Key quotes for Feb mock

Act 1: Iago’I am not what I am’

Allusion, repetition, present tense

Biblical allusion (Exodus 3:14) ‘I am who I am’ where God reveals his unchanging goodness. Shakespeare’s inversion of this phrase indicates Iago’s devilish nature

Audience introduced to tragic villain before tragic hero, his dual nature is revealed to audience

Act 1: Iago’ Even now, now, very now, an old black ram /Is tupping your white ewe’

Repetition, imagery, juxtaposition

Iago’s racism reveals deep-rooted prejudices, Shakespeare uses this to highlight external pressure society places on our tragic hero

Repetition shows Iago’s urgency and how he can persuade, his manipulative skills to get Brabantio to take immediate action

Zoomorphic imagery exemplifies racist stereotypes surrounding Othello, Iago portrays him as uncivilised which will be debunked in Act 1 Sc 2

Juxtaposition of colours shows Iago’s obsession with ethnicity, Desdemona is objectified reflecting his misogynistic view on women

Act 1 Sc 2: Othello ‘My services which I have done the signiory Shall out-tongue his complaints’

Blank verse (without rhyme using iambic pentameter), motif, modal verb

In contrast to descriptions in Act 1, Shakespeare leads us to see him as rational, calm and noble. ‘but he, as loving as his own pride and purposes, evades them with a bombastic circumstance, horribly stuffed with epithets of war’

Blank verse is more ordered while Iago’s prose shows chaos

Modal verb ‘shall’ shows Othello’s confidence

Motif of storytelling, individual who controls the narrative can wield power, Othello believes his story will ‘out-tongue’ Brabantio’s version of events

Act 1 Sc 3: Brabantio ‘Look to her ,Moor, if thou hast eyes to see/ She has deceived her father, and may thee’

Motif of sight, Ryhming couplet

Brabantio is the first one to mention betrayal, Act 3 Sc 3 Iago echos his words from when he was silently spectating ‘She did deceive her father, marrying you’ … ‘And yet how nature erring from itself’ - Act 1 Sc 3 Brabantio ‘For nature so preposterously to err’

Motif of sight , Shakespeare highlights Othello’s dependance on visible evidence Act 3 Sc 3 ‘Give me the ocular proof’

Rhyming couplets indicates prophetic quality

Act 2 Sc 1 Othello: ‘O my fair warrior… O my soul’s joy’

Exclamations, imagery, motif, paradox!

Seeing each other as equal

Pinnacle of Desdemona and Othello’s marriage, Shakespeare sets this private moment in a public setting with dozens of soldiers present, Iago watches on

Exclamation emphasises Othello’s happiness, Shakespeare portrays relationship as harmonious and equal, shows the emotional depth ‘soul’

Motif of ‘soul’ refers to core of an individual’s identity and being

This joyous reunion is tampered with possessive pronoun ‘my’ shows power imbalance

Act 2 Sc 3 Othello: ‘my blood begins my safer guides to rule/ And passion having my best judgement collied/ Assays to lead the way’

Juxtaposition, Motif of judgement, Imagery of ruling

Plays key turning point, transforms from rational to irrational

Motif of judgement is associated with reason and the key quality of a successful leader, passion (personal emotion) suggests leader is losing perspective

Imagery of ruling connects personal and political. As leaders become unable to rule their mind it isn’t possible for them to rule a state.

Act 2 Sc3 Cassio: ‘Reputation, reputation, reputation! O I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial’

tricolon- foreshadows tragic loss of reputation Iago will also pursue in Desdemona’s wrongful shaming

Dramatic irony- the character Iago standing right in front of him is the true bestial man who has caused this

Prose, repetition, juxtaposition

Cassio’s disintegration foreshadows Othello’s later transformation

Shakespeare uses prose and repetition to signal shift from order to chaos

Juxtaposition of ‘immortal/bestial’

He has lost his public image and the respect and trust of Othello which pains him, it shows his value in honour and reputation. It’s tragic as we know he would never willingly do something shameful and Iago led him astray.

Act 2 Sc3 Iago: ‘So will I turn her virtue into pitch, and out of her own goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all’

Soliloquy, modal verb, imagery

Shakespeare emphasises Iago’s vengeful villainy and manipulative character as he will pervert all the good in his quest for control

Shakespeare gives the tragic villain Iago more soliloquies than the tragic hero Othello so the audience can gain a sense of his developing plan and see the power he has

Modal verb ‘will’ articulates Iago’s determination

Image of ‘net’ links to spider web mentioned earlier, Iago’s aim is not only destruction but he wants control as he feels inferior

Act 4 Sc 1 Othello: ‘Is’t possible- confess? Handkerchief? O devil! [he falls into a trance] (in Act 3 Sc4 Othello has seen his handkerchief in Bianca’s hands)

Motif of handkerchief, staging

Shakespeare shows the disintegration of Othello’s mind

Othello’s psychological collapse is reflected in his language of fragmented sentences showing his racing mind and disordered thinking. Half- questions and silence.

Repetition of ‘handkerchief’ throughout Act 3 indicated Othello’s obsessions with this token he gave her, this is a piece of ‘ocular proof’

The staging is powerful, Othello lies incapacitated at the feet of the villain Iago, pathos is heightened for Othello

Act 5 Sc 2 Desdemona: ‘Some bloody passion shakes your very frame’

Imagery, motif of blood, staging

Desdemona recognises her husband is consumed by irrational violence

The word ‘blood’ is used throughout the play to signify violent acts and loss of control. Act 2 Sc 3 Othello’s ‘blood ruling ‘ his ‘safer guides’

This final scene between Desdemona and Othello is staged in the couple’s private bedchamber instead of a public or political space. The tragic hero’s ‘passion’ propels him to murder.

Act 4 Sc3 Des: ‘Good night, good night; heaven me such uses send, not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend’

Desdemona is an idealist who wants to believe the best in people

Opposite to Emilia

Desdemona refuses to compromise her goodness

rhyming couplet of send, mend reinforces the firmness of her moral stance

Act 4 Sc2 Othello: ‘this is a subtle whore’, ‘your wife my lord, your true and loyal wife’

Othello's language has completely changed he is not only under the influence and control of Iago but he has not begun to speak and act like him.

contrast to act 2 sc3 ‘o my fair warrior… o my soul’s joy’

Act 4 Sc 1 Othello : "A doth the raven o'er the infected house Boding to all! - he had my handkerchief"

In the Jacobean society there would be a fear of illnesses like the black death

Raven- omen, symbolising death and spreading of infection

This imagery connected to animals and disease foreshadows the following deaths to come

act 3 c 3 Desdemona : "I'll intermingle everything he does with Cassio's suit"

unwittingly aiding to her own tragic downfall

Act 3 Sc 3 Othello: ‘"Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee, and when I love thee not, chaos is come again"

Perdition means hell

he loves her boundlessly that his love for her threatens his own soul

Othello’s words are prophetic ‘chaos’ will come again when he feels threatened of cuckoldry

Act 2 Sc1 Cassio: ‘let the heavens give him defence against the elements, for I have lost him on a dangerous sea’ ‘the divine desdemona’

hyperbolic language

Act 3 Sc3 Emilia: ‘a thousand times he bid me to steal it’,
'I nothing but to please his fantasy,'

Emilia about Iago