Summary of Acts & Scenes Flashcards
what takes place in ACT 1 SCENE 1?
The play opens on a street in Venice. Roderigo, who’s been courting Desdemona, is talking to Iago, who’s been taking his money and promising to help him win her over. Iago has just informed him that Othello, his commanding officer, has just eloped with Desdemona. Roderigo is outraged, and Iago confides in him that he hates the Moor for promoting Michael Cassio to lieutenant ahead of him. We find out that it’s late at night and they’re in front of Desdemona’s house. Iago reassures Roderigo that they will work together to get back at Othello. Together they shout at Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, using sexually suggestive, racist language to warn him that his daughter has run away. Brabantio comes to the window and is outraged at such wild accusations, until he checks and finds her gone. Iago leaves before his identity is revealed so that he can stay in Othello’s good graces. Brabantio raises a search party and Roderigo goes along.
What takes place in ACT 1 SCENE 2?
Iago demonstrates his loyalty by warning Othello that an angry Brabantio is searching for him. However, Cassio arrives with a message from the Duke: Othello is urgently needed due to Turkish aggression in the Mediterranean. When Brabantio arrives to confront Othello, accusing him of bewitching his daughter and stealing her away, Othello stands up to him confidently. Brabantio then follows Othello and the others to the Duke’s court, certain his status as a prominent Venetian citizen will uphold his authority.
what takes place in ACT 1 SCENE 3?
The Duke of Venice and his senators meet to determine where the Turkish navy is most likely to attack. When Othello and Brabantio arrive, Brabantio accuses Othello of charming, or even drugging, his daughter into marrying him. Othello responds with an account of how Brabantio invited him to his house, where Desdemona fell in love with him because of his stories of war and adventure. He suggests they summon Desdemona for her side of the story, and when she arrives she supports Othello’s version of events. Brabantio warns Othello that, “She has deceived her father, and may thee.” The Duke orders Othello to Cyprus to fend off the invasion. Desdemona insists on going with him. Roderigo, upset at how things have turned out, is reassured by Iago, who urges him to go to Cyprus too.
what takes place in ACT 2 SCENE 1?
The play’s setting moves from Venice to Cyprus, where Cassio has arrived first. A storm has caused delay and there’s concern for the safety of Othello and the others. Next to land is Desdemona, who has sailed with Iago and his wife, Emilia. While they wait for Othello, they banter about women’s desire, which gives us a clearer idea of Iago’s underlying hostility toward women, whose nature he believes to be fundamentally deceptive. When Iago notices that Cassio and Desdemona are friendly, and that they look like a “natural” couple, he hatches his plan to use jealousy to enact his revenge. Then Othello arrives, greets Desdemona, and announces that the Turkish fleet has been destroyed by the storm.
what takes place in ACT 2 SCENE 2?
In this short scene, Othello sends a herald to announce that there will be a celebration to mark the destruction of the Turkish fleet as well as Othello’s recent marriage. As the herald declares: “It is Othello’s pleasure, our noble and valiant general, that, upon certain tidings now arrived, importing the mere perdition of the Turkish fleet, every man put himself into triumph … For, besides these beneficial news, it is the celebration of his nuptial.”
what takes place in ACT 2 SCENE 3?
The celebration gets under way. Iago encourages Cassio to drink, hoping to take advantage of his inability to handle liquor. Though Cassio knows better, Iago persuades him, making him a ripe target. Iago sets Roderigo up to quarrel with him and a brawl breaks out. Cassio beats Roderigo; and Montano, who tries to intervene, is wounded. The fracas interrupts Othello’s private time with Desdemona and he arrives angry, swiftly demoting Cassio and casting him from his service.
After Othello returns to his lodging, Cassio complains of his carelessness to Iago. Iago, feigning friendship, reassures him that he can help. He suggests Cassio appeal to Desdemona to intercede with her husband. Thus begins Iago’s larger strategy to make it appear that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Cassio, unsuspecting, and having no alternative, readily agrees to appeal to Desdemona.
After Cassio exits, Iago offers a soliloquy in which he suggests that he’s only giving advice and that it’s Cassio’s responsibility to see what kind of trouble it might bring him. The scene ends with Roderigo, disappointed again, beaten, almost out of money, and determined to return to Venice. Iago reassures him his plan has just begun and that he should stay.
what takes place in ACT 3 SCENE 1?
Cassio has hired a group of musicians to play outside Othello and Desdemona’s room, presumably in order to cheer up his former superior. Othello, angry at being woken up, sends a clownish servant to pay them to stop. Once the musicians have departed, Cassio pays the servant to take a message to Emilia, Iago’s wife, who is also Desdemona’s waiting woman. Iago enters and wonders whether Cassio has made any progress in getting Desdemona’s help. When he learns Cassio needs to speak to Emilia, he goes to get her, also promising to lure Othello away so Cassio can ask for Desdemona’s help.
what takes place in ACT 3 SCENE 2?
At the citadel in Cyprus, Othello, Iago, and some gentlemen stroll together. Othello gives Iago some letters to deliver for him to a ship bound for Venice. Othello then embarks on a tour of the fortifications.
what takes place in ACT 3 SCENE 3?
At scene’s opening, Desdemona is assuring Cassio she’ll help him get his rank back. When Cassio sees Othello and Iago approaching, he leaves in a hurry. In response, Iago makes one of his signature remarks: “Ha! I like not that” When Othello asks, “What dost thou say?” Iago responds, “Nothing, my lord. Or if, I know not what.” By encouraging Othello to think he knows something he’s keeping hidden, he opens a space in which doubt, then jealousy, can grow. This is emphasized in Iago’s next reply, to Othello’s “Was not that Cassio parted from my wife?” He says, “Cassio, my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it, that he would steal away so guilty-like seeing your coming.”
When Othello asks Desdemona what she’s been doing, she tells him she’s been talking to a suitor, which could mean “a man who has a romantic interest,” but in this case means “someone who needs something from her.” Desdemona then asks Othello when he’ll consider listening to Cassio’s suit. Othello says not now.
When she exits, Iago piles on the inferences. That, for example, “She did deceive her father, marrying you, and when she seemed to shake and fear your looks she loved them most.” When Desdemona re-enters the scene, to inform him that his dinner guests await, he tells her he has a headache, she offers her handkerchief, he rejects it and it falls to the ground.
Emilia picks it up, then Iago demands it. It’s the perfect object to plant in Cassio’s quarters. Othello’s increasing jealousy is exacerbated by Iago’s claim that he’s heard Cassio talk in his sleep about having sex with Desdemona. He claims he’s seen Cassio with the handkerchief. Othello swears he’ll kill Desdemona. Iago promises to kill Cassio.
what takes place in ACT 3 SCENE 4?
Desdemona is determined to advance Cassio’s suit, only to be confronted about her handkerchief. When she tells him she doesn’t have it, Othello offers a lengthy explanation of its origins: it was a gift from an Egyptian charmer to his mother, who used it to “subdue” his father. Losing it, Othello emphasizes, would break the spell of love. “There’s magic in the web of it,” he adds.
After Othello exits, Cassio arrives to plead further with Desdemona. She tells him that she’s trying, but that her husband is out of sorts. They speculate about what’s going on with Othello, wondering about the cause of his sudden jealousy. At scene’s end we learn that Cassio has found the handkerchief in his chamber as he asks his lover, Bianca, to copy the stitching on it.
what takes place in ACT 4 SCENE 1?
This scene begins with a crucial exchange between Iago and Othello. Pivoting on the word “so,” Iago again opens a space in which Othello might fill his mind with images of Desdemona’s affair with Cassio.
And now, things get graphic. “To kiss in private?” Iago suggests, faking innocence. Then, “Or, to be naked with her friend in bed an hour or more, not meaning any harm?” Iago offers explicit displays of sexuality, only to disavow them. The effects are swift and devastating: Othello “falls down in a trance” as the stage directions say.
After Othello recovers, Iago instructs him to hide and observe as Iago and Cassio have a conversation. Iago talks about Bianca with Cassio, and makes Cassio laugh, while Othello watches but cannot hear what they’re saying. Othello believes Cassio is talking about Desdemona and becomes enraged. Then Bianca enters with the handkerchief Cassio told her to copy. To Othello, this seems like certain proof Desdemona has been unfaithful to him. Lodovico arrives from Venice, bringing messages from the Duke of Venice. These contain orders for Othello to return to Venice, leaving Cassio in charge in Cyprus. Desdemona is glad to hear of Cassio’s good fortune, but Othello interprets her reaction all wrong. He yells and strikes her. Lodovico is shocked at Othello’s uncharacteristic behavior. Iago pretends to be shocked as well. However, he reiterates his loyalty to Othello, about whom he will not speak badly.
what takes place in ACT 4 SCENE 2?
Othello, nearly insane with jealousy, aggressively questions Emilia about Desdemona and Cassio’s relationship. Emilia vehemently denies any wrongdoing, but Othello doesn’t believe her. He speaks cruelly to Desdemona, and accuses her of being a “strumpet,” although he also says he loves her. She is confused and sad, so she asks Emilia to fetch Iago, who plays the friend and tries to cheer her up.
After Desdemona and Emilia leave, Roderigo arrives and angrily confronts Iago. He complains once again that he has given Iago money, yet Iago has failed to get Desdemona for him. Iago, as he has done before, calms him down and presents a solution to the problem. He tells him that Othello and Desdemona will leave Cyprus shortly, and Cassio will be in charge. He suggests Roderigo kill Cassio.
what takes place in ACT 4 SCENE 3?
Othello tells Desdemona to go to bed and to send Emilia and her other servants away for the night. As Emilia helps get her ready for bed, Desdemona remembers a song her mother’s servant used to sing: “a song of Willow,” about a woman whose lover left her. Emilia tries to comfort Desdemona, saying men are often jealous and treat their wives unfairly. Desdemona is shocked that wives might be unfaithful.
“Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?” Desdemona asks. “The world’s a huge thing. It is a great price for a small vice,” she replies. In Emilia’s long speech that follows, she blames husbands for their wives’ infidelity.
what takes place in ACT 5 SCENE 1?
Meanwhile, in a Cyprus street, Iago gives Roderigo a weapon and tells him to wait for Cassio, then kill him. Iago waits nearby, hidden, as Roderigo attempts this, and fails. Instead, Roderigo is wounded by Cassio. Iago darts into the midst of this action, wounds Cassio, and exits. Othello hears Cassio’s cry and believes Iago has carried out Cassio’s murder; Othello dashes off to complete his part of the plan. Graziano and Lodovico enter, looking for the source of all the commotion. Iago then enters, pretending he’s just arrived for the first time. He fakes concern for Cassio, then deals Roderigo a mortal wound, as if in retaliation for the attack on Cassio. Bianca arrives and is worried about Cassio’s wound. Iago tries to blame her for the attack on Cassio. Lodovico, Graziano, and others help bear Cassio away to have his wound treated.
what takes place in ACT 5 SCENE 2?
In the play’s final scene, Othello enters his bedchamber with a candle and finds Desdemona asleep in their bed. He won’t shed her blood, he whispers, but he must kill her or else “she’ll betray more men.” He kisses her, she wakes up, and he encourages her to confess her sins. He tells her he’s going to kill her and brings up the handkerchief. She pleads with him, saying, “I never did/Offend you in my life; never loved Cassio/But with such general warranty of heaven/As I might love: I never gave him token.” He refuses to believe her and smothers her.
He closes the curtains around the bed and lets Emilia in, who discovers Desdemona nearly dead. Desdemona professes her love for Othello and tries to take the blame for her death; after proclaiming her guilt, she dies.
When Othello tells Emilia he killed Desdemona because of an affair with Cassio, Emilia, who knows this is a lie, realizes her husband is the culprit. She cries out “murder!” Iago, Montano, and Graziano come running, and when they arrive, Emilia accuses her husband. Othello, finally realizing the truth, tries to attack Iago, but is disarmed by Montano. In the confusion, Iago stabs Emilia, dealing her a fatal wound. He flees but is caught. Othello again attacks and wounds him.
When pressed, Iago refuses to explain why he did the evil things he did. Othello admits his fault, and asks them all to think of him as “one that loved not wisely, but too well.” Then he stabs himself, falls upon the bed, and dies kissing Desdemona: “I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this,/Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.” Lodovico brings the blame squarely down on Iago. He tells Montano to make sure Iago is tortured, and declares that he will bring the sad news to Venice.
