"How does Shakespeare make an audience aware of the contrasting characters of Othello and Iago in the first two acts of the play?"

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“How does Shakespeare make an audience aware of the contrasting characters of Othello and Iago in the first two acts of the play?”

In the opening scenes of the play, Shakespeare immediately creates suspense and excitement, at once immersing the observer in intrigue and conspiracy. He throws his audience directly into some of the major themes and concerning issues of the play. Furthermore, by centering the dialogue and action around the characters of Othello and Desdemona, without yet having presented them to the audience in person, Shakespeare increases our desire to become more engrossed in the play.

Shakespeare’s decision to make a black man a tragic hero was bold although not original. In this play, Othello is the black man in a white man’s society – the notion of black and white being the best contrast between the two characters, although the notional colours are inverted in the play (Othello/good = white; Iago/evil = black). It is true to say that in Elizabethan times, most theatre-goers would probably never have seen a black person, and the concept of such a person in a powerful position, let alone a powerful position in a white society, would have been totally alien to them.

At the time, “black” was associated with evil and the devil, and in previous plays, Shakespeare had used “blackamoors” only as evil characters. The concept, therefore, of making the main character (and title role) a black man, would have been a new and intriguing draw for his audience.  

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When, at last, we do see Othello, it is in Iago’s company, but it is a very different Iago from the one to whom we are initially introduced. If the audience had not had some hint of Iago’s real nature, they could consider his opening words to Othello, as those of a decent, honest, courageous and loyal man.

From the outset, we find Iago manipulating Roderigo – the only character to whom he speaks frankly. He clearly understands people’s weaknesses, and has no compunction in exploiting those weaknesses to the full. Through the initial dialogues, we discover that ...

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