Roderigo is easily led and influenced by Iagos illustration of Othello and of course is jealous of Othello because he has married Desdemona and therefore follows Iagos instructions if he is convinced that it will help him get closer to Desdemona. For instance once Iago is sure that Roderigo is sold on the opinion that Othello is menacing, Iago tells Roderigo to notify Desdemonas father, Brabantio of the marriage.
‘Iago: Call up her father,
Rouse him, make after him, poison his delight’
Iagos use of imperatives would encourage the easily led Roderigo to do as Iago says, and therefore Roderigo would do the jobs that would benefit Iago more than Roderigo. Even though Roderigo pays Iago money to work for him it seems apparent that in fact Roderigo will be serving Iago.
When Iago and Roderigo go to tell Brabantio of the marriage Iago remains anonymous but Roderigo makes himself known. Because Iago ensures his anonymity he can say whatever he likes about Othello and not seem disloyal because of it. Therefore he makes several comments which would make Brabantio feel upset for instance,
‘Iago: you’ll
Have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse;’
‘ your daughter
and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.’
Iago is very disrespectful about Othello, referring to him as a beastly animal and portraying his relationship with Desdemona as violent and evil. This is bound to agitate Brabantio and therefore cause tension between the himself, Desdemona and Othello.
Roderigo tries to explain things in a respectful way to Brabantio, however he too depicts a venomous image of Othello
‘Roderigo: To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor’
Roderigo talks with a rhythm and uses sibilance which emphasise the image that he is trying to portray, the rhythm also reflects his truthfulness as he is telling the truth as he believes it. But his words echo Iagos feelings and therefore is doing the work Iago wants him to do without realising it.
Iagos relationship with Roderigo is seemingly to Roderigo that they are great friends and Iago is doing all he can to help him. However it appears evident that Iago is using Roderigos weak and easily led character for his own gain.
Iago leaves to inform Othello that Roderigo has been treacherous towards him because of his jealousy concerning Desdemona. This way Iago ensures that he seems truthful to Othello and gains his trust. The audience would now see that Iago is deceitful and two faced. However the way Iago portrays himself to Othello is ironic, for instance’
‘Iago: Yet do I hold it very stuff o’th’conscience
To do no contrived murder: I lack iniquity’
this is ironic because it seems that Iago has no conscience and he definitely does not lack corruption as is evident from his conversations with Roderigo and Brabantio earlier in the play. Also this remark is prophetic irony because it mirrors what actually does happen later in the play, as Iago does in fact contrive murder.
Scene two is the first introduction of Othello and is very unlike the character as described to Roderigo and Brabantio by Iago.
‘Othello: Let him do his spite;
My services, which I have done the signiory,
Shall out-tongue his complaints.’
Othello talks in a confident tone and does not appear upset by what Iago has told him about Roderigo’s betrayal. He seems placid and fearless about Brabantio. Othellos portrayal of his relationship with Desdemona is very different to how it has been described before.
‘Iago:n the devil (Othello) will make a grandsire of you (Brabantio),’
‘Othello: I love the gentle Desdemona’
Othello describes Desdemona as ‘gentle’ as opposed to the images of animals that Iago described them as in scene 1. Also the image of Othello being the devil is heavily contrasted in this meeting with him since he seems so calm. When Othello meets Brabantio he is respectful towards him, addressing him as ‘Good signior’. However in return Brabantio calls him a thief and suggests that he won Desdemona through witchcraft.
‘Brabantio: thou hast enchanted her’
Brabantio is also very evidently racist for example
‘ to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thou?’
‘For an abuser of the world, a practiser
Of arts inhibited’
Brabantio doesn’t understand Othellos culture and is very rude about it. He obviously has strong feelings against it and this is apparent in his language ‘abuser’, and therefore portrays him as racist.
In scene three the Duke meets with Othello to discuss the attack of the Turks. Here the Duke refers to Othello as ‘Valiant Othello’ which shows considerable respect, Othello is given the chance to tell his story of how he and Desdemona fell in love.
Othello talks truthfully and respectfully to Brabantio, the Duke and senators
‘Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors,’
He admits that he has married Desdemona but without magic. However Brabantio is convinced that his daughter was ‘conjured to this effect’ to she married Othello.
Othello, confident in his wife, sends for her to come and speak her side of the story. This shows that he is trusting in her and will take a risk.
‘Othello: If you do find me foul in her report
The trust, the office I do hold of you
Not only take away, but let your sentence
Even fall upon my life.’
This proves his trust that she will stand by him and returns his love.
The relationship as described by Othello, first started when Brabantio used to invite Othello to his house to tell stories of his experiences in battle
‘Still questioned me the story of my life’
The excitement would probably serve as entertainment, which would reveal Brabantio as two faced as he liked Othello to use as amusement but Othello was not good enough to associate with Desdemona. The stories that Othello told would make Desdemona
‘come again, and with a greedy ear
Devour up my discourse;’
Desdemona had sympathy for Othello and his hard life while other people found his stories exciting. And that is how they came to love each other.
‘She loved me for the dangers I had passed
And I loved her that she did pity them.’
Desdemona stood by Othello
‘I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my
husband.’
Desdemona comes across as strong, loyal and respectful of her father and Othello. Her love of Othello seems genuine and deep. She also appears brave to stand up to her father.
Brabantio is seemingly jealous that Desdemona has chosen Othello against his word since there are several references to her being a possession and it is almost as if Othello has won her like a trophy and Brabantio has lost
‘land carrack’
‘ thieves!
Look to your house, your daughter and your bags!’
Desdemona loves Othello for the life he leads and when the Duke asks him to go to Cyprus, Desdemona shows courage and love by insisting she accompanies him.
‘The rites for which I love him are bereft me,’
Othello establishes that not only does he love Desdemona because she is young and beautiful, but for her mind as well.
From what the audience would have seen of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship, they are very much in love despite their age and culture differences and have a strong, trusting marriage. A vast contrast to the ideas Iago composed in scene 1.
The end of Act 1 is left with the characters Roderigo and Iago. Roderigo is feeling very sorrowful that Desdemona will be going further from him rather than closer to him, the way he had anticipated things to be. Roderigos character is shown to be very weak and over the top
‘I will incontinently drown myself.’
Iago still needs money from Roderigo and so talks him out of suicide,
‘ Ere I would say I
would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen I
would change my humanity for a baboon.’
This shows Iago may dislike women and how he would put himself first. Also his reference to an animal in a negative context confirms that throughout this act when he has used an animal as a metaphor he has probably used it in a negative way, for example ‘black ram’.
Iago suggests that Desdemona and Othello are fickle and that their marriage wont last
‘These Moors are changeable in their wills’
‘when she is sated with his body she will find the
error of her choice’
Iago repeats throughout a long passage to Roderigo ‘put money in thy purse’ and accelerates the pace of his sentences to excite Roderigo about things that will happen ‘thou shalt enjoy her’. The pace also reflects how the plot is developing in the play and leaves the audience hungry for what will happen in the next act. Of course Roderigo takes Iagos advice and agrees to sell all his land (put money in thy purse).
After Roderigo leaves, the scene ends with Iagos soliloquy. Here we learn Iagos true intentions. He describes Roderigo as ‘a snipe’ and a ‘fool’ and says that he is only using Roderigo for his own ‘profit’, as seemed evident earlier in the act. We also learn of another reason for Iagos bitter hate of Othello,
‘And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets
He’s done my office.’
Iago has heard a rumour that Othello has slept with his with Emilia and although he cant be sure its true, he will act on it as if it is. Perhaps this contributes to Iagos dislike of women which was shown when he talked to Roderigo to convince him that no woman was worth dying over. This would add to the jealousy Iago feels towards Othello and intensify his hate. Iago begins to hatch a plan to
‘ abuse Othello’s ear
That he (Cassio) is too familiar with his (Othello’s) wife’
Iago’s plan of revenge has been revealed to the audience and would intrigue them to find out what happens next. The scene ends with a rhyming cuplet which gives a dramatic finish to the act.
‘I have’t, it is engendered! Hell and Night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the worlds light.
