Othello Act 1

Front 1

“A great arithmetician, one Michael Cassio, a Florentine, a fellow almost damned in a fair wife that never set a squadron in the field”

Back 1

Iago makes it evident from the start that Cassio did not deserve this job, he is no soldier.

Hint 1

Act 1 Scene 1 line 18-20

Front 2

“His Moorship’s ancient!”

Back 2

A bitter and racist title coined by Iago showing his lack of respect.

Hint 2

Act 1 Scene 1 line 32

Front 3

“I follow him to serve my turn upon him”

Back 3

Iago’s duplicity is evident from the very beginning.

Hint 3

Act 1 Scene 1 line 41

Front 4

“Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago”

Back 4

Riddle like. If the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t be an ensign-Iago has a jealous nature which is possibly why he is so skilled at manipulating it.

Hint 4

Act 1 Scene 1 line 56

Front 5

“But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at: I am not what I am”

Back 5

Servants wore their master’s insignia on their sleeve so Iago is implying that although he outwardly looks like he is serving Othello, on the inside he is plotting against him. It is an allusion to Exodus 3:14 God says “I am what I am” but Iago is a false God, a puppeteer.

Hint 5

Act 1 Scene 1 lines 63-64

Front 6

“Awake, what ho, Brabantio! thieves, thieves, thieves! Look to your house, your daughter and your bags!”

Back 6

Creates the impression that Othello is a criminal and Desdemona is a possession. Marriage was for economic benefit, therefore Othello had no right to elope with Desdemona as he did not have her father’s permission.

Hint 6

Act 1 Scene 1 lines 78-79

Front 7

“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”

Back 7

Highlights both the difference in race and age. The animalistic imagery makes the relationship seem bestial as Othello the “ram” is corrupting Desdemona the “ewe”. A ram has connotations of rulership and leadership (Othello’s power as a general and a man) and the ewe is a symbol of innocence.

Hint 7

Act 1 Scene 1lines 87-88

Front 8

“You’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse”

Back 8

“A Barbary horse” is a North African horse-animalistic racial slur. He is morally tainting Desdemona. In Elizabethan society, race is a symbol of Elizabethan morality. White people were seen as honourable, innocence and purity. Black people were seen as wicked, guilty and corrupt.

Hint 8

Act 1 Scene 1 line 110

Front 9

“Your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs”

Back 9

Iago drives the point home making their love seem completely unnatural. It links with the racial stereotype that black people were devilish and white people were angels, as seen in Church iconography.

Hint 9

Act 1 Scene 1 lines 113-115

Front 10

“Your daughter, if you have not given her leave, I say again hath made gross revolt, tying her duty, beauty, wit and fortunes in an extravagant and wheeling stranger of here and everywhere”

Back 10

Desdemona’s duty as a daughter and a woman comes before anything and in marrying Othello she has went against that. Now she is bound for life to a man deemed as an outsider and all that she is as a woman belongs to him now.

Hint 10

Act 1 Scene 1 lines 131-135

Front 11

“O heaven, how got she out? O treason of the blood!”

Back 11

Brabantio’s speech is naturalistic as he reacts emotionally to the situation. This is seen in numerous rhetorical questions and exclamations. He is outraged that his own blood would betray him in such a way and can’t believe that could be the case.

Hint 11

Act 1 Scene 1 line 167

Front 12

“Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters’ minds by what you see them act”

Back 12

This generalisation of woman highlights the distrust between the genders seen throughout the play.

Hint 12

Act 1 Scene 1 lines 168-169

Front 13

“Tis better as it is”

Back 13

Othello has no grand first line. The audience would already have negative preconceptions of Othello because of the image Iago created and they would’ve bought into this idea of him being a predatory criminal because of the stereotypes in their society. Perhaps an audience would expect more from a man who supposedly used witchcraft on a young innocent woman to seduce her.

Hint 13

Act 1 Scene 2 line 6

Front 14

“My services, which I have done the signiory shall out-tongue his complaints”

Back 14

Othello is confident in his position as general. We see this dichotomy of Othello being both an insider a man and general yet an outsider as a black man multiple times throughout the play, even in his death.

Hint 14

Act 1 Scene 2 lines 18-19

Front 15

“For know, Iago, but that I love the gentle Desdemona I would not my unhoused free condition put into circumscription and confine for the sea’s worth”

Back 15

He is the only one to refer to Desdemona by name so far. It’s a raw and vulnerable line in which we see how much he truly loves Desdemona because he gave up his freedom for her.

Hint 15

Act 1 Scene 2 lines 25-28

Front 16

“Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them”

Back 16

The biblical allusion surrounding this line would have resonated with a contemporary audience. Othello displays his peaceful and respectful nature while also being poetic and eloquent, things we see erode as the play goes on.

Hint 16

Act 1 Scene 2 line 59

Front 17

“O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow’d my daughter?”

Back 17

Here the phonology is fricative (“f”) highlighting Brabantio’s disgust. Desdemona is portrayed as an object in this conflict between men while Othello is portrayed as a kidnapper.

Hint 17

Act 1 Scene 2 line 62

Front 18

“Thou hast enchanted her”

“Chains of magic”

“Thou hast practised on her with foul charms, abused her delicate youth with drugs and minerals”

Back 18

Brabantio’s accusation of witchcraft would’ve been taken very seriously in Elizabethan/Jacobean society as it was something many believed in. The image of Desdemona is extremely innocent and vulnerable in comparison to the monstrous image of Othello.

Hint 18

Act 1 Scene 2 lines 63, 65, 73-74

Front 19

“She shunned the wealthy curled darlings of our nation”

Back 19

“Our nation” makes it obvious that Brabantio views Othello as an outsider and there is evidently as class difference too.

Hint 19

Act 1 Scene 2 line 68

Front 20

“Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom of such a thing as thou, to fear, not to delight”

Back 20

This line is filled with assonance and harsh alliteration showing how repulsed Brabantio is at the idea of his daughter running off with Othello. “Sooty bosom” almost makes Othello seem dirty and like he is rubbing off on Desdemona.

Hint 20

Act 1 Scene 2 lines 70-71

Front 21

“Most potent, grave and reverend signiors”

Back 21

Power of three is used in Othello’s case before the Senate. Othello humbles himself before these men yet remains poetic and eloquent, contrasting the stereotypes a contemporary audience would have believed. This is important to the play as a whole because we see Othello’s speech deteriorate from poetic to harsh.

Hint 21

Act 1 Scene 3 line 77

Front 22

“That I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter it is most true; true, I have married her.”

Back 22

Othello makes it clear that as a younger man, this is what he is supposed to do. He has not stolen Desdemona or tricked her, he has not done any crime.

Hint 22

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 79-80

Front 23

“Little of this great world can I speak more than pertains to feats of broil and battle”

Back 23

Othello has only known violence and war his whole life. He has been surrounded by men in a masculine world his whole life so he does not understand women or love in the way others might-it makes him more susceptible to Iago’s schemes.

Hint 23

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 87-88

Front 24

“I won his daughter”

Back 24

Perhaps Othello sees Desdemona as a prize worth winning or perhaps he believes he has earned her love. Either way he is confident in his relationship.

Hint 24

Act 1 Scene 3 line 94

Front 25

“A maiden never bold, of spirit so still and quiet that her motion blushed at herself”

Back 25

Brabantio describes Desdemona as the ideal daughter, a submissive, quiet girl who fulfils society’s expectations. Perhaps he sees only what he wants to see or perhaps Desdemona has led him to believe this is who she is.

Hint 25

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 95-97

Front 26

“Of years, of country, credit, everything, to fall in love with what she feared to look on?”

Back 26

Desdemona is young, white and has status, she is the perfect wife in Brabantio’s eyes. He can’t understand how someone as perfect as she is could be with a man like Othello.

Hint 26

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 98-99

Front 27

“Against all rules of nature”

Back 27

This line sums up Brabantio’s views on their marriage. To him it is plain wrong, defying all laws and everything he knows.

Hint 27

Act 1 Scene 3 line 102

Front 28

“With some dram conjured to this effect he wrought upon her”

Back 28

Brabantio believes Othello has poisoned Desdemona and effectively ruined her. “Wrought” suggests Othello has moulded Desdemona and bent her to his will.

Hint 28

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 106-107

Front 29

“Her father loved me, oft invited me, still questioned me the story of my life”

Back 29

Brabantio liked having Othello around for entertainment but as soon as Othello is to become part of his family, Brabantio paints him as a villain.

Hint 29

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 129-30

Front 30

“Of being taken by the insolent foe and sold to slavery”

Back 30

Knowing Othello has been a slave makes it all the more important that he gave up his freedom to be Desdemona’s husband.

Hint 30

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 138-139

Front 31

“She’d come again, and with a greedy ear devour up my discourse”

Back 31

Desdemona is not the meek girl her father made her out to be. There seems to be this hunger in her to know more and to absorb Othello’s tales. As a young girl with no freedom in her sheltered life, Othello would seem far more exciting than any of her suitors.

Hint 31

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 150-151

Front 32

“She wished she had not heard it, yet she wished that heaven had made her such a man”

Back 32

This is an ambiguous line. Does she wish she was Othello, living a life of adventure or does she wish that she could be with him?

Hint 32

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 163-164

Front 33

“She loved me for the dangers I had passed and I loved her that she did pity them”

Back 33

Through Othello, Desdemona can live vicariously and escape her confined life. She idolises him and loves him for his stories whereas he loves her because she showed him emotion that his life has been lacking.

Hint 33

Act 1 Scene 3 line 169

Front 34

“I think this tale would win my daughter too”

Back 34

Othello has the Duke’s approval. Through his words he has gained both the respect of the Senate and the audience too.

Hint 34

Act 1 Scene 3 line 172

Front 35

“I do perceive here a divided duty”

Back 35

Desdemona presents herself as a rational, clear headed woman. She commands authority in her take on the situation. In referencing her duty, she displays tactfulness because she recognises that her duty did lie with her father but now she is married, her duty lies with Othello.

Hint 35

Act 1 Scene 3 line 180

Front 36

“My life and education both do learn me how to respect you; you are the lord of duty”

Back 36

She acknowledges that her father has raised her right and has been a good father to her. She looks up to him as any daughter would and she knows she has been a good daughter.

Hint 36

Act 1 Scene 3 line 182-183

Front 37

“So much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father”

Back 37

In Desdemona’s eyes, she is just doing what is expected of her as a woman, there is nothing unnatural about this marriage because her mother did the exact same thing.

Hint 37

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 186-187

Front 38

“That I may profess due to the Moor my lord”

Back 38

Desdemona has made her choice and her choice is Othello. She acknowledges that he is of a different race but she still chooses to be his wife, she is unashamed in marrying an outsider.

Hint 38

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 188-189

Front 39

“That I did love the Moor to live with him my downright violence and scorn of fortunes may trumpet the world”

Back 39

She has sacrificed her privileged life in her violation of the social norm but she is proud and has no shame for choosing love.

Hint 39

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 249-250

Front 40

“I saw Othello’s visage in his mind and to his honours and his valiant parts did I my soul and fortunes consecrate”

Back 40

This racist line highlights how Othello will always be seen as an outsider due to his race. Desdemona claims she sees the real Othello beyond his outward appearance. To this Othello, the general and insider, she has devoted herself.

Hint 40

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 253-255

Front 41

“If I be left behind, a moth of peace”

Back 41

Without Othello she is nothing. She won’t live a long and bountiful life, she will be left alone while he fights for his country.

Hint 41

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 256-257

Front 42

“Let me go with him”

Back 42

This final declarative is a bold plea. Desdemona possesses great courage to stand before a room full of men and plead her case.

Hint 42

Act 1 Scene 3 line 260

Front 43

“I therefore beg it not to please the palate of my appetite, nor to comply with heat, the young affects in me defunct, and proper satisfaction, but to be free and bounteous to her mind”

Back 43

Othello claims he has no sexual appetite and is too old for such things. He doesn’t want Desdemona to go to Cyprus for sex. This shows that their relationship at the beginning wasn’t just physical but more cerebral.

Hint 43

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 262-266

Front 44

“Let housewives make a skillet of my helm”

Back 44

If Othello is overcome with sexual desire and jealousy, he will be completely emasculated. Here Shakespeare uses proleptic irony as this exact thing happens to Othello and he loses everything because of it.

Hint 44

Act 1 Scene 3 line 273

Front 45

“If virtue no delighted beauty lack your son-in-law is far more fair than black”

Back 45

This racist rhyming couplet highlights how those who see Othello as an insider is because they believe that although he is black on the outside he has the qualities of a white man on the inside. The Duke believes it is a compliment but it’s plain racist.

Hint 45

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 290-291

Front 46

“Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: she has deceived her father, and may thee”

Back 46

This is a notion which haunts Othello further on in the play. He can’t dissociate Desdemona with the idea that Venetian women are deceptive and untrustworthy because of Iago’s lies.

Hint 46

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 293-294

Front 47

“These Moors are changeable in their wills”

Back 47

This generalisation of all black people shows how racist Iago is because he believes Othello will soon turn into the barbarian society has painted him out to be.

Hint 47

Act 1 Scene 3 line 347

Front 48

“If sanctimony, and a frail vow betwixt an erring Barbarian and a super-subtle Venetian, be not too hard for my wits and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her”

Back 48

He plays on the stereotypes of both black people and Venetian women to create this impression that their marriage is weak enough for him to manipulate in Roderigo’s favour.

Hint 48

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 355-358

Front 49

“I hate the Moor and it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets he’s done my office”

Back 49

He believes Othello has slept with Emilia and uses that as further incentive to hate Othello. He doesn’t know if it is completely true but he is a bitter, twisted man who embodies the racist prejudices of society.

Hint 49

Act 1 Scene 3 lines 386-387