Act 1 Scene 1

1. How does Shakespeare open this play?

Shakespeare opens the play in the middle of a conversation between Iago and
Roderigo. This is interesting as it is not a conventional method of opening a play and makes the
audience much more invested in seeing how the story plays out, who the characters are, and
how they deal with the situations brought up in the play.
2. What is your first impression of Iago? Give reasons for your answer.
My first impression of Iago is that he is a very hateful person, as he harbours so much hate for
Othello. He is also scheming and conniving as he manipulates Roderigo into doing what he
wants and taking no blame for it himself. For example, he convinces Roderigo to wake up
Brabantio and ducks out so as to not take the blame for it.
3. What do we learn about Othello and how?
We know that he is referred to as The Moor. We learn that he is black and that Roderigo and
Iago are quite racist towards him due to this. We also learn that Othello and Desdemona are
planning on eloping, and the very idea that Brabantios daughter could fall in love with a black
man is so inconceivable that they assume that Othello bewitched Desdemona to fall in love with
him.
4. How does Shakespeare use language to create a sense of all the characters?
Roderigo uses quite simple language compared to the other characters, which gives off the idea
that Roderigo is a bit of an idiot. Brabantio is very dramatic and jumps to conclusions easily, and
this is shown through his panicked and serious language. Iago is clever and even makes jokes
in the first scene, and through the combined use of language through these characters we
perceive Othello to be a ruffian. We also perceive Michael Cassio to be a less than great
commander.
5. How are the central concerns of the play addressed in this scene?
One of the central concerns of the play is deception. In this scene we see that Iago is deceiving
both Roderigo and Brabantio - Roderigo as he is lying to him to get what he wants, and
Brabantio as he slips out before Brabantio can see him. Another central concern of this play is
jealousy, and we begin to see Roderigo and Iagos jealousy - Roderigo is jealous as he loves
Desdemona and will do anything to make her love him, and Iago is jealous of Othello/Michael
Cassio as he slanders them and jealousy often manifests itself as hate.
Scene 2
6. What is your first impression of Othello?
We see that he is noble (he does not run away from Brabantio and his men even though he
knows theyre coming to fight him). We also see that he is well-spoken and loves Desdemona
so much hed put his honor and life on the line for her.
7. What is your first impression of Cassio?

While there are not that many lines that Cassio speaks in this scene we see that he has a lot of
respect for Othello, which is a fresh change as we have only seen hatred or racism displayed
towards Othello up until this point. Immediately, due to this, the audience is encouraged to
perceive Michael Cassio as a good guy.
Scene 3
8. What is the significance of this scene?
We learn Othellos story, we learn he is especially noble, we are introduced to Desdemona and
see Othello and Desdemonas love, we see Brabantio sort of accept them, we see Iagos reason
for hating Othello, and we are introduced to the reason why Othello has to go to Cyprus.
9. How does Shakespeare engage our respect for Othello? Give detailed examples of how he
uses language to do this.
We see that he is well-spoken and keeps a cool head even when Brabantio is calling for his. We
also see the care and thought that is put into each and every one of his words, and we are
introduced to his story to see how he got to be such a noble man.
10. Describe Othello and Desdemona together.
They are devoted to each other and we can see this in the text.
11. How is Desdemona presented?
She is sure of herself and also puts a lot of thought behind her words. She is honest and kind
and noble, and expects autonomy of her own body.
12. Comment on Iagos view of virtue.
Iago thinks that virtue (power) is useless as true power comes from the garden within ourselves.
What are the main oppositions in this act?
Roderigo, Brabantio, Iago. Hatred, jealousy, racism. War - Turks
What view of honesty comes across?
We can see that honesty is considered a valuable trait (Othello) and that is why so many people
trust Iago; because they perceive him to be honest. However this view brings on a lot of
dramatic irony as the audience knows he is not.
Select a key passage for detailed analysis (40 lines).
Othellos story of how Desdemona fell in love with him.