Othello

Othello

1. Act 1

   • One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, A fellow almost damned in a fair wife,
     • Iago uses the fact that Cassio cannot control his wife as a reason why he should not be lieutenant - even tho Iago cannot control his own wife
   • He (in good time) must his lieutenant be And I, bless the mark, his Moorship's ancient.
     • One of Iago's many motives - Cassio is lieutenant while Iago is the flag holder. Also this is the first time Othello is mentioned but it is not by name, it is by race
   • an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe
     • Iago uses racist slurs when he wakens Brabantio with the news that his daughter, Desdemona (a white Venetian), has eloped with Othello (an older, black man). When Iago says an "old black ram" (Othello) is "tupping" (sleeping with) Brabantio's "white ewe" (Desdemona), he plays on Elizabethan notions that black men have an animal-like, hyper-sexuality. This seems geared at manipulating Brabantio's fears of miscegenation (when a couple "mixes races" through marriage and/or sex).
   • Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you
     • Iago is using the fear of having a diabolic heir
   • you'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse,
     • We've seen how Iago uses animal imagery in his racist diatribe against Othello, which is grounded in the idea that black men (and women) are inhuman. Here, Brabantio objects to Iago's middle-of-the-night assertions that Desdemona has eloped by saying his house isn't a "grange" (a farm or a farmhouse). Iago takes the opportunity to pun on the term "grange," as he claims that Desdemona is having sex with a "barbary horse" and, as a result, Brabantio will have relatives that "neigh to him." Desdemona and Othello, he says, are "making the beast with two backs" (in other words, humping, like camels). This isn't the first time Iago has implied that Othello's animal-like sexuality corrupts Desdemona.
   • Awake! What ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves!
     • Iago is stating that Desdemona is Brabantio's property
   • I must show out a flag and sign of love- Which is indeed but sign.
     • After stirring up trouble for Othello with Brabantio, Iago says he needs to get lost because it wouldn't look right for him to be present when his general is confronted by Desdemona's father. For now, Iago says he needs to pretend he loves Othello. What's interesting to us about this passage is the way Iago uses the language of war to describe his relationship with Othello - he'll "show out a flag" as a sign of his loyalty (kind of like waving a peace sign when you have every intention of attacking your enemy). Although Iago is an ensign (the lowest rank of commissioned officers), he acts more like a brilliant general as he wages psychological warfare against Othello throughout the play.
   • Faith, he tonight hath boarded a land carrack. If it prove lawful prize, he's made for ever.
     • Iago describes marriage as the violent takeover of an enemy's prize ship. This brings us back to the theory that love is a war in Othello, and Iago is trying to play maestro - or more likely, general
   • O, thou foul thief, where hast thou stowed my daughter?
     • When Brabantio confronts Othello for eloping with Desdemona (without his permission), he accuses his new son-in-law of being a "foul thief," as if Desdemona is piece of property that has been unlawfully taken away from him. We see this same attitude earlier in the play when Iago awakens Brabantio in the middle of the night proclaiming loudly "Awake! what, ho, Brabantio! thieves! thieves! thieves! / Look to your house, your daughter and your bags! / Thieves! thieves!" (1.1.80-82). What's up with that?