Othello by Paige Birmingham
Act 1
Iago tells Roderigo that he hates Othello for passing him up for second-in-command and giving it to Cassio. Roderigo hates Othello because he is eloping is Desdemona loosing Roderigo's chances to be with her
Iago and Roderigo tell Desdemona's father, Brabantio, that Desdemona has eloped and Iago has a plan to take Othello down and Brabantio goes to find the two lovers
Othello is called in front of the Duke, after he is warned by Iago, because Brabantio believes he tricked Desdemona into marrying him. Desdemona says that she loves Othello for his way of words and that she truly loves him.
Othello is sent to Cyprus and Desdemona comes along with Iago as her escort and Iago convinces Roderigo to sell his land to begin to process of revenge on Othello and to help him Desdemona.
Act 2
Desdemona, Cassio, Iago and Emilia (Iago's wife) arrive in Cyprus waiting for Othello when he arrives. The army discovers that the Turkish fleet has been destroyed
Roderigo is manipulated to believe the Desdemona loves Cassio by Iago who also manipulates Cassio is drink get into a fight with Roderigo then Montano and loose his lieutenancy
Iago's next step in the plan is to manipulate Othello into thinking Desdemona loves Cassio and is favoring him to be rein instated because of it.
Act 3
Iago tells Cassio to try to arrange a meeting with Desdemona to get back into Othello's favor while Desdemona is already trying to help Cassio. Emilia sets up a meeting between Cassio and Desdemona.
Cassio and Desdemona meet but it is cut short by a visit from Othello.
Iago keeps whispering lies into Otherllo's ear about Desdemona and Cassio making him doubt his wife's love for him
Desdemona drops her handkerchief that Othello gave to her and Iago finds it deciding to use it to bring Othello down by planting it in Cassio's room
Othello asks Desdemona to produce the handkerchief but she can't and is worried.
Emilia is the one who steals the handkerchief and gives it to Iago knowing he is going to do something to it but he won't tell her
Cassio finds the handkerchief in his room and asks Bianca, his prostitute or girlfriend to copy the embroidery for him
Othello
Desdemona
Iago
Emilia
Cassio
Bianca
the noble hero of the story
very trusting of Iago
chose Cassio as his lieutenant over Iago
a moor and a hired mercenary
married to Desdemona
gave her a handkerchief that he got from his mother
easily manipulated by Iago to believe that Desdemona is in love with Cassio
the daughter of Barbantio
eloped with Othello
fell in love with him through his words and their conversation
seen as virtuous and honest
just a pawn to Iago to get him revenge against Othello and doesn't even know it
the antagonist
wants revenge against Othello
passing him up for the second in command
possibly sleeping with his wife
for being a foreigner and being black
sexist and rude to his wife
wife to Iago
steals Desdemona's handkerchief to give to Iago without knowing what it's for
handmaid to Desdemona
Roderigo
Duke
Act 4
Act 5
second-in-command to Othello
get manipulated into fighting Roderigo and then Montano making Othello remove him from the position
Cassio's prostitute
very flirty and easily manipulated
manipulative
full of testosterone
Othello has a seizure after Iago continues to tell him about Desdemona's affair with little details.
He sees a conversation happening between Cassio and Iago but can't hear it and Iago fills his head with lies saying they were discussing Desdemona when in reality they were talking about Bianca and how she seems to have fallen in love with Cassio
Lodovico arrives and while meeting Othello gets made at Desdemona for being ignorant of what she has done and strikes her before dismissing her.
Othello then questions Emilia who says she never saw anything between them no whispering or adultery and never even left when he was in Desdemona's presence. He then tells Desdemona that she is no better than a prostitute which causes her to turn to Iago for reassurance
Roderigo attacks Iago demanding that nothing is working but Iago talks him down and tells him that Othello and Desdemona are leaving and to stop them from doing so he must kill Cassio.
Classical Tragedy
Fatal Flaw
Jealousy
Hamartia
Othello has an error in judgement when he believes Iago when he tells him that Desdemona is in love with Cassio. He doesn't even believe Desdemona when she tells him she is innocent.
Peripeteia
fatal flaw of Othello that drives him to kill Desdemona because he thinks Cassio has won her love because he doesn't believe her
When the handkerchief is taken by Emilia because even though Iago has told Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him the proof was the handkerchief that drove Othello to make the plan with Iago to kill Cassio and Desdemona
Hubris
being from a different land is already a cause for insecurities which for Othello are only heightened with the comments about his race along with the social climb he made. So when Iago planted a seed of jealousy in Othello is worsened to fear that she didn't love him and the pride he had of having Desdemona and his position comes out.
Anagnorisis
When Othello realizes he has been manipulated by Iago after he killed Desdemona he knows he has made a horrible mistake and knows he has to die which he does when he stabs himself.
Imagery
Act 1.1, 125-127
Othello is being referenced to an animal and that all their children, cousins and uncles shall be animals too. This evokes fear with Brabantio that a foreigner is with his daughter
Brabantio
Act 1.1, 97-98
Animals are being referenced with both Desdemona (white ewe) and Othello (old black ram) this shows imagery not only of the difference in their skin color but also the fact that white is a sign of purity which Desdemona is seen as.
unknowingly helps Iago's plan when she brings up the handkerchief to Cassio while Othello is watching (but isn't seen)
essentially another one of Iago's pawns
creepily in love withe Desdemona and won't give up on here even though she is married and her father said no
falls into Iago's trap of revenge on Othello because of his love for Desdemona
Desdemona's father
outraged that she married Othello and man he likes but doesn't approve of for his son-in-law
high born and has people in high places
a benevolent man who could have killed Othello for marrying Desdemona
Act 2.3, 51-52
Iago is talking to himself about how Cassio is so full of a fight and uses the example of a girl's spoiled dog.
At 2.3, 292-295
After Cassio loses his position Iago tells him to talk to Othello because he only punished Cassio because he needed to punish the weak to seem strong in front of his men
Act 3.3, 311
Act 5.1, 74
Iago stabs Roderigo and it is at this time he realizes he has been deceived so he calls Iago a inhuman dog which means he is lower than a human
Act 5.2, 7-15
Othello is comparing Desdemona to the light from a candle. How he can put the light of a candle out as quick and he could her but he can also relight the candle with fire however the same cannot be said for Desdemona because once her light is out it cannot be relit.
Roderigo starts a fight with Cassio and both end up injured however Iago kills Roderigo since Cassio is in plain sight. The shouts of murder also signal to Othello that he must murder Desdemona
Lodovico comes to Cyprus and Othello gets mad at Desdemona because he believes she is being ignorant of her sins when she truly is and strikes her in front of Lodovico. Emilia than comforts Desdemona telling her that women do horrible things to their wives as men to the their women.
Othello talks of killing Desdemona and wakes her which he announces his intent which frightens her. He kills her and Emilia finds her dead after she told Othello that Cassio is not dead but Roderigo
Catharsis
After he understands he has to die he doesn't deny what he has done but by his death he is cleansed of all he has done even before then because he is fearful of himself and what he has done.
Othello believes that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio and since he can't have Desdemona's love or believes he can't he would rather become a toad which is very low in the eyes of man.
Act 4.2, 82-83
Otehllo refers to Desdemona as paper to which her label can he written as a whore.
Emilia calls out and Iago's treachery begins to unfold. Othello tells the people in the room Lodovico and Montano that Desdemona was unfaithful but Emilia is counter aruging. When he mentions the handkerchief Emilia admits to stealing it. Iago gets made and Emilia ends up dead.
With both Desdemona and Emilia dead Iago runs for it as Othello processes what has happened. He has determined he must die but he is weaponless since he tried to stab Iago after everyone comes back with Iago along with Cassio
Cassio comes to know what has happened and some how Othello dies by killing himself ending the tragedy.
Key Quotations
Act 1.1, 63-64
Iago tells Roderigo that he is against Othello which is the reason why he wants to get revenge on Othello causing the end of the play.
Act 3.3 334-343
Act 1.3, 208-218
Desdemona proclaims her love for Othello to her father in front of the duke showing that her love is true and unwavering and setting her character throughout the play
The handkerchief that is the evidence Iago uses to expose Desdemona's supposed unfaithfulness is picked up by Emilia so she can give it to her husband but not know what it is for.
is extremely insecure and jealous that Desdemona might be in the slightest unfaithful
kills himself after realizing what he has done to Desdemona out of sadness and guilt
loses her handkerchief that Othello gave her as his first gift
ends up completely convincing Othello that Desdemona loves Cassio and that they are sleeping together
ends up being found out the night he kills Roderigo and sees what he has brought upon
kills his own wife as to finish his revenge plot and end out on top
stands up to her husband after finding out what he has done showing his true colors
sleeps with Bianca and gives her the handkerchief that he found in his room for her to copy
thinks Cassio is sleeping with another woman and gets jealous.
tries to fight Cassio but ends up being wounded and killed by Iago who he trusted
Characters
Plot