How does the opening act of Othello prepare the audience for the outcome of the play?

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How does the opening act of Othello prepare the audience for the outcome of the play?

 

The play Othello portrays the story of the protagonist Othello (The Moor) and his loved one- Desdemona- and his struggles to overcome a racist society in 17th century Venice. In the meantime Iago, one of Othello’s closest friends’ plots revenge on him, as Othello passed him over for an important position in the army and gave it to Cassio, an outsider from Florence.

The outcome of the play reveals that Iago’s plan has been successful- Desdemona is murdered by Othello in a spate of jealousy and anger, caused by Iago’s cunning machinations. Othello soon realizes his mistake and damns himself by committing suicide. While Iago is found out and taken away to be tortured, the audience still realizes that his plot has succeeded- he took over the military position and took revenge on both Cassio and Othello.

The opening act provides the audience with clues which hint at the outcome of Othello. Act one establishes Othello’s and Iago’s characters, and how they are diametrically opposed. It establishes the prejudice faced by Othello as a black man in a white society, Desdemona’s loyalty to him as his wife, the setting of conflict and war, the themes of jealousy, betrayal and pride and the insecurity which Othello has in himself. In short, act one contains the essence of the play.

Act one, Scene one establishes Iago’s character and his motives. Indeed, the first word the audience hears from Iago is blasphemous;

“Sblood, but you will not hear me”, and later we hear “And I, God bless the mark, his moorship’s ancient”

Iago is immediately established as the antagonist of the play- his casual use of blasphemous language immediately alienates him from an early 17th-century audience, which in that time was deeply religious. Shakespeare thus implies that it will be Iago who ultimately determines the outcome of the play, and the way Iago flings around blasphemous phrases with impunity gives the audience the sense that he believes himself to be superior of others and therefore in control.

Shakespeare further emphasises Iago’s superiority (or rather, how Iago himself believes it) through the following phrases;

“Wears out his time much like his master’s ass… whip me such honest knaves”

 

Iago implies that servants who honestly serve their masters are fools, emphasised by “his master’s ass”- this imagery allows Iago to express his view that such servants are no more worthy than a mere donkey

“Others there are…keep yet their hearts attending on themselves…when they have lined their coats do themselves homage. These fellows have some soul”

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Instead, Iago rather respects those servants who fool their masters and take advantage of trust. The phrase “these fellows have some soul” once again shows the blasphemous nature of Iago; he actually believes that those who fool and deceive are truly alive. The religious notion he uses again establishes his superiority complex

“By Janus… I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at. I am not who I am”

Iago’s reputation as a blasphemer is fully revealed by the interesting notion that he swears by a non-Christian God- Janus is the two-faced Greek ...

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