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Summary A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO SCENE ESSAY - [Act I Scene II]
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A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO SCENE ESSAY - [Act I Scene II] Received A* 24/25
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Specimen Othello – William Shakespeare Readthe extract below and then answer the
question. [Act I Scene II]
Specimen
Othello – William Shakespeare Read the extract below and then answer the question. Explore
the significance of this extract in relation to the tragedy of the play as a whole. Remember to
include in your answer relevant analysis of Shakespeareʼs dramatic methods. [25 marks]
Iagoʼs duplicity and place as the tragic villain already being revealed.
Characters blindness.
Othello talking about love with a sense of the end suggesting love is his hamartia.
Othelloʼs place as being high standing – tragic hero.
The extract comes from Act I Scene II immediately after Iago and Roderigo inform Brabantio of
Othelloʼs marriage to Desdemona. The scene begins with an immediate sense of the end as
Iago duplicitous nature is revealed with his derogatory and foul language used in the previous
scene being contrasted with the respectable way he speaks to Othello in the scene. The scene
is pivotal therefore as it marks a character already fooled by Iagoʼs deceptions and explores the
tragic themes of the tragic villain, the tragic heroes possible hamartiaʼs and love in Othello.
As the scene begins and Iagoʼs dialogue becomes unrecognisable shifting from inflammatory
vulgar terms such as “your daughter and the Moor are making the beast with two backs”, to the
softer prose of “yet do I hold it very stuff o‘thʼ conscience”. Iagoʼs position as the plays tragic
villain becomes clear. His previous attempts to destroy Othelloʼs marriage as he informs
Brabantio are now juxtaposed with his ‘attemptsʼ to do good stating that Brabantio not he spoke
in “scurvy and provoking terms Against your honour”. He attempts to emotionally register with
Othello so that he is viewed as a friend helping his out by warning him. Through this
Shakespeare introduces a reoccurring pattern which continues throughout the play inducing
large amounts of dramatic irony. It is the characters always knowing less than the audience.
From the previous scene we have viewed Iagoʼs cunning manipulative villainy yet now see how
unaware the characters around him are. Although Iago is not the tragic hero of the play, he
receives more dialogue and more of an emotional connection with the audience than Othello, as
we become “complicit in Iagoʼs intention(s)”, Sean McEvoy. This scene therefore marks the
beginning of this demonstrating Iagoʼs place as the Machiavellian Malcontent tragic villain, an
‘scrupulous schemerʼ willing to lie, plot, and deceive to meet his ends, and further the
audiences involvement in this villainy which is contrasted with the characters lack of knowledge.
This introduces a theme which foreshadows the ending of the tragedy – the characters
blindness parallel to the audiences knowledge. In Ancient Greek epic tragedies, the hamartia of
‘myopiaʼ, the inability to see the truth was a common one. In Sophocles Oedipus Rex, Oedipusʼs
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