Summary
Summary Detailed notes on Act 1 of Shakespeare's Othello
- Course
- Institution
Detailed notes on Act 1 of Othello, including summaries of each act, key quotes, analysis of language and form and key contexts.
[Show more]
4 reviews
By: JamalOnfroy17484 • 8 months ago
By: jessygrobler • 6 months ago
By: nikitadhar12 • 1 year ago
By: buchanand • 1 year ago
Seller
Follow
abbiemccracken810
Reviews received
Content preview
OthelloOTHELLO ACT 1
SCENE 1
Summary:
Iago tells Roderigo he hates Othello and is angry that he has not been made lieutenant in
favour of Cassio. They inform Brabantio that his daughter, Desdemona has run off with
Othello; Brabantio is furious and orders his servants to search for Desdemona.
In the opening scene, the audience is introduced to the character’s Roderigo and
Iago in media res, which immediately establishes this sense of confusion as to
what the two are talking about. Such as the first lines spoken ‘Tush- never tell
me!’ appears to be an angry response to previous conversation which the
audience have missed.
This ambiguity is all the more added to by the use of pronouns ‘he’ and ‘his’ when
referring to Othello, so the audience don’t yet understand entirely what is going
on and whom it is related to.
Shakespeare does this in order to establish a sense of disorder which is initially
associated with Iago, the character who causes structural and literal chaos
throughout the play.
INTRODUCTION OF IAGO
Iago’s initial lengthy speech outlines some of the reasons that he has for disliking
Othello. The primary reason being that he was overlooked for promotion ‘three
great ones of the city, in personal suit to make me his lieutenant, Off-capped to
him.’ In favour of Cassio, whom Iago claims is ‘Mere prattle without practice’ with
little experience of war. He suggests that Othello made decisions based on ‘letter
and affection’, essentially meaning favouritism as opposed to ‘old graduation’.
Roderigo is portrayed as ineffectual and unable to make his own decisions;
Shakespeare’s construction and use of this character is mostly to act as a plot
device and to show the ease with which Iago is able to manipulate.
Iago presents himself as a man who is self-serving, and will act loyal to Othello by
concealing his hatred ‘I follow him to serve my turn upon him’. Indeed there is a
particular juxtaposition created between these verbs ‘serve’ and ‘turn’ which
juxtapose notions of loyalty and betrayal.
He states ‘I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daw to peck at. I am not what I
am’ , with this metaphorical description of himself as being so open that his heart
is virtually able to be ‘pecked at’ by birds. However this statement is paradoxical
in some sense as the line ‘I am not what I am’ suggests that he will do the exact
opposite; appear to be open in his emotions whilst concealing his true feelings.
Here Shakespeare foreshadows Iago’s actions later in the play.
As Roderigo and Iago attempt to rouse Brabantio from his bed, in order to inform
of his daughter’s betrayal, Roderigo attempts to shout ‘what, ho, Brabantio!
Thieves, thieves!’ however Iago seems to believe that this attempt at creating
chaos is insufficient. He hyperbolises the situation in order to create the ultimate
amount of chaos possible ‘Awake! What ho Brabantio! Thieves, thieves!’ with this
unnecessary addition of ‘thieves’ to generate a greater sense of panic than is
truly needed. Again, Shakespeare establishes this sense of disorder associated
with Iago.
, Othello
THEME: PREJUDICE AND RACISM
When he calls Cassio a ‘spinster ’Iago is questioning Cassio's manhood, while also
implying that just as real men know how to fight, real women know how to have
sex. A spinster is an old, unmarried woman who has no experience of sex, just as
the military theorist Cassio has no experience of battle. Iago often makes crude
links to manhood and womanhood in order to make points about weakness or a
lack of ability.
Shakespeare’s use of offensive or otherwise racist language in reference to
Othello, is used to emphasise Iago’s attempts at provoking Brabantio’s anger,
knowing that he is racist. He depicts this very animalistic and primal image of
Othello and Desdemona having sex ‘An old black ram is tupping your white yew’
creating this image which Brabantio cannot erase from his mind. This
metaphorical comparison to cattle takes away love in this situation, so it sounds
as though this relationship is purely based on sex ‘making the beast with two
backs’. This idea is reinforced later on as he describes Othello as a ‘barbary
horse’ supporting the contextual notion of black people, or people of darker skin
colours being considered less evolved and more primal in their actions.
At the time in which this play is set, in the 18th century, daughters of rich men
were viewed as a commodity to them, being that they would be married off to
someone rich who could provide money. This is why Brabantio asks ‘Are they
married, think you?’ as it is important to know whether he has lost the possibility
of retaining his daughter, yet equally if she were not married this would cause
social scandal which could affect his position within society.
Desdemona’s marriage to a black man would have seemed strange and shocking
to the very first audience’s watching the play, as very few people with black skin
inhabited England up until the slave trade in the years following, in which black
people were considered beneath or of a lower order.
THEME: CLASS
It is evident that Iago is of a lower class than Brabantio who is a man of high
position in Venice; his feeling of authority is evident in his speech, particularly
in his initial response to Roderigo ‘My daughter is not for thee’ in which his use
of the declarative sentence establishes a sense of as surety and authority over
these men.
Yet there is a breakdown in Brabantio’s language as he realises that what he
is being told is true. He breaks out into a series of declaratives, calling for his
people ‘Strike on the tinder ho! Give me a taper!’ With a prevalent use of
dashes to create sentences which appears to jolt and stumble in disbelief.
Equally he begins to speak more respectfully towards Roderigo despite his
previous attitude, relying on him by asking questions and shifting from the
impersonal use of ‘thee’ to addressing him directly by name ‘Have you not
read, Roderigo’.
KEY QUOTES
‘Mere prattle without practice’ (Iago)
‘More than a spinster- unless bookish theoric’(Iago)
‘Preferment goes by letter and affection, and not by old graduation (Iago)
‘I follow him to serve my turn upon him’ (Iago)
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller abbiemccracken810. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $8.65. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
74735 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now