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READ THIS
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
Brabantio was a wealth merchant and also Desdemona's father. Roderigo had been attempting for some
time to seek from him Desdemona's hand in marriage but had thus far been scorned by Brabantio.
Those were the days of arranged marriages, usually for financial or political gain. Brabantio, being a
wealthy merchant, could easily have found an equally wealthy or important suitor.
It was highly unlikely that either Roderigo or Othello would have fitted the bill but, if Brabantio had had to
choose between them, it seems he would have chosen Roderigo, such was Othello's lowlier position on
his list.
Othello was after all merely a military man with no financial or political connections. He was also a Moor,
and Brabantio would have distrusted Moors.
The term "Moor" had been given to those Moslems from North Africa who had invaded Spain in the early
middle ages. By Shakespeare's time, they had converted to Christianity but there was always suspicion
that they still harboured Islamic intentions.
Of course, there is doubt whether or not Shakespeare fully understood where the Moors lived because
Othello is consistently described as having negroid features, with a flattened nose and thick lips.
One has to realise, however, that knowledge of the world was very limited in Shakespeare's day. Indeed,
he would probably even have lacked knowledge of Britain's nearest neighbours, the French -- and the
British would certainly have been suspicious of the French as well.
In this meeting of Brabantio, Iago and Roderigo, it is very clear that both Othello and Desdemona were
in the wrong. They had run off together into a lover's tryst where it is almost certain they would have been
having sex -- something totally unacceptable in those days when a woman was supposed to be a virgin
when her father found a husband for her.
Brabantio was therefore truly angry when he set off with Roderigo to find them. Indeed, had other critical
events not unexpectedly rescued Othello, the Moor would have been thrown into prison and Desdemona
bundled off into a monastery.
Of course, it was also possible that, since Roderigo appeared not adverse to accepting a used woman
(presumably because of the wealthy alliance that this would offer him), Brabantio might have been content
to marry her off to him and so make an honest woman of her.
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:
IAGO:
Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put on your gown;
Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul;
Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise;
Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,
Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:
Arise, I say.
- What does Iago mean when he tells Brabantio, "You're robbed" and "You have lost half your
soul"? (4)
[Need help?]
Iago is referring to the fact that Brabantio's daughter, Desdemona, has eloped with Othello.
In those days of arranged marriages, a prospective husband would negotiate with the father of the bride,
offering a substantial amount of money as a dowry.
In this case, however, Brabantio has been robbed because Othello has not paid any dowry for her but has
"stolen" her.
The reference to "half your soul" is an indication of the love Brabantio has for his daughter, that half
his soul has been taken away from him.
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- Comment on Iago's choice of words when he says, "An old black ram is tupping your white
ewe". (4)
[Need help?]
The "old black ram" is Othello while the "white ewe" refers to Desdemona.
Iago is, of course, being thoroughly disgusting by using these words. "Tupping" means "having
sex with" but it is the most disgusting word that Iago can find.
By using the term "ram" and "ewe", he is also accusing Othello and Desdemona of behaving
like animals.
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- Discuss the implication of the words, "Or else the devil will make a grandsire of
you". (4)
[Need help?]
The "devil" refers to Othello whom Iago claims is busy making Brabantio's daughter pregnant which
would indeed make a "grandsire" or grandfather of Brabantio.
The devil was always regarded as black and therefore, because Othello is also black, he is equated with
the devil in Iago's eyes.
Furthermore, people in those days often connected Moors with Moslems, even though they were in fact
Christians. As a result, they were held in suspicion of liaisons with the devil.
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BRABANTIO:
I have charged thee not to haunt about my doors;
In honest plainness thou hast heard me say
My daughter is not for thee.
- What is the significance of Brabantio's words, "I have charged thee not to haunt about my
doors" and "My daughter is not for thee"? (4)
[Need help?]
Roderigo has been making an effort to gain Desdemona's hand in marriage. He has clearly been visiting
Brabantio often for this purpose.
We also know from an earlier passage that Roderigo has probably also been bribing Iago to help him
obtain Desdemona as a wife. Brabantio, however, will have nothing to do with it and has told him quite
plainly that such a marriage is impossible.
It is also clear that Brabantio believes that this current disturbance is yet another attempt by Roderigo to
gain Desdemona.
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BRABANTIO:
But thou must needs be sure
My spirit and my place have in them power
To make this bitter to thee.
- What does Brabantio mean by this threat? (2)
[Need help?]
Brabantio is warning Iago and Roderigo that they had better be correct in their claim that Desdemona has
eloped for, if they are wrong, he has it in his power to make them suffer severely for their false claim.
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IAGO:
Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not serve
God if the devil bid you. Because we come to do you service, and
you think we are ruffians, you'll have your daughter covered with
a Barbary horse; you'll have your nephews neigh to you; you'll
have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans.
- Comment on Iago's language usage in this passage. What does it tell you about
him? (4)
[Need help?]
Once again, Iago is crass in his speech. Once again he likens Desdemona and Othello to animals when
he says, "You'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse" -- that is how animals
procreate.
He continues this image in an insulting fashion when he says that Brabantio's nephews will neigh like
horses at him. Indeed, one is not likely to come across a character who is more uncouth than Iago.
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- What does Iago mean when he says that Brabantio is "one of those that will not serve God if the
devil bid him"? (2)
[Need help?]
Iago shows frustration at Brabantio's reaction. His claim that Brabantio is "one of those that will not
serve God if the devil bid him" is an accusation that Brabantio is deliberately being obstinate even
when the evidence is absolutely clear.
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- How does Brabantio react to Iago's speech? (2)
[Need help?]
Brabantio is rightly angry at Iago. Wouldn't you be if someone spoke to you in the language that Iago
uses, accusing your daughter of behaving like an animal?
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RODERIGO:
At this odd-even and dull watch o' the night,
Transported with no worse nor better guard
But with a knave of common hire, a gondolier,
To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor.
- What is meant by: "At this odd-even and dull watch o' the night"? (2)
[Need help?]
It is probably some time close to midnight. The night would be even if it were exactly midnight but odd
if it were one o'clock in the morning.
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RODERIGO:
Your daughter, if you have not given her leave,
I say again, hath made a gross revolt;
Tying her duty, beauty, wit, and fortunes
In an extravagant and wheeling stranger
Of here and everywhere.
- This is really the first time that we, the audience, are able to experience first hand the actions of
Othello and Desdemona. What conclusions can one arrive at concerning them both? (4)
[Need help?]
One cannot come to a positive opinion of Othello and Desdemona.
Courtesy demanded that a suitor approach the father to ask for his daughter in marriage. Sex outside of
marriage was taboo.
Othello, however, has simply eloped with Desdemona. At the same time, Desdemona herself has thrown
morality to the wind and has run off with her lover.
The protagonist (Iago) is therefore amoral but the so-called hero (Othello) and heroine (Desdemona) are
also of questionable morality.
You must not judge the play by modern morality. Running away with one's lover without first getting the
father's consent is pretty common today but it was not acceptable back in Renaissance times.
One must therefore judge Othello and Desdemona by the morality of their own time, and they do not score
very highly.
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