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We are introduced to the primary characters of the play. Iago feels slighted because Othello has
overlooked him for promotion in favour of Michael Cassio, while Roderigo believes that Othello is standing
in the way of his marriage to Desdemona. Together they plot their revenge.
A COMMENT ON THE PLOT
The scene opens with an introduction to all the primary characters: Iago, Roderigo, Othello, Desdemona,
Michael Cassio and Brabantio.
The fact that the scene is dominated by Iago should give us the idea that it is he who is the main character
in this play, and not Othello. It is therefore the story of an antihero. Certainly Iago is introduced as a very
powerful character, and also as an arch-manipulator.
Indeed, by the end of this scene, we already witness his ongoing manipulation of Roderigo, and how he
very easily twists such a powerful patrician as Brabantio to his plans. Later, Iago will work his magic on
both Othello and Cassio.
We are therefore introduced to the theme of MANIPULATION. Iago is the master puppeteer, pulling the
strings which control Roderigo, Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Brabantio, as well as some of the other
lesser characters. Indeed, there is almost no-one who is not under his control.
We are also given a brief introduction into another of the great themes: SORCERY and MAGIC.
Brabantio hints at this when he says, "Is there not charms by which the property of youth and maidhood
may be abused. Have you not read, Roderigo, of such thing?"
In the next scene, this theme of sorcery will be expanded when we find that Desdemona has been
ensnared by Othello's spells. Iago himself will become more than just a puppet master: his sorcery was
so potent that he was able to make Othello act in totally unexpected ways.
In this scene, Iago feels himself slighted by Othello who has overlooked him for the position of Lieutenant
in favour of Michael Cassio, whom Iago despises. One can understand Iago's resentment because he
is a powerful leader whereas Cassio is in reality a weakling who cannot even control his own drinking
habits.
Roderigo, on the other hand, feels himself crossed by Othello for the love of Desdemona, whom Roderigo
has been desperately attempting to secure as his own wife.
Iago puts into practice a plan for both of them to gain their revenge. They awaken Brabantio, a wealthy
merchant and Desdemona's father, telling him that his daughter has eloped with Othello.
They hope, of course, that Brabantio will find Othello in an illicit love-tryst with Desdemona because then
Brabantio will be perfectly justified in having Othello thrown into prison, and thereupon rewarding Roderigo
by giving him Desdemona's hand in marriage, while Iago could perhaps score handsomely in terms of
promotion.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
But he, as loving his own pride and purposes,
Evades them, with a bombast circumstance
Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war.
- What accusations does Iago throw at the absent Othello in these lines? (4)
[Need help?]
Iago accuses Othello of being arrogant and egotistical. Othello is full of his own self-importance, regaling
the patriarchs with all the stories of his great heroics on the battlefield.
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- Comment on the image Iago puts forward with the words "bombast" and
"stuffed". (4)
[Need help?]
"Bombast" was a type of cottonwool that was used in the stuffing of quilts. The word was derived
from the medieval French word "bombace". It became synonymous with pomp and conceit, puffed
up with arrogance.
So Othello was "stuffed" with "bombast", conceited like a stuffed quilt by his exploits in war.
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And what was he?
Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife;
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster.
- Iago is derisive of Michael Cassio whom Othello has chosen as his lieutenant. Why does he speak
of him as "a great arithmetician"? (4)
[Need help?]
Michael Cassio came from the wealthy city-state of Florence, known for being at the centre of trade.
Iago claims that Florence was able to produce only traders -- "arithmetician" or person who could
add up money but could not produce soldiers.
Napoleon Bonaparte would use a similar insult against the British whom he called "a nation of
shopkeepers" -- although he soon discovered that the British could indeed put up a mean fight!
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- Explain the link that Iago appears to make between Michael Cassio's ability to lead an army and
marriage. (4)
[Need help?]
Iago resorts often to crudity in his invective against his perceived enemy. In this case he claims that
Michael Cassio can no more fight in a battle than make keep a woman happy in bed.
Iago is apparently the holder of a medieval belief that women were the unfaithful partners in marriage.
A spinster would be a non-married woman who was supposed to be a virgin but Iago claims that it would
be impossible for Michael Cassio to find such a woman -- i.e. find a virgin -- just as it was impossible
for him to fight heroically in battle.
One has to be of a somewhat warped mind to make such a comparison!
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And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds,
Christian and heathen, must be be-lee'd and calm'd
By debitor and creditor, this counter-caster.
- Explain Iago's imagery of his being "be-lee'd and calm'd" by "debitor and creditor, this
counter-caster". (4)
[Need help?]
Iago counterbalances nautical terminology with merchandising terms.
He sees himself as the intrepid captain of a naval ship but one whose ship cannot move because it has
become "be-lee'd and calm'd", i.e. his ship is becalmed with no wind in its sails.
The cause of this situation is the fact that Michael Cassio, a trader and not a sailor, has usurped him as
lieutenant. Iago has not been defeated by soldiers but by merchants -- "debitor and creditor" or
a "counter-caster" who counts coins.
Indeed, the word "counter" means a place in a shop where coins are counted. A
"counter-caster" is therefore someone who counts coins on a counter.
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By heaven, I rather would have been his hangman.
- Comment on the irony of this expression by Roderigo. (2)
[Need help?]
Othello will end up being sentenced to be hanged for the murder of his wife (although he does, of course,
commit suicide by stabbing himself). It is better, says Roderigo, to be Othello's hangman than to serve
him. And it is indeed Iago who becomes his metaphorical hangman!
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"O, sir, content you,
I follow him to serve my turn upon him."
- Explain how these words sum up Iago's character. (2)
[Need help?]
Iago's whole aim in life is to use people for his own ends. It might appear that he is friendly with someone,
or that he is allowing that person to lead him, but the reality will always be that Iago has an end in mind
and that the person is merely a pawn in his plotting.
Unfortunately, Roderigo could not see that even though the evidence was there in abundance that he
himself was being used by Iago.
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"It is as sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I the Moor, I will not be Iago.
In following him, I follow but myself."
- What does Iago mean when he says, "Were I the Moor, I will not be Iago"? (4)
[Need help?]
It's not fully certain what Iago means because Iago's meanings are often obscured by his plotting. It could,
however, mean that if he were Othello, then he would be the leader and not the follower.
On the other hand, it could also be that, if he were Othello, he would destroy Iago immediately before Iago
has a chance to destroy him.
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- What is the significance of making the leading character (i.e. Othello) a Moor? How would the
Shakespearian audience react to the idea of a Moor as the centre of the plot? (6)
[Need help?]
During the early middle ages, the Moslems of North Africa conquered Spain where they would rule for
centuries before Christendom reconquered the territory and forced the Moslems to convert to Christianity.
The remnant of the Moslem population became known as the "Moors", probably as a derivation of the
name "Moslems". They were different from the others of the Spanish population, however, because they
were dark skinned and it was never certain whether or not their conversion to Christianity was complete.
As a result, the Moors always tended to be treated with suspicion. Indeed, during the later Spanish
Inquisition, the Catholic Church undertook a persecution of the Moors, often rounding them up and burning
them at the stake for witchcraft.
The Shakespearian audience would therefore be suspicious of a Moor. When Othello eventually behaved
very badly in murdering his wife merely on suspicion of her unfaithfulness, the audience would probably
not have been at all surprised.
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