Othello - Act1 C

Othello - Act1 C

1. Act 1, Scene '3: a lover's 'music'?

   • in opening sequence, Shakespeare set us up to share the prejudices of I, R and B, before contrasting them with the appearance of the protagonist & his noble manner of speech & action
     • Performance
       • This can and has been altered: Othello can be played as mannered & self-regarding, or foolish, almost petty
         • if true that Shakespeare is making point in contrasting others prejudices with O's appearance as commanding & impressive then might we not accept the race issue is an important part of the play?
           • not all directors or performers agree with this
     • O's speech amplifies our growing sense of the importance of the position he holds in the Venitian republic
     • also introduced to what has been called 'O's music' (G. Wilson Knight) as way of describing Othello's characteristically heroic mode of speech
   • In 1st of O's grand speech he gives his account of wooing D.
     • his claim that he lacks eloquence: a conventional modest disclaimer BUT also a reminder that he's a soldier not accustomed to matters of DOMESTIC interest such as love and marriage
       • lack of experience with fatal consequences
   • 1.3.128 to 170
     • What clues about D. from O & B's comments?
       • B: D is 'maiden never bold' = epitome of modesty while to O. she seemed more forward
     • the kind of poetry ('O's music - Knight) O. used to convey the romantic glamour O represent to others & himself and what he stands for
       • has D. fallen in love in O's glamour and wonderful story (not surprising for young woman who we can assume closely confined by her father) or the man himself?
     • Characterisation
       • presentation of O's character from his defence
         • a life experience and history much deeper & broader than Venetians around him
           • incl. D. whom it has so impressed
       • what espec. noticeable about presentation compared to other characters?
         • sheer richness of O's lang., not just wonders of exotic life story but 'She'd...greedy ear...devour up my discourse'
           • not just amazing soldier and hardly the 'unvarnished' tale he claims, either about himself or about how he impressed D.
   • DESDEMONA (a woman in love, fascinated by exotic stranger) ventriloquised by O. but can & does speak for herself
     • her responses are powerful: 'That I did love the Moor...Let me go with him' 1.3.246-8, 257)
       • Defiant here but earlier more carefully judged reaction to her father's call on her loyalties
         • also hint that sexual fulfilment is part of what she expect of marriage as wel as usual rituals associated with love & marriage (1.3.255)
           • which O. follows with 1.3.259-63): declaring that it not the hot sexual appetites of the young that drive him to request D. be allowed to join him in Cyprus
             • ambiguity here:
               • is O. the older man in a potential mismatch or outsider trying to show his love is as pure as to wish for in Sty he has joined by marrying D.
                 • he is now intimately connected to Venice while before he was their admired mercenary - quite a different relationship
             • remember these are public declaration so normal to be guarded about sexsual desires

2. Discordance: Iago's first soliloquy (solilo. = very important technique in early modern theatre)

   • That death is to follow is anticipated by final exchanges Act1, Sc3 when R & I set the final direction of the tragedy
     • B's warning to Othello will echo throughout what follows: She has deceived her father, and may thee' 1.3.291
   • his lang. major contrast to O's music
     • more colloquial (hence often in prose), less grandiose & views love as gross & basic as before
       • He's not interested in how others see love and the idea that it might be more than bodily satisfaction challenges his brutal view of life
         • thus he feels forced to undermine this diverging idea
     • many of Shakespeare plays have an opposing voice, acting as kind of foil to the hero. Iago is the foil.
   • Act 1 ends as it began: in darkness
   • Iago's many repetitions of 'Put money in thy purse' until feels ridiculous
   • its function
     • reveal I's motivation & his plan to use Cassio to bring O. down using O's 'free & open nature' 1.3.388
     • seems to be addressing the audience, aiming to share his viewpt (making us accomplices
   • we knew that I. resents O making Cassio lieutenant instead of him & now another reason to hate O. who appears to have cuckolded him
     • but not sure of this fact
       • is he looking for reasons to injure O.?
         • COLERIDGE: 'the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity'
           • = I. driven by his 'malignity' rather than any clear motive
             • this type of suspicion & idea appear in later I's soliloquies to justify his purposes
   • Notice pause in rhythm in line 391: the incomplete iambic pentameter indicates the actor pauses at that pt. and there is silence while we WATCH him think
     • the mvt of Iago's mind itself is being dramatised
     • We now see I. for what he is : a devious 'machiavel' or manipulator
       • constructs his plots by knowing others better than themselves
         • his words also underline contrast between himself & O. whose 'free & open nature' make him think men 'honest that but seem to be so'
           • ironically echoes Othello's earlier use of 'honest' to describe I as a man of 'honesty & trust'
             • the word is then repeated through the play, each time with a slightly different twist, working on our minds as echoing reminder of the opening contrast between I & O