Othello Act 1 s i

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Lesson objectives 

Complete your Cornell notes 

Review of Act 1 scene 1

Consideration of Iago's language 

Consideration of the motif of black and white 

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Clipped word

Word of the day

Clipped word (n) - A word that has been shortened with no change in meaning. For example...

Can you think of any more? 

Gym = gymnasium

Exam = examination

Lab = laboratory

Roach = cockroach

Net = Internet

Flu - influenza 

Fridge = refrigerator

Fun fact 

The word canter referring to horse's easy gallop is also a clipped word. According to the Dictionary of Word Origins, this word is derived from the phrase Canterbury trot or gallop, referring to the pace at which pilgrims in the Middle Ages rode to the shrine of Saint Thomas À Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

Adapted: Building a Better Vocabulary by Kevin Flanigan 

chemist, florist, pianist, dentist, bassist, motorist, vocalist, pasifist etc

Quick overview questions 

1. What is Iago's complaint against Othello (lines 8 - 33)

2. What insights do you gain into the relationship between Othello and Iago from his speech on lines 41 - 64? 

3. What is the significance of the following quotation in revealing Iago's feelings towards Othello: "In following him I follow but myself /Heaven is my judge, not I for love or duty,/ But seeming so for my peculiar end'?

4. What can you infer of Iago from the way he speaks to Brabantio in this scene? 

5. What is the significance of Iago's exit on line 157? 

6. What do you learn of Rodrigo's character from his words and actions in this scene? 

Quick overview questions 

1. He complains that he was passed over for promotion to the position of lieutenant and that Othello chose Michael Cassio as his new lieutenant who has no experience in the battlefield and is an arithmetician from Florence.

2. Iago is only self-serving. He pretends to be a loyal servant to Othello and follow his orders, but in reality he is only concerned with his own gain. Othello does not appear to be aware of this deceit. 

3. This quotation clearly reveals that Iago has no respect for Othello and is only self-serving in his actions and attitudes. 

4. Iago is much more crude and disrespectful in his language towards  Brabantio than Rodrigo. He uses direct sexual and demeaning language and appears to have no fear of Brabantio's status and power. 

Quick overview questions 

5.  Iago needs to appear loyal to Othello and cannot be found plotting against him or to be attached to any cause of disturbance in Venice. 

6. Rodrigo appears to be under the influence of  Iago. He is more formal and polite in his behaviour and seems gullible and willing to follow Iago's suggestions. 

Lesson objectives 

Consideration of Iago's language 

Consideration of the motif of black and white 

Looking at verse and prose in the play

Consideration of 'the Other' in the play 

Notes 

• Iago, an ensign (a low ranking officer in the Venetian army), and Roderigo, a Venetian gentleman, discuss the important incident that has taken place prior to the play’s opening.
  
• The men speak informally, using epithets (adjective describing an attribute of the person that is used in place of their name), racial slurs, and ambiguous pronouns rather than direct references, to refer to other characters. References such as, “The Moor” and “your daughter” create interest and suspense as we do not yet know who they are yet, but we know they must be significant.
  
• We learn about Othello and Desdemona through the eyes of a disgruntled employee and a rejected lover. Our perception is skewed by the racial slurs heaped on Othello and the objectification of Desdemona.
  

Notes 

Brabantio, the nobleman, sleeps inside, apparently unaware that Desdemona has sneaked out of the house and, against his wishes, married Othello.

Iago and Roderigo hint to Brabantio in highly sexualised, coarse language what has happened…

an old black ram is tupping your white ewe

the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor

you’ll have your daughter covered by a Barbary horse

 your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast

with two backs

 the devil will make a grandsire of you

"Old black ram [...] white ewe" 

TWO key images brought out here:

That Othello has a bestial and animalistic nature; he is beneath everyone else in Venice because of his racial background and therefore incapable of thinking beyond his sexual desire.

The contrast between light and dark. Iago mentions the “black ram” and the “white ewe,” setting up oppositions of light and dark, innocence and evil, purity and corruption that resonate throughout the text.

Light vs Dark - a repeated motif in culture

Consider our associations with light and dark, and how these permeate many aspects of culture; even the connotations of the words “white” and “black” are loaded.

Sun worshipping was one of the earliest forms of religion in humanity, and almost all of us are afraid of the dark (and with good reason.

Many creation myths involve light emerging from darkness, and in Christianity, Jesus is referred to as the “light of the world”

A lightbulb coming on over someone’s head is the symbol of a great idea

Note in your exercise book the connotations of the words white and black. Also note down any words or phrases we use today that have the colours in and what these words mean or suggest,

e.g. a white lie, blackmailed etc

Take note, in your exercise book of any references in the play towards the ideas of black and white. 

Videogames: it is always holy magic or light magic that heals, never the dark. Many characters in videogames have light-based powers to help them fight evil

Fairy stories: the good characters are beautiful, the evil characters are dark or ugly, and through their looks, we know their morals too

Films: many fantasy or sci-fi films rely on light and dark associations to outline the morality of their universes:

Star Wars calls it the “Dark Side” and Jedi knights wield lightsabres

Harry Potter has a ‘Defence against the Dark Arts’ teacher

Mordor is the “black land” where “the shadows lie”

Benjamin Zephaniah’s poem ‘White Comedy’ illustrates the bias of the words white and black

I waz whitemailed

By a white witch,

Wid white magic

An white lies,

Branded by a white sheep

I slaved as a whitesmith

Near a white spot

Where I suffered whitewater fever.

Whitelisted as a whiteleg

I waz in de white book

As a master of white art,

It waz like white death.

People called me white jack

Some hailed me as a white wog,

So I joined de white watch

Trained as a white guard

Lived off the white economy.

Caught and beaten by de whiteshirts

I waz condemned to a white mass,

Don't worry,

I shall be writing to de Black House.

'I am not what I am' - Iago's character 

• This is the warning for Roderigo, but through it he warns the audience to be wary. Iago is a man of many faces who is not above playing whatever role serves him best at any given time.
  
• He is a MALCONTENT, a character who is unhappy with his lot in life.
  
• From now on, note in your exercise book how many people Iago deludes. This is mostly due to the excellent reputation he creates for himself.
  
• He is perceived by others as a paragon of honesty when, in fact, he is deceitful in his nature.
  

The war in Cyprus 

At the end of the scene, Iago brings in another key event when he mentions the looming Cyprus wars to which Othello will soon be called. 

The war will necessitate Othello reassuming his military persona (as opposed to his newfound role as husband).

The earliest (and most negative) critic of Othello (1693), Thomas Rymer, found it implausible that the Venetians would “set a Negro to be their General; or trust a Moor to defend them against the Turk”. Is this a fair point, or does it not matter as this is drama and not real life? Discuss 

Brabantio - good or bad father? 

• The initial characterisation of Brabantio is of an old man in his nightgown yelling at people in the street who are making crude jokes about his daughter
  
• It becomes clear that his relationship with Desdemona is not a close one otherwise he would have known of the elopement, or she wouldn’t have dared to run away. 
  
• It is also clear that Brabantio is sensitive about race; his objection to Othello is not social but racial.
  
• It is possible to feel some sympathy with an old man whose daughter has treated him badly, but he clearly views her as a possession (as was his right in that time)
  

What kind of father is Brabantio? 

What kind of relationship does he have with his daughter?

Find evidence to support your ideas. 

'Thou art a villain' (1.1.117) 

'Fathers, from hence trust not your daughter's minds/By what you see them act.' (1.1.169) 

'It is too true an evil. [...]/ With the Moor, say'st though' (1.2.159)

'Run from her gaurdage to the sooty bosom/ of such a thing as thou' (1.2.70)  

Iago = the figure of Vice (immoral or wicked behaviour)

• Vice is comes from the Latin vitium meaning "defect, offence, blemish, imperfection", in both physical and moral senses.
  
• Vice is a stock character of the medieval morality plays. These contained representations of personified virtues or vices who sought to win control of the protagonist’s soul.
  
• While the virtues in a morality play can be seen as messengers of God, the vices were viewed as messengers of the Devil.
  
• Iago is often viewed as the ultimate Vice figure, trying to lead the hero astray for no reason other than his own maliciousness.
  

Verse and Prose - understanding Shakespeare's structure 

VERSE is arranged rather like POETRY.

Has a regular, definite number of syllables per line. 

The language is often sophisticated or beautiful

It has a regular rhythm, but does not always rhyme.

Shakespeare uses a form of verse called BLANK VERSE.

Ten syllables per line in an unstressed/stressed pattern – five stressed syllables, five unstressed. This is IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

Most significantly, VERSE tends to be used by HIGH STATUS CHARACTERS

(lords, princes, queens, countesses, generals etc)

Verse and Prose - understanding Shakespeare's structure 

PROSE is NOT arranged like poetry.

Is usually not poetic

It stretches across the page

No IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

No set number of syllables per line

It is used to discuss more ordinary or inappropriate things

Humour is usually contained in prose

Most significantly, PROSE tends to be used by LOWER STATUS CHARACTERS

(servants, beggars, maids, fools etc.)

How characters use prose and verse 

• Some lower status characters might use verse to give the impression they are better than they really are i.e. Iago frequently uses verse when speaking to his social superiors even though he is a low ranking soldier
  
• High status characters might switch between verse and prose depending on who they are talking to or their situation. At moments of emotional crisis they will switch to prose.
  

Concept of 'the Other' in literature 

This concept in literature can take on numerous forms:

• The ‘Other’ is an individual who is perceived by a group as not belonging; the ‘Other’ are viewed as being fundamentally different
  
• The group sees itself as the ‘standard’ and judges those who do not meet that norm, with the ‘Other’ perceived as lacking essential characteristics possessed by the main group
  
• The ‘Other’ is seen as a lesser or inferior being and is treated accordingly. The ‘Other’ can be determined on the basis of race, gender, culture, religion, social class, sexual orientation or nationality.
  

How does this concept apply to Othello? Does it apply to  any other characters?

Write your answer in your exercise book. 

Othello vs Iago Which of the two would rank higher  at that place, in that time?

Consider what we know of them:

Iago: white, lower class, low rank in the army, lacks poetic expression, Venetian

Othello: black, higher class, high rank in the army, extremely poetic, a foreigner and outsider

How would they rank in sophisticated and refined Venice? 

 What about the military outpost of Cyprus?

Freytag's pyramid - how all stories are structured.

We are here

Othello vs Iago Which of the two would rank higher  at that place, in that time?

ACT ONE: setting the scene, laying out the problem

ACT TWO: plot develops, but the tragedy is not yet fixed

ACT THREE: something happens that seals the tragedy; no going back now

ACT FOUR: things unravel, and do so faster and faster

ACT FIVE: a catastrophe happens (usually deaths) and the problem at the start is resolved. Normality resumes.