3.1.2

Key Events 2

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Othello’s Arrival

Othello’s entrance interrupts the exchange between Iago and Desdemona and her attention immediately swings upon her husband.

Othello's entrance

Othello's entrance

  • Othello enters and Desdemona’s attentions are immediately swung to be focused on her husband.
  • Their deep affection for each other is intensified here as both speak poetically of their love.
Language

Language

  • Othello calls Desdemona his ‘fair warrior’ and ‘his soul’s joy’.
  • He comments: ‘If after every tempest come such calms / May the winds blow till they have wakened death’.
  • Desdemona hopes on the heavens that their ‘loves and comforts should increase’.
Irony

Irony

  • A perceptive audience member here could note the irony in their comments here; for the couple, the storm is only just beginning.

Iago and Roderigo’s Continued Scheming

As we have seen in previous scenes, the scene ends with Iago revealing to the audience what further machinations he plans to put in place to destroy Othello and Desdemona’s marriage.

Sexual appetite

Sexual appetite

  • Iago is able to skilfully manipulate Roderigo into continuing the scheme despite Desdemona’s deep love for Othello by emphasising her supposed sexual appetite.
  • He insists ‘her eye must be fed’, and that she will become bored when ‘the blood is made dull with the act of sport’.
Cassio

Cassio

  • His attention in the scheme moves to Cassio, whom he believes makes a fitting ‘second choice’ for Desdemona, a ‘devilish knave’ who is ‘handsome, young, and hath all those requisites in him that folly and green minds look after’.
Gullible Roderigo

Gullible Roderigo

  • His pernicious influence on the gullible Roderigo is clear as he is able to completely misrepresent the holding of hands between Cassio and Desdemona as not mere ‘courtesy’ but rather an act pointing to ‘a history of lust and foul thoughts’.
Provoking Cassio

Provoking Cassio

  • As he insists Roderigo ‘be ruled’ by him – accentuating his need for control over all – he plans that Roderigo will ‘provoke’ Cassio into a quarrel.
Final soliloquy

Final soliloquy

  • His final soliloquy gives us some insight into his growing anger and his need for ‘revenge’ upon both Cassio and Othello.
  • At the beginning, he claims that he does ‘well believe’t’ that Cassio loves Desdemona.
  • The audience is left to question whether Iago truly does and is delusional, or whether his attempts to deceive and misrepresent facts now even extends to the audience.
Revelations

Revelations

  • As we have seen in previous scenes, the scene ends with Iago revealing to the audience what further machinations he plans to put in place to destroy Othello and Desdemona’s marriage.
Jump to other topics
1

Context

1.1

Introduction

1.1.1Specifications
1.2

Background

1.2.1Shakespeare1.2.2Love1.2.3Tragedy1.2.4Historical Context
1.3

Othello

1.3.1Setting1.3.2Social Issues
2

Act One: Summaries & Themes

2.1

Act and Scene Summaries

2.1.1Structure2.1.2The Exam
2.2

Scene One

2.2.1Key Events2.2.2Key Themes2.2.3Key Ideas
2.3

Scene Two

2.3.1Key Events2.3.2Key Themes2.3.3Key Ideas
2.4

Scene Three

2.4.1Key Events2.4.2Key Events 22.4.3Key Themes2.4.4Key Ideas
3

Act Two: Summaries & Themes

3.1

Scene One & Two

3.1.1Scene One: Events3.1.2Key Events 23.1.3Key Ideas: Love & Tragedy3.1.4Scene Two: Events
3.2

Scene Three

3.2.1Key Events3.2.2Key Ideas
4

Act Three: Summaries & Themes

4.1

Key Events

4.1.1Scene One & Two4.1.2Scene Three4.1.3Scene Three: Key Ideas4.1.4Scene Four
5

Act Four

5.1

Scene One

5.1.1Key Events5.1.2Key Ideas
5.2

Scene Two

5.2.1Key Events5.2.2Key Ideas
5.3

Scene Three

5.3.1Key Events5.3.2Key Ideas
6

Act Five

6.1

Scene One

6.1.1Key Events6.1.2Key Ideas
6.2

Scene Two

6.2.1Key Events6.2.2Key Ideas
7

Character Profiles

7.1

Major Characters

7.1.1Othello7.1.2Iago7.1.3Desdemona7.1.4Emilia7.1.5Cassio
7.2

Minor Characters

7.2.1Roderigo & Brabantio7.2.2Other Characters
8

Key Themes

8.1

Love & Tragedy

8.1.1Love8.1.2Love 28.1.3Tragedy8.1.4Tragedy 2
8.2

Other Key Themes

8.2.1Public versus Private8.2.2Appearance & Reality
9

Writing Techniques

9.1

Writing Techniques

9.1.1Structure9.1.2Genre9.1.3Form & Language9.1.4Language & Imagery
10

Critical Debates

10.1

Criticism & Performance

10.1.1Shakespeare's Legacy10.1.2Traditional10.1.3Modern & Contemporary
10.2

Approaches

10.2.1Feminist Approach10.2.2Psychoanalytic Approach10.2.3Marxist Approach
11

Approaching AQA English Literature

11.1

Specification A

11.1.1Specification A11.1.2Love Through the Ages
11.2

Specification B

11.2.1Specification B11.2.2Aspects of Tragedy
12

Issues of Assessment

12.1

The Exams

12.1.1AOs12.1.2Mark Scheme

Practice questions on Key Events 2

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    Othello calls Desdemona:Fill in the list
  2. 2
    How does Act Two Scene One end?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Iago's discussion of Desdemona's supposed sexual appetite:Fill in the list
  4. 4
    How does Iago manipulate Roderigo into continuing their scheme against Othello?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    Iago's opinion of Cassio:Fill in the list
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Scene One: Events

Key Ideas: Love & Tragedy