control
Act 3 scene 3

Answer 3

“Zounds!”

Question 4

method: the imperative exhibits his desperation and need for clarity
Act 3 scene 3

Answer 4

“By heaven, I’ll know thy thoughts!”

Question 5

Othello’s conflicted state of mind and inner turmoil
method: exclamatory language, hyperbolic
Act 3 scene 3

Answer 5

“O misery!”

“Why did I marry?”

Question 6

Othello’s sense of certainty in his words

Act 3 scene 3

Answer 6

“Not from mine own weak merits will I draw// the smallest fear or doubt of her revolt.”

“I’ll see before I doubt”

Question 7

crux of what Othello fears from Desdemona (she chose him)

Act 3 scene 3

Answer 7

“And yet how nature, erring from itself-“

Question 8

Othello’s concerns can only be alleviated by her complete submission

method: enjambment illustrates his fleeting sense of sanity as Desdemona’s agency proves to be undesirable to the male ego.

Act 3 scene 3

Answer 8

“She’s gone, I am abused and my relief//is to abuse her.”

Question 9

Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 9

“O curse of marriage// That we call these delicate creatures ours// and not their appetites!”

Question 10

Othello

method:

Answer 10

“Yet ‘tis the plague of great one…Tis destiny unshunnable like death”

Question 11

inflammation of Othello’s imagination - ignorant cuckold

method:

Answer 11

“I had been happy if the general camp//pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body.”

Question 12

Othello

method:

Answer 12

“Farewell the tranquil mind, farewell content!”

Question 13

Othello

method:

Answer 13

“Thou hadst better been born a dog// Then answer my waked wrath!”

Question 14

godlike control, stage manages chaos, manipulation of truth, links to “poison to pitch”

Answer 14

call up her father…poison his delight…plague him with flies

Question 15

brabrantio before and after

duality of deception of women

Answer 15

“my daughter is not for thee”

“who would be a father?…O treason of the blood! - fathers, from hence trust not your daughters’ minds by what they see them act”

Question 16

Othello overwhelmed by Iago’s lie

Method: Pagan ideas

Act 3 Scene 4

Answer 16

‘Here’s a young and sweating devil’