Othello
1. Content
2. Characters
3. Topics
CONTENT
ACT 1
Scene 1
- Iago tells Roderigo that he hates Othello because Othello has promoted Cassio to be his
lieutenant instead of him
- even though Cassio has less experience
- Iago tells Roderigo “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” (He’ll get what he wants)
- Iago & Roderigo stand outside Brabantio’s house & shout to wake him up
- they tell him about his daughter’s secret marriage to Othello
- Iago makes Brabantio angry by describing Othello & Desdemona with sexual animal
imagery
- Brabantio doesn’t recognize them at first but eventually sees Roderigo
- scence ends with Roderigo offering to help Brabantio find the married couple to split them
up
Scene 2
- Iago tells Othello that Brabantio knows about his marriage & he dislikes it
- Othello dismisses it & says let him do his evil deeds
- Cassio arrives with a message from the Duke asking Othello to come to the Senate to talk
about the war in Cyprus
- Brabantio and Roderigo arrive with soldiers to arrest Othello for bewitching
Desdemona
- When he hears that the Duke has called for Othello, Brabantio allows him to go saying ‘the
Duke himself, / Or any of my brothers of the state, / Cannot but feel this wrong as ‘twere
their own’.
Scene 3
- Brabantio, Othello, Cassio, Iago & Roderigo arrive at the Senate while they are talking
about the war
- Brabantio tells the Duke that Othello has bewitched his daughter
- The Duke listens to Othello who explains that she fell in love with him as he told her stories
about his life and that ‘she loved me for the dangers I had passed’
- Desdemona is called for & she tells the Senate she married Othello for love & her duty is
now to him rather than her father
- Desdemona asks to go with Othello to Cyprus and Brabantio warns Othello ‘she has
deceived her Father, and may thee’
- Othello asks Iago to bring his wife Emilia to Cyprus to look after Desdemona
- Alone with Roderigo, Iago persuades him to follow them to Cyprus, saying Othello and
Desdemona’s love will not last long
- Alone, Iago tells the audience of his plans to make Othello believe Desdemona is being
unfaithful to him with Cassio to get his place
ACT 2
Scene 1
- News is brought to Montano, the Governor of Cyprus, that ‘our wars are done!’
because the Turkish fleet has been badly damaged by storms
- The messenger announces that Michael Cassio, ‘lieutenant to the warlike Moor, Othello
/ Is come on shore’
- The next ship to arrive carries Desdemona, Iago and Emilia
, - Cassio describes Desdemona as ‘a maid that paragons description and wild fame’ and
greets her very affectionately
- Observing how close Cassio and Desdemona seem, Iago tells the audience ‘with as little a
web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio’
- Finally Othello’s ship arrives and he and Desdemona are delighted to be together again
- Left alone with Roderigo, Iago convinces him that Desdemona is already bored with Othello
and has switched her attention to ‘handsome, young’ Cassio, and that since Cassio is
‘rash and very sudden in choler’, Roderigo should provoke him into a fight later that
evening
- Alone with the audience, Iago offers more reasons why he hates Othello.
Scene 2
- Othello’s herald announces a party to celebrate the triumph over the Turks and
Othello’s marriage to Desdemona.
Scene 3
- Othello leaves Cassio and Iago in charge of the party and goes to spend time alone with
Desdemona
- Iago convinces Cassio to drink even though Cassio protests he has ‘very poor and
unhappy brains for drinking’
- With Cassio clearly drunk, Iago tells Montano ‘I fear the trust Othello puts him in’ and secretly
sends Roderigo to provoke Cassio to fight
- Montano tries to stop the fight but Cassio fights him instead and injures him.
- Othello arrives asking ‘Are we turned Turks?’ and demands to know what is going on
- Iago protests that he does not want to speak badly of Cassio, ‘Yet I persuade myself to
speak the truth’
- Hearing of Cassio’s drunkenness and fighting, Othello says ‘Cassio, I love thee, but never
more be officer of mine’
- Believing Iago is his friend, Cassio tells him how upset he is, ‘O, I have lost my reputation,
I have lost the immortal part of myself and what remains is bestial’, and that he remembers
‘a mass of things, but nothing distinctly; a quarrel, but nothing wherefore’.
- Iago tells him to ask Desdemona for help in convincing Othello to give him back his job and
Cassio agrees saying ‘You advise me well’
- Left alone, Iago tells the audience that as Desdemona ‘for him pleads strongly to the Moor’ he
‘will pour this pestilence into his ear: that she repeals him for her body’s lust’
- Roderigo arrives, complaining that he is bruised from the fight, has no money left and thinks
it’s time to go home.
- Iago assures him the plan is working well.
ACT 3
Scene 1
- The morning after the fight, Cassio asks Emilia to help him speak to Desdemona and Iago
offers further support
- Emilia tells Cassio that Desdemona is already speaking up for him to Othello ‘and she
speaks for you stoutly’
- Cassio asks Emilia to help him speak ‘with Desdemona alone’.
Scene 2
- Othello passes through, talking to Iago and others about affairs of state.
Scene 3
- Desdemona reassures Cassio that she will continue to speak to Othello on his behalf
- She says ‘Do not doubt, Cassio, but I will have my lord and you again as friendly as you
were’
- Iago makes sure Othello sees the end of their conversation and notices Cassio leaving
Desdemona
- He says to Othello that it can’t have been Cassio because ‘I cannot think it that he would
steal away so guilty-like seeing you coming’
1. Content
2. Characters
3. Topics
CONTENT
ACT 1
Scene 1
- Iago tells Roderigo that he hates Othello because Othello has promoted Cassio to be his
lieutenant instead of him
- even though Cassio has less experience
- Iago tells Roderigo “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” (He’ll get what he wants)
- Iago & Roderigo stand outside Brabantio’s house & shout to wake him up
- they tell him about his daughter’s secret marriage to Othello
- Iago makes Brabantio angry by describing Othello & Desdemona with sexual animal
imagery
- Brabantio doesn’t recognize them at first but eventually sees Roderigo
- scence ends with Roderigo offering to help Brabantio find the married couple to split them
up
Scene 2
- Iago tells Othello that Brabantio knows about his marriage & he dislikes it
- Othello dismisses it & says let him do his evil deeds
- Cassio arrives with a message from the Duke asking Othello to come to the Senate to talk
about the war in Cyprus
- Brabantio and Roderigo arrive with soldiers to arrest Othello for bewitching
Desdemona
- When he hears that the Duke has called for Othello, Brabantio allows him to go saying ‘the
Duke himself, / Or any of my brothers of the state, / Cannot but feel this wrong as ‘twere
their own’.
Scene 3
- Brabantio, Othello, Cassio, Iago & Roderigo arrive at the Senate while they are talking
about the war
- Brabantio tells the Duke that Othello has bewitched his daughter
- The Duke listens to Othello who explains that she fell in love with him as he told her stories
about his life and that ‘she loved me for the dangers I had passed’
- Desdemona is called for & she tells the Senate she married Othello for love & her duty is
now to him rather than her father
- Desdemona asks to go with Othello to Cyprus and Brabantio warns Othello ‘she has
deceived her Father, and may thee’
- Othello asks Iago to bring his wife Emilia to Cyprus to look after Desdemona
- Alone with Roderigo, Iago persuades him to follow them to Cyprus, saying Othello and
Desdemona’s love will not last long
- Alone, Iago tells the audience of his plans to make Othello believe Desdemona is being
unfaithful to him with Cassio to get his place
ACT 2
Scene 1
- News is brought to Montano, the Governor of Cyprus, that ‘our wars are done!’
because the Turkish fleet has been badly damaged by storms
- The messenger announces that Michael Cassio, ‘lieutenant to the warlike Moor, Othello
/ Is come on shore’
- The next ship to arrive carries Desdemona, Iago and Emilia
, - Cassio describes Desdemona as ‘a maid that paragons description and wild fame’ and
greets her very affectionately
- Observing how close Cassio and Desdemona seem, Iago tells the audience ‘with as little a
web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio’
- Finally Othello’s ship arrives and he and Desdemona are delighted to be together again
- Left alone with Roderigo, Iago convinces him that Desdemona is already bored with Othello
and has switched her attention to ‘handsome, young’ Cassio, and that since Cassio is
‘rash and very sudden in choler’, Roderigo should provoke him into a fight later that
evening
- Alone with the audience, Iago offers more reasons why he hates Othello.
Scene 2
- Othello’s herald announces a party to celebrate the triumph over the Turks and
Othello’s marriage to Desdemona.
Scene 3
- Othello leaves Cassio and Iago in charge of the party and goes to spend time alone with
Desdemona
- Iago convinces Cassio to drink even though Cassio protests he has ‘very poor and
unhappy brains for drinking’
- With Cassio clearly drunk, Iago tells Montano ‘I fear the trust Othello puts him in’ and secretly
sends Roderigo to provoke Cassio to fight
- Montano tries to stop the fight but Cassio fights him instead and injures him.
- Othello arrives asking ‘Are we turned Turks?’ and demands to know what is going on
- Iago protests that he does not want to speak badly of Cassio, ‘Yet I persuade myself to
speak the truth’
- Hearing of Cassio’s drunkenness and fighting, Othello says ‘Cassio, I love thee, but never
more be officer of mine’
- Believing Iago is his friend, Cassio tells him how upset he is, ‘O, I have lost my reputation,
I have lost the immortal part of myself and what remains is bestial’, and that he remembers
‘a mass of things, but nothing distinctly; a quarrel, but nothing wherefore’.
- Iago tells him to ask Desdemona for help in convincing Othello to give him back his job and
Cassio agrees saying ‘You advise me well’
- Left alone, Iago tells the audience that as Desdemona ‘for him pleads strongly to the Moor’ he
‘will pour this pestilence into his ear: that she repeals him for her body’s lust’
- Roderigo arrives, complaining that he is bruised from the fight, has no money left and thinks
it’s time to go home.
- Iago assures him the plan is working well.
ACT 3
Scene 1
- The morning after the fight, Cassio asks Emilia to help him speak to Desdemona and Iago
offers further support
- Emilia tells Cassio that Desdemona is already speaking up for him to Othello ‘and she
speaks for you stoutly’
- Cassio asks Emilia to help him speak ‘with Desdemona alone’.
Scene 2
- Othello passes through, talking to Iago and others about affairs of state.
Scene 3
- Desdemona reassures Cassio that she will continue to speak to Othello on his behalf
- She says ‘Do not doubt, Cassio, but I will have my lord and you again as friendly as you
were’
- Iago makes sure Othello sees the end of their conversation and notices Cassio leaving
Desdemona
- He says to Othello that it can’t have been Cassio because ‘I cannot think it that he would
steal away so guilty-like seeing you coming’
