36 pages • 1 hour read
William ShakespeareOthello
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1604A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Act IChapter Summaries & Analyses
Scene 1 Summary
Iago complains to Roderigo that his commander Othello, a Moor, has promoted Cassio to be his lieutenant instead of the more battle-hardened Iago. When Roderigo suggests he quit his post, Iago tells him he instead plans to pretend to serve Othello while acting in his own self-interest. To that end, he suggests that he and Roderigo alert Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, that she has eloped with Othello. Roderigo, a rejected suitor of Desdemona, agrees, and the two wake Brabantio and incite him with lewd, racist references to miscegenation: “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is tupping your white ewe” (97-98). When Brabantio discovers that Desdemona is missing, he raises an armed mob and asks Roderigo to lead him to Othello. Iago, not wanting to be seen working against Othello, exits before Brabantio can recognize him.
Scene 2 Summary
At Othello’s residence, Iago, pretending to be allied with Othello, warns him of Brabantio’s anger and impending arrival. Othello expresses confidence that his past service to the Venetian government, noble status, and legal marriage to Desdemona will protect him. Cassio enters and informs Othello that the senate has summoned him for an urgent matter of state. As Othello prepares to go with Cassio, Brabantio, Roderigo, and their mob enter. Brabantio accuses him of using magic to control Desdemona and declares his intent to imprison Othello. Othello replies that the Duke has summoned him on important business, and Brabantio, also a senator, discovers that he too has been summoned. He goes with Othello to settle the matter before the senate.
Scene 3 Summary
In the senate, the senators are discussing the Turks’ impending siege on Cyprus. Othello and Brabantio enter, and Brabantio again accuses Othello of controlling his daughter with magic or drugs because she is “not deficient, blind, or/lame of sense” (76) enough to marry him otherwise. Othello tells the senate that Desdemona fell in love with him while listening to his tales of his adventures at her father’s dinner table. Iago brings Desdemona before the senate and she attests to her love for Othello. The senate intends to send him to defend Cyprus, and Desdemona asks to accompany him, which the senate agree to. Having failed to ruin the marriage of Othello and Desdemona, Roderigo contemplates killing himself. Iago brushes aside Roderigo’s despair and says he should instead acquire money and join him in seeking revenge on Othello. Roderigo vows to sell his land, and after he exits, Iago reveals that he will use Roderigo’s money to fund his own revenge plan. He also reveals that there is a rumor that Othello has slept with his wife, Emilia, and the possibility alone is enough to motivate him to ruin Othello. He then describes his plan to frame Cassio as Desdemona’s lover.
Act I Analysis
The first act establishes the Venetians’ view of Othello. They regard him as a noble servant of the state and a skilled warrior, but do not regard him as an equal because he is a “Moor” (likely meaning North African). The senators and Duke of Venice view Othello’s good traits as qualities that bely his race. This ingrained bigotry allows Roderigo and Iago to goad Desdemona’s father into a fury over her elopement with Othello. However, the Turks’ impending attack on Cyprus reinforces Othello’s military importance to Venice and probably helps convince the Senate to let the marriage stand. Although he initially seems allied with Roderigo, Iago’s soliloquies let the reader see that he is using Roderigo for his own ends. Since Iago has no true allegiance to any other character, soliloquies will be an important window to his intentions throughout the play. The dramatic irony that results from Iago’s revelations heighten the tension for readers and audiences and also gives them an opportunity to appreciate the complexity of Iago’s manipulations.
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By William Shakespeare
