“If I were the Moor, I would not be Iago;
In following him, I follow but myself.
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so for my peculiar end.”
Where he believes himself to be better than the Moor as he would see through someone-else’s apparent loyalty. This also gives us an insight into how trusting Othello is. As we have yet to meet Othello and Cassio, we have, at this point in the play, no reason to doubt that Iago’s comments on each are substantially true. When we meet the characters Iago refers to, we may then judge for ourselves. However some in the audience may pick up on the fact that Iago could very well be lying as he himself proves to the audience and seems quite proud of the fact that; “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”. If this scene was omitted from the play then the audience would not understand some of Iago’s reasoning behind his jealousy, we would not see the initial reactions of Brabantio when he discovers his daughter has gone and we probably wouldn’t have seen straightaway Iago’s deceptiveness.
Scene 2 of Act 1, we are introduced to Othello as he is talking to Iago. We can from here find out a little about his character that is not revealed further on in the play. In this scene we can see Othello as a strong general; “my services which I have done the signiory shall out-tongue his complaints.” Which indeed they do as it is proved by the Duke when he dismisses Brabantio’s moans for Othello’s captaincy skills when dealing with the war. We also find out how Othello believes in his love to Desdemona and defends this when Iago challenges it.
“For know…that I love the gentle Desdemona,
I would not my unhousèd free condition
Put into circumscription and confine
For the sea’s worth.”
Also in this scene we meet Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant, who appears to be very scholarly, as Iago told us yet in a charming way. It is in this scene that Iago first shows directly to the audience what he’s really like, as his actions in this scene towards Othello, as a friend or advisor, strongly contradicts what was said in the first scene. Without this scene in the play the audience would miss out on this opportunity to see this in action straightaway and would also receive different first opinions of the other main characters, Othello and Cassio.
In narrative terms Scene 3 explains why Othello must go to Cyprus: the council’s convening at night indicates the urgency of the situation. Though the reports from the senators are confused, their general sense is clear that an invasion fleet is heading for Cyprus. In this scene the audience first meets Desdemona, Brabantio’s daughter and Othello’s wife. Here the audience is allowed to form their own opinion on her. Without this first introduction to Desdemona the audience would miss her clever argument against her father which proves her wit;
“But here’s my husband; And so much duty as my mother showed
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord.”
Without this scene the audience might not also understand why Desdemona and Othello’s marriage was so scandalous for the time as she was an aristocrat’s white daughter and he a black general. The risk taken for the two lovers to be together adds to the tragedy of the end. This scene also introduces an idea which is important throughout the play; Othello’s balancing of public duty to Venice and the private concerns of his wife. If this scene was left out of the play then the audience would lose some of the background as it why they end up in Cyprus. The audience would also miss out on the rebellious side of Desdemona’s character as this is not shown in the rest of the play.
The first act, set in Venice, serves as a prologue to the tragedy which follows. It allows us to view the main characters in their normal environments before they move out to Cyprus. The first act presents Othello’s relationship with Desdemona before the positioning changes. It also establishes Iago’s malice and general motivation from the very start. In some ways the first Act could act as a warm up to the rest of the play set in Cyprus, like an introduction and background of what is to come. It also builds up tension from the audience’s awareness of the inner motives of the characters for when the characters move to Cyprus and how Iago manipulates each into serving his own interests, while they believe they are receiving his aid. In conclusion, I therefore disagree with Dr. Johnson’s comment and instead believe that Act 1 provides an effective opening to the play.
