Key Ideas

Love, Historical Context and Historicism (Act 1, Scene 2)

Brabantio has no awareness that Desdemona is deeply in love with Othello. He accuses Othello of deceiving and forcing Desdemona’s hand in marriage using ‘drugs or minerals that weakens motion’.

Voodoo

His references to ‘arts inhibited and out of warrant’ imply Brabantio believes Othello has used voodoo or black magic to seduce Desdemona.
He seems to make assumptions about Othello based on common prejudices of his time rather than any knowledge he has of Othello.

Brabantio

At the end of the scene, Brabantio suggests that allowance of the marriage may even lead to wider societal corruptive consequences—he warns that ‘if such actions may have passage free / Bondslaves and pagans shall our statesmen be’.
We later discover that the events may bear out Brabantio’s warnings about this love and marriage between Othello and Desdemona.

Othello

Othello is the first character in the play to speak of love, as he confidently asserts that he loves the ‘gentle Desdemona’ and speaks proudly of his ‘title’ as her husband, contrasting with other character’s view that women are for possession, not for love.
He compares his love for her to the treasures of the ‘sea’s worth’.

True love

It is becomes clear to many of the other characters that Othello’s love for Desdemona is true and honest, and that he did not win her with either witchcraft or charms.
Those watching are as much under his poetic and narrative spell as Desdemona was.

Tragedy (Act 1, Scene 2)

The encroaching tragedy is set up through dramatic irony, Iago's duplicity, Othello's hamartia and the clashing of public and private spheres.

Dramatic irony

Shakespeare creates dramatic irony here through Iago’s untruthful portrayal of his conversation with Roderigo.
He claims he was angered through Roderigo’s use of ‘scurvy and provoking terms’ against Othello’s ‘honour’, providing a sense of irony, as it was Iago who himself did exactly that.

Duplicity

Iago swears ‘By Janus’, an allusion to the Roman god who was represented by a double-faced head, symbolising duality.
This implies Iago’s duplicitous, devious nature.
Duplicity is generally a precursor of tragedy.

Respect for Othello

Everything we have just covered creates the sense that Othello is a man to be admired and respected.
We may also feel some pity for him as he seems to be treated like an outsider by the other characters, despite his admirable qualities, and is seemingly devalued because of his race, implied by comments made by other characters.

Pride

However, his pride and self-confidence in his ‘parts’, ‘title’ and ‘perfect soul’ perhaps also suggests early on a deep flaw (hamartia) in Othello’s character—an arrogance in which he believes men can be judged solely for their actions and reputation.

Private v public

Whilst conflict and tension in Othello’s private sphere builds as Brabantio threatens and accuses him, Michael Cassio also introduces the more public threat of military conflict in Cyprus due to the Turkish invasion as ‘business of some heat’ for which Othello is required ‘haste-post-haste’, already creating a sense of some chaos as Othello is forced to confront both urgent situations simultaneously.

Husband and general

This ascertains that Othello’s private and public roles as husband and military general will be inextricably connected and divisive throughout the rest of the play.
The early conflict both in the private sphere with Brabantio and in the public sphere with the Turks suggests that further conflict and chaos are not far away.

1Context

1.1Introduction

1.1.1Specifications

1.2Background

1.2.1Shakespeare

1.2.2Love

1.2.3Tragedy

1.2.4Historical Context

1.3Othello

1.3.1Setting

1.3.2Social Issues

2Act One: Summaries & Themes

2.1Act and Scene Summaries

2.1.1Structure

2.1.2The Exam

2.2Scene One

2.2.1Key Events

2.2.2Key Themes

2.2.3Key Ideas

2.3Scene Two

2.3.1Key Events

2.3.2Key Themes

2.3.3Key Ideas

2.4Scene Three

2.4.1Key Events

2.4.2Key Events 2

2.4.3Key Themes

2.4.4Key Ideas

3Act Two: Summaries & Themes

3.1Scene One & Two

3.1.1Scene One: Events

3.1.2Key Events 2

3.1.3Key Ideas: Love & Tragedy

3.1.4Scene Two: Events

3.2Scene Three

3.2.1Key Events

3.2.2Key Ideas

4Act Three: Summaries & Themes

4.1Key Events

4.1.1Scene One & Two

4.1.2Scene Three

4.1.3Scene Three: Key Ideas

4.1.4Scene Four

5Act Four

5.1Scene One

5.1.1Key Events

5.1.2Key Ideas

5.2Scene Two

5.2.1Key Events

5.2.2Key Ideas

5.3Scene Three

5.3.1Key Events

5.3.2Key Ideas

6Act Five

6.1Scene One

6.1.1Key Events

6.1.2Key Ideas

6.2Scene Two

6.2.1Key Events

6.2.2Key Ideas

7Character Profiles

7.1Major Characters

7.1.1Othello

7.1.2Iago

7.1.3Desdemona

7.1.4Emilia

7.1.5Cassio

7.2Minor Characters

7.2.1Roderigo & Brabantio

7.2.2Other Characters

8Key Themes

8.1Love & Tragedy

8.1.1Love

8.1.2Love 2

8.1.3Tragedy

8.1.4Tragedy 2

8.2Other Key Themes

8.2.1Public versus Private

8.2.2Appearance & Reality

9Writing Techniques

9.1Writing Techniques

9.1.1Structure

9.1.2Genre

9.1.3Form & Language

9.1.4Language & Imagery

10Critical Debates

10.1Criticism & Performance

10.1.1Shakespeare's Legacy

10.1.2Traditional

10.1.3Modern & Contemporary

10.2Approaches

10.2.1Feminist Approach

10.2.2Psychoanalytic Approach

10.2.3Marxist Approach

11Approaching AQA English Literature

11.1Specification A

11.1.1Specification A

11.1.2Love Through the Ages

11.2Specification B

11.2.1Specification B

11.2.2Aspects of Tragedy

12Issues of Assessment

12.1The Exams

12.1.1AOs

12.1.2Mark Scheme

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