The juxtaposition that Shakespeare has used between ‘black’ and ‘white’ is indicative of the difference between Othello and Desdemona’s races, but also between their supposed difference in nobility – Othello is “evil” and Desdemona is “innocent”. ‘an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe.’ (1:1:89-90). ![]() Iago, with vulgar language tells Brabantio: He is an old man who, to his knowledge, still has possession over his daughter: he is unaware of her elopement, and this is why Iago suggests going to him. Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, is now welcomed into the play. This idea of ‘masks’ and ‘masking’ who Iago truly is indicates, within the first 70 lines of the play, that Iago is not the hero, but the villain.Īfter Iago and Roderigo have a conversation about Othello and Desdemona’s marriage, and how much they dislike him, Iago imperatively tells Roderigo to ‘Call up her father’. Honigmann. He had the idea that Iago has more than one mask that he wears, dependent on who he is with. Here, a critic that links really well to Iago’s “multiple personality” character is ideas from E. This represents that he is more than one person, which links to the idea that he is ‘not’ what he is.ĬRITIC INFORMATION: So, if you are studying Othello or other Shakespearean plays, you will know that critical reviews and ideas are a key part of the assessment. The diacope of ‘I am’ is reflective of Iago being more than one person: the first ‘I am’ is one person he is, the second ‘I am’ is another person he is. But, he says this in a context that almost conceals the fact that he is a fraud. ![]() This declarative sentence shows the audience, very early on in the text, that Iago is not who he says he is. But, in this same monologue of Iago’s, he says: Iago begins a façade of saying to Roderigo if he had been in Othello’s position, he would not have appointed Cassio because of Iago’s pure intuition: he would see that Cassio is not a good candidate. He feels that because Cassio is not a native Venetian, like Iago himself, or a soldier, his promotion over Iago was not genuine, but vengeful. All of these traits, to Iago, make Cassio an unsuitable candidate for the Lieutenant post. Cassio is described, in this scene, to be a ‘Florentine’, and he is also a ‘great arithmetician’ a ‘bookish theoric’. Iago does not like Othello because when appointing a new Lieutenant, Othello appointed Cassio rather than Iago. The pun ‘Moorship’ satirises the idea that people ‘worship’ Othello, and the use of ‘ancient’ shows his age in comparison to Desdemona. Having said this, Iago is in more fury that Roderigo seems to be – perhaps this is because Roderigo is a generally more passive character – and Iago tells Roderigo that he hates Othello or, as Iago satirically calls Othello, If we are speculative, we can say that Shakespeare’s archaic language, and the harsh sound that accompanies this, represents the harsh setting that they are in, and they do not approve of the elopement between a supposedly young, pure woman, and an older, ‘Moorish’ man. ![]() We know this from the first word of the play being ‘Tush’ from Roderigo. ![]() The bitter tone that Shakespeare has used to open the play sets the scene that this is a tragedy. He is especially upset that Desdemona has eloped with a ‘Moor’. Roderigo, who has a love interest in Desdemona, is very upset about the news. We see in their opening conversation that they are speaking of Othello’s recent elopement to his wife, Desdemona, who we do not see until Act 1 Scene 3. The play opens in Venice, Italy, with two male characters: Roderigo, who could be considered as a minor role, but he has a lot of impact in the play, and Iago, who is a soldier who is under Othello’s dictatorship. There are so many corners that we can search into, but today we will explore the first scene of the play which sets the scene, and introduces the characters, but not all by physical stature, but by name or nickname. Othello is an Elizabethan play that has unlimited “dirt” unlimited culture unlimited perceptions.
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