Name______Othello Act I Study Guide Questions

Name______Othello Act I Study Guide Questions

1.1

1. Why, according to what he tells Roderigo, does Iago hate Othello (referred to as “him”)? What position did Iago expect to get? Who got it? Why does Iago dislike that person? Why is Iago continuing to “serve” him?

2.. / What is Iago's immediate plan (1.1.67-73)? How well does he carry it out? Whose father is Brabantio? What is Roderigo's previous relationship to Brabantio and his daughter (1.1.95-102)?
3. / What does Iago mean by: “I am not what I am”?
4. / What grade would you give Iago for interracial sensitivity? Explain with 2 quotes.
1.2
1. / Compare what Iago says here with what we saw happen (and heard him say) in 1.1. What is Iago’s method?
2. / Is the Othello we see in this scene the one who was described in 1.1? What is his background (1.2.21-24)? How does he defy Brabantio and Iago’s stereotypes?
3. / Brabantio was preparing to "apprehend her [Desdemona] and the Moor" at 1.1.178, so we expect a group to enter looking for Othello. A group does enter at 1.2.28.1-but why are they looking for Othello?
4. / Finally Brabantio, Roderigo, and the officers arrive at 1.2.52.1. How does Brabantio assume the Moor won his daughter (1.2.63-80? Where does he want Othello taken? Where do they all end up going?
1.3
1. / What danger is Cyprus facing?
2. / Why has the Duke summoned Othello (named for the first time in 1.3.48)? What does Brabantio tell the Duke? (Notice that he has not yet named Othello as Desdemona's husband.)
3. / What is a monologue? Locate Othello’s monologue (1.3. 78) and summarize what he is saying. How might the monologue be ironic?
4. / What is implied by Brabantio’s statement about his daughter falling for Othello (1.3.100)? What does it reveal about Venetian values and prejudices?
“To fall in love with what she feared to look on!
It is a judgment maimed and most imperfect
That will confess perfection so could err
Against all rules of nature, and must be driven
To find out practices of cunning hell
Why this should be.”
5. / Summarize Othello's long defense of himself (1.3.76-172)? Why did Othello marry Desdemona? Why did Desdemona marry Othello? Which line best captures their mutual attraction? (see 1.3.157-172)?
6. / How is the affair settled once Desdemona appears (1.3.170-197)? In the monologue beginning with “I do perceive here a divided duty…”, whom does Desdemona pledge her allegiance to?
7. / What does Othello request since he must leave for Cyprus immediately (1.3.233-237)? What is finally decided about this, and do you have any concerns about this plan? What is important about this dialogue between Othello and Brabantio? What does it foreshadow?
Brabantio: “Look to her Moor, if thou hast eyes to see/She has deceived her father, and may thee” (1.3.295).
Othello : “My life upon her faith ” (1.3. 297).
8. / Mark the rhyme scheme of the Duke and Brabantio’s conversation. (ln. 205-212 and ln. 213-224) Why do you think Shakespeare shifts from blank verse to rhymed verse?
The Duke ends telling Brabantio: “Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.” Explain the significance of this quote. To what motif does this connect?
9. / What is Roderigo's response to all this? What does Iago tell him in 1.3.316-361? (Be sure to read this passage carefully.) What does Iago say is going to happen to Othello and Desdemona? Does Iago's advice work on Roderigo?
Is the conversation between Roderigo and Iago (beginning 1.3.304) written in poetry or prose? Why do you think Shakespeare does this? Consider Iago’s character, who he is speaking to, and what he is speaking about.

10. Finally, Iago is alone. Read his soliloquy carefully (1.3.365-386). Aside from Cassio’s promotion over him, why else does Iago "hate the Moor"? What plan does Iago devise?