ADORA MBA
“Discuss the dramatic strengths of Act I Scene I of Othello”
Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of tension and mystery in the first scene of the play with the opening phrase of “tush, never tell me…” as the characters Roderigo and Iago speak of an un-named issue using words such as “this business” and “matter” and never mention Othello’s name. He is rather a name-less “he” and remains unnamed throughout the scene and is only identified for the first time as “his Moorship”. The setting adds to the dramatic impact of the scene as the characters are on the streets at night making a plan therefore adding suspicion to the audience as we await the plot of the characters.
One of the dramatic strengths of the first scene is the character Iago. The audience may be aware of Iago’s manipulative behaviour from early on this scene as we are informed that Iago uses the money from Roderigo’s purse “As if the strings were thine”. His avaricious behaviour is further emphasised when speaking bitterly about not being promoted to lieutenant “I know my price”. Iago then speaks a “he” (Othello) and of Michael Cassio and his attitude gives a benchmark against which the characters that can then be defined when the audience sees them on stage. In other words, Iago is used by Shakespeare to create false expectations. We hear of a Moor who loves “his own pride and purposes” with a “bombast circumstance” yet only through the words of Iago and so as the character manipulates Roderigo to help him with his plans, so does Iago manipulate our thoughts to the other characters. This is shown further when he speaks of Michael Cassio, “a Florentine”, who “never set a squadron in the field” yet seems to have taken the role Iago was wishing for. The audience may be aware of Iago’s bitter and jealous nature as he speaks of Cassio as an “arithmetician” who has no practical experience of war and of Iago ‘s several conquests as he names the places he has fought for and where.
