This document provides a bullet point summary of every scene within William Shakespeare's 'Othello.' It can be used to better understand the text and where key moments occur in order to construct essays.
- Starts in the middle of conversation.
- Roderigo accusing Iago of taking his money without fulfilling his promise of bringing
Roderigo Desdemona.
- Iago mocks Othello before he has had a chance to speak on stage.
- Iago says Cassio is not worthy of being Lieutenant (jealousy.)
- Iago speech about how he will go against Othello and that he is putting on a façade.
- Iago tells Roderigo to go wake D’s father and they wake Brabantio.
- Iago uses crude language to tell B his daughter has eloped with Othello.
- Brabantio calls Iago a villain and a wretch.
- B listens to Roderigo, realises D is missing, calls it a treason of blood.
- Brabantio commands everyone goes looking for the couple.
Act 1 Scene 2:
- Iago assures Othello of his honesty and warns Othello of Brabantio’s power.
- Othello assures justice will be found for him (hubris?)
- Cassio tells Othello he is called for; he did not know about the marriage.
- Brabantio delivers speech referring to Othello as bewitching his daughter.
- B wants Othello punished as a thief (Desdemona as an object.)
- The Duke arrives as he wants to speak to Othello.
Act 1 Scene 3:
- The duke and senators arrive discussing the war conflict against the Turks (they are
referencing the real Battle of Lepanto) when the Turks were defeated.
- Senator discussing how Turks are planning to deceive them pretending to retreat
(establishes theme of deception.)
- Brabantio, Othello etc join the Duke, Othello is named ‘valiant.’
- Brabantio explains how D has betrayed him, taking part in an unnatural marriage.
- Othello uses good language for a speech how he fairly ‘won’ D.
- Othello asks to send for Desdemona to defend them (unusual for women to have a
voice at this time.)
- Othello gives a speech about how he won D over with his exotic stories.
- Duke sees him as innocent (shows power of Othello language at this point.)
- Desdemona explains how her loyalty has shifted from father to Othello.
- Desdemona shown as an object for men to possess.
- Duke uses prose to discuss matters of the state.
- Desdemona insists upon coming to Cyprus with Othello.
- Othello ironically assures he won’t let his private life interfere with his public role.
- Othello trusts Iago and trusts him to look after D/ accompany her (epithet.)
- Duke says he’s ‘more fair than black.’, Brabantio says D will deceive O.
- Roderigo talks to Iago as a jilted lover. Iago tells him to man up.
, - Iago’s speech to be a man and put money in his purse. He discusses D’s appetite and
O’s fickleness.
- Roderigo is manipulated by this and ‘changed.’
- Iago has his first soliloquy to the audience, he questions if his wife slept with Othello,
improvises his plan to take down Othello, hellish imagery.
Act 2 Scene 1:
- Montano and gentlemen discuss the wild storm that took place.
- Revealed the Turks were drowned by the storm (war won.)
- Chaotic stage directions as chaos begins and characters separated.
- Cassio enters first, describing Desdemona in complimentary way.
- All except Othello join next (racial divide), Cassio greets both women flirtatiously.
- Iago makes misogynistic comments surrounding Emelia (being humourist, deceptive.)
- Desdemona stands up to Iago during flirtatious banter. Iago uses paradoxes to show
the pressure on expectations of women.
- Iago does an aside to explain he is going to use Cassio in his plan.
- Othello arrives and him and D have a loving reunion.
- He gets distracted by her (mixing public and domestic) and gives Iago orders.
- Iago speaks in prose to Roderigo about their plan to anger Cassio.
- Iago has another soliloquy (guiding narrative) about fearing Cassio of sleeping with
his wife, about jealousy as poisonous and about revenge (wife for wife.)
Act 2 Scene 2:
- Herald delivers a message from Othello that the Turkish fleet is defeated and
everybody should celebrate (dramatic irony as perfect for Iago’s plans.)
Act 2 Scene 3:
- Othello puts trust in Cassio to be night’s guard and uses “Honest Iago” epithet again.
- Iago manipulates Cassio into having a drink to celebrate (makes him feel guilty.)
- Iago speaks to himself how Cassio is now drunk enough, Iago in control.
- Cassio and others sing drunk together, Cassio discusses belief in good and evil (ironic
as doesn’t know Iago is evil, Cassio wants to be good.)
- Iago insinuates to Montano that Cassio is unreliable, Montano questions if Othello is
too trustworthy.
- Iago never openly insults, just subtle comments, lets people draw own conclusions.
- Interrupted Cassio going after Roderigo and fighting him.
- Othello interrupts, compares behaviour to Turks (prejudice), asks Iago what occurred.
- Iago fakes loyalty that he cannot say, strings imagery used.
- Othello irrational with anger, trusts Iago to tell him the truth.
- Iago uses flattery to mask him selling out Cassio in speech, pretends to protect him.
- Cassio no longer lieutenant.
- Cassio discusses with Iago about the loss of his reputation.
- Iago lies about his sadness over the event, tells Cassio to seek help from D.
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 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 liasgoodwin. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £6.46. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
