Othello
Overview:
• Othello is a mainstream Shakespearian tragedy that is politically controversial (challenging 17th
century European cultural norms|) of what it means to be noble and moral.
• It is a tragedy of love and revenge, showing what happens when soldiers are hotly prepared for
war but have no war to occupy them.
• Othello is also a domestic tragedy — exploring the tragedy of marriage. The egalitarian marriage
between Othello and Desdemona challenges ideas about class, race and the conformity of
women.
Plot summary:
Act 1:
• Scene 1: Lots of prose, vulgar and exclamatory language.
• Scene 2: First appearance of Othello, who speaks in blank verse, implying status, formality and
authority — megalopsychia.
• Scene 3: Othello’s backstory speech evokes pathos.
Act 2:
• Scene 1: A change of setting to Cyprus, new atmosphere.
• Scene 2: A very small scene, planting seeds for Othello’s downfall.
• Scene 3: Iago’s machinations begin as he orchestrates a ght between Cassio and Roderigo,
Othello stops the ght and asserts dominance — peak Othello — “are we turned Turks?”
Act 3:
• Scene 1: Emilia assists Cassio in waging Desdemona to reattain his job, Desdemona agrees to
help him “to the last article,” Cassio wants to redeem his “reputation.”
• Scene 2: A very small scene at the Citadel, small and claustrophobic setting.
• Scene 3: Turning point — Othello’s transformation and descent into ‘savage madness’ as he is
convinced that he had been cuckolded. Pivotal moment as Iago plants the seed of jealousy —
peripeteia.
• Scene 4: Othello reverts to type, language shifts to prose and he becomes obsessed with the
Handkerchief and obtaining “ocular proof” of Desdemona’s in delity.
Act 4:
• Scene 1: Othello descends into ‘savage madness’ and has an epileptic t. He demands for
“ocular proof” and “strikes” Desdemona — catharsis.
• Scene 2: Othello accuses Desdemona of being unfaithful, his language is sexual and aggressive
which is a stark contrast to the beginning of the play — he states: “Heaven truly knows that
thou art as false as hell.”
• Scene 3: Desdemona sings the signi cant ‘Willow Song’ which evokes sympathy from the
audience, Emilia and Desdemona both lament men. The symbol of the Sycamore Tree
(signifying forsaken love) and the Willow Tree (foreboding death) makes the scene extremely
dramatic. Emilia is evidently proto-feminist within this scene.
Act 5:
• Scene 1: There is a dramatic opening to the scene whereby there is a duel between Roderigo
and Cassio. Othello thinks that Iago has already killed Cassio as he has promised (due to
believing that Cassio and Desdemona were having an a air) — Iago in turn kills Roderigo who’s
dying words are: “O damned Iago! O inhuman dog!” And Othello resolves to murder
Desdemona: “strumpet, I come!”
• Scene 2: This scene begins with Othello’s soliloquy, he prepares for Desdemona’s death and
acts as though murdering her is an honourable and necessary deed. After her death, Othello
tries to defend his legacy before killing himself. Emilia is laid at Desdemona’s side, Cassio rules
in Cyprus and Iago is silenced — debatable agagnorisis.
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, A01 — ideas for creating an informed, coherent and expressive response
• Iago: “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” — reinforces Othello’s age and suggests
that he is only with Desdemona because of sexual lust. The use of juxtaposition depicts the
harsh contrast between Othello and Desdemona, whereby the former is presented as brutish
and savage but the latter is conveyed to be innocent and pure.
• Iago: “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” — at the beginning of the play it is revealed that
Othello granted the position of Lieutenancy to Cassio, ‘the great arithmetician.’ In a quest for
vengeance, Iago wants to take advantage of Othello’s virtues and turn them against him.
• Othello: “lead to the sagittarg the raised search” — this is an allusion to Sagittarius who is half
man, half horse (a centaur) which depicts Othello’s divided nature. The reference to the star
constellation also suggests that the love between Othello and Desdemona is destined to be.
• Brabantio: “O treason of the blood!” — the relationship between Othello and Desdemona is
unconventional to social norms, both in Venetian society and to the audience. Interracial
marriages were frowned upon by Elizabethan society.
• Brabantio: “thou hast enchanted her” — suggests that Othello has used witchcraft and
supernatural powers to woo Desdemona. This links to later on in the play when Othello
mentions that the Handkerchief he gifted Desdemona has ‘magic in the web of it.’
• Othello: “my parts, my title and my perfect soul” — this group of three emphasises Othello’s
hubris.
• Iago: “O beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it
feeds on” — this metaphor illustrates jealousy as destructive. ‘Doth mock the meat it feeds on’
suggests that if Othello gives into jealousy, it will destroy him. Prophetically, this is precisely
what happens.
• Emilia: “let husbands know their wives have sense like them” — Emilia is a proto-feminist who
actively challenges the status quo throughout the play in contrast to Desdemona who does so
passively.
• Iago: “divinity of hell” — the oxymoron suggests that Iago sees the divine work in the devil.
• Iago: “pour this pestilence into thine ear” — foreshadows the a ect that Iago’s machinations
and lies will have on Othello. Pestilence connotes to poison and illness, which is prophetic of
Othello’s t that occurs in act 4.
• Iago: “out of her [Desdemona’s] own goodness I shall make the net that shall enmesh them all’
— by turning Desdemona’s ‘virtue into pitch,’ Iago suggests that her kindness and willingness
to assist Cassio in retrieving his title as Lieutenant will be misconstructed and ultimately frame
her for in delity.
• Iago: “your daughter and the Moor are making the beast with two backs” — compares
interracial relationships to that of incest.
• Othello: “give me the ocular proof” — is ironic as Othello demands ‘proof’ of Desdemona’s
in delity through the handkerchief but he only actually sees what Iago wants him to see.
• Othello: “she loved me for the dangers I had passed and I loved her that she did pity them" —
implies that the love between Othello and Desdemona was built upon empathy.
• Othello: “threw a pearl away richer than all his tribe” — Othello describes Desdemona as a
‘pearl’ at the end of the play when the truth of her innocence is revealed. This is signi cant as
pearls are connoted with being valuable and rare but by the time Othello realises this it is too
late and Desdemona has been murdered.
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