1. Act 1, Scene 2 AO1: What happens in this scene?
Look at your notes and quickly summarise.

2. We meet Othello for the first time in this scene.
What opinion do we form of him?
Does it match the opinions we have heard in Act 1 Scene 1?
Note: throughout this scene, Othello speaks in blank verse. This expresses a controlled and measured calm.

3. There are several contrasts between how Othello is described in Scene 1, and how he acts in Scene 2
He’s described as…
proud and selfish – “loving his own pride and purposes” (1.1.12).
sexual – “lascivious” ( ).
a savage, uncivilised “thing” (line 71) an “old black ram” and a “devil” ( ).
immoral – a “foul thief” (line 62) using “foul charms” (line 73).

4. What does Othello’s response suggest?
Character Introduction: What do these lines tell us about Othello?
AO2
Iago does his best to stir up trouble when he tells Othello that Brabantio has spoken against him in
“scurvy and provoking terms”
Line 8:
What does Othello’s response suggest?
“Let him do his spite”
Line 19:
“I must be found”
Line 33:

5. What does Othello’s response suggest?
Character Introduction: What do these lines tell us about Othello?
AO2
Iago does his best to stir up trouble when he tells Othello that Brabantio has spoken against him in
“scurvy and provoking terms”
Line 8:
What does Othello’s response suggest?
“Let him do his spite”
Line 19:
“I must be found”
Line 33:
These lines suggest that Othello is willing to face the consequences of his actions. He later appeals for calm and, when he is accused of evil enchantments, says:
Lines 95-97:
“Hold your hands,
Both you of my inclining, and the rest:
Were it my cue to fight, I should have known it”
Othello is the opposite of Iago: he seeks to resolve conflict.

6. Character Introduction: What do these lines tell us about Othello?
AO2
“My parts, my title and my perfect soul
Shall manifest me rightly.”
Lines 34-5:
Is this pride or a man defending his reputation in the face of attack?
Line 71:
“Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.”
What does his command to Brabantio’s followers tell us?
Note the poetic image he uses – what does this suggest?
Line 27:
“I love the gentle Desdemona”
What does his choice of language suggest?

7. Character Introduction: What do these lines tell us about Othello?
AO2
“My parts, my title and my perfect soul
Shall manifest me rightly.”
Lines 34-5:
Is this pride or a man defending his reputation in the face of attack?
It could be both! He is confident in his own reputation and that he has done nothing wrong.
Line 71:
“Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.”
1. He is used to commanding and is a successful soldier
2. He has some love for battle
Line 27:
“I love the gentle Desdemona”
Does Shakespeare reinforce or undermine the view of Othello as a romantic hero?
This is the first sincere reference to love in the play
Othello’s positive view of his relationship with Desdemona is in conflict with the way it is perceived by others
‘Gentle’ is a pun: it means kind-hearted and noble by birth

8. Why might Iago be associated with Janus?
AO3:Context to key image
Line 6:
“By Janus, I think no.”
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, and thereby of gates, doors, doorways, passages and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past. Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace.
Why might Iago be associated with Janus?

9. Language Study: Insults, Crudity and Racism
(Line 57)
Iago tells Cassio that Othello has
“boarded a land caract”
A carrack, a large Spanish ship used for war or as a merchant vessel.
The implication is that it is loaded with treasure.
One meaning of this is that Othello is a pirate, echoing Brabantio’s accusation that he is a “foul thief” (line 74).
Another is a slur on Desdemona: ‘Land Carrack’ was slang for a prostitute. Othello has ‘boarded’ a whore.

10. Character Introduction: What do these lines tell us about Cassio?
Is he the inexperienced fool described by Iago in Act 1 Scene 1?
Lines 59-61:
“CASSIO
I do not understand.
IAGO
He's married.
CASSIO
To who?.”
He does not understand Iago’s crude joke about the caract. Ironic, as Iago will later cast him in the role of seducer.
Othello did not tell him about his marriage to Desdemona. (He did tell Iago!) Is he trusted?

11. Character Introduction: What do these lines tell us about Cassio?
Is he the inexperienced fool described by Iago in Act 1 Scene 1?
Lines 40-42:
He delivers his urgent summons from the Duke in a way that makes it clear it is very important.
“The duke does greet you, general,
And he requires your haste-post-haste appearance,
Even on the instant.”

12. Language Study: Insults, Crudity and Racism
BRABANTIO
O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow'd my daughter? 75
Damn'd as thou art, thou hast enchanted her;
For I'll refer me to all things of sense,
If she in chains of magic were not bound,
Whether a maid so tender, fair and happy,
So opposite to marriage that she shunned 80
The wealthy curled darlings of our nation,
Would ever have, to incur a general mock,
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thou, to fear, not to delight.
Judge me the world, if 'tis not gross in sense 85
That thou hast practised on her with foul charms,
Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals
That weaken motion: I'll have't disputed on;
'Tis probable and palpable to thinking.
I therefore apprehend and do attach thee 90
For an abuser of the world, a practiser
Of arts inhibited and out of warrant.
Lay hold upon him: if he do resist,
Subdue him at his peril.
Like Roderigo?
How does the negative language used here dehumanise Othello?
AO3: These references to witchcraft and evil reflect Renaissance beliefs about the nature of evil: firstly, that witches were real; secondly, the Elizabethan association of black men with the devil.

13. “For if such actions may have passage free,
Bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be”