Notes

Act 1 Scene 1 Othello
O, sir, content you;
I follow him to serve my turn upon him:
We cannot all be masters, nor all masters
Cannot be truly follow’d. You shall mark
Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave,
That, doting on his own obsequious bondage,
Wears out his time, much like his master’s ass,
For nought but provender, and when he’s old, cashier’d:
Whip me such honest knaves. Others there are
Who, trimm’d in forms and visages of duty,
Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,
And, throwing but shows of service on their lords,
Do well thrive by them and when they have lined their coats
Do themselves homage: these fellows have some soul;
And such a one do I profess myself. For, sir,
It is as sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I 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:
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, ‘tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

RODERIGO
What a full fortune does the thicklips owe
If he can carry’t thus!

IAGO
Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight,
Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen,
And, though he in a fertile climate dwell,
Plague him with flies: though that his joy be joy,
Yet throw such changes of vexation on’t,
As it may lose some colour.

RODERIGO
Here is her father’s house; I’ll call aloud.

IAGO

Do, with like timorous accent and dire yell
As when, by night and negligence, the fire
Is spied in populous cities.



1. 'Othello’ by William Shakespeare, Act 1 Scene 1

2. Context
William Shakespeare was a highly regarded English writer. His early works were mainly comedies, written during the Elizabethan era. Othello was written in the early 17th century, which was during the reign of James I of England, known as Jacobean era. James I had a preference for dark and serious elements, thus much of Shakespeare’s work was based on tragedy.

3. Summary
This extract begins near the start of the play, where Iago reveals to Roderigo his true intentions and feelings towards Othello and what he plans to do. It occurs after Iago mentions his utter disappointment for not being promoted to lieutenant by Othello, and instead is replaced by Cassio, which makes him bitter and jealous.

The extract composes of Iago’s monologue followed by a brief exchange in dialogue between him and Roderigo, preparing to cause havoc by disrupting Desdemona’s father, which begins the initial stage of Iago’s plan for revenge. — This I find is quite significant because Shakespeare reveals Iago is the source of conflict, which drives the plot.

4. Focus: (This extract highlights…)

A. Iago’s opinions on 'master’ and 'slave’ and where he views himself forms his ruthless disposition - monologue
B. Iago’s true nature and intentions are the source of conflict in the play, which drives the plot - monologue
C. The passive role of Roderigo to which we can observe through the following short discourse after Iago’s monologue

A. Iago’s opinions on 'master’ and 'slave’ and where he views himself forms his ruthless disposition
(Character, style, themes, motifs throughout the play)

Point1: Iago addresses two types of people. Masters and those who serve them.
- Evidence1: “We cannot all be masters, nor all masters cannot be truly follow’d.”
- Explain1: The 'masters cannot be truly follow’d’ is hinting towards Othello.
Point2: He describes 'slaves’ or followers of masters to be worthless
- Evidence1: “Wears out his time, much like his master’s ass”
- Explain1: From the fact that they are 'duteous’, 'doting on his own obsequious bondage’ portraying their obedience, animal imagery degrades the slaves.
- Evidence2: “for nought but provender, and when he’s old, cashier’d”
- Explain2: Slave receives nothing but food for survival. Although he works hard and is 'duteous’, he receives nothing extra. After he is used, he is dismissed from his position. — Alludes to slaves being disposable, in the end they are worthless.
(Duteous = positive, expect his tone to be slightly ironic - when performed)
- Evidence3: “Whip me such honest knaves” (Oxymoron - knaves are dishonest)
- Explain3: They deserve to be punished for being such fools.
Point3: Another type of slave are those who are obedient but are actually looking out for themselves.
- Evidence1: “trimm’d in forms and visages of duty”
- Explain1: 'trimm’d in forms’ seemed as though they are more refined compared to other 'knee-crooking knave’s and they “appear” to be dutiful as hinted in the word 'visages’ which refers to one’s facial expression. — Hints that it is all about appearance… they conceal their true intentions/desires.
- Evidence2: “their hearts attending on themselves”…“throwing but shows of service on their lords”
- Explain2: Proves they are only looking out for them and everything they present towards their master/lord is nothing but an “act”.
- Evidence3: “these fellows have some soul; And such a one do I profess myself;”
- Explain3: Iago categorizes himself as being this type of slave who’s aim is to ultimately gain benefit for himself. The use of sibilance [style] here and in 'shows of service’ illustrate the slipperiness of Iago. Reveals his slyness… links to second focus.
Themes that arise are:
- Appearance vs. reality… deception
B. Iago’s true nature and intentions are the source of conflict in the play, which drives the plot
(Character, style, theme)

Point1: He reveals several times his deceptive nature and does not intend to truly follow the Moor, Othello
- Evidence1: “serve my turn upon him”, “In following him, I follow but myself”. “I am not what I am”
- Explain1: Wants to remain hidden in order for him to achieve his revenge.
- Evidence2: “Heaven is my judge”
- Explain2: This explains why he must remain hidden. Heaven is tied to religious beliefs and it represents all that is 'good’ or 'just’. He knows his intentions are the complete opposite thus if he were to reveal himself quote “wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at” {Daws - type of crow} he would not be successful in his revenge.
Point2: His intentions mirror the machiavellian villain - a villain that lets nothing stand in his quest for power and announces his diabolical schemes to the audience.
- Evidence1: [style, personification] “poison his delight”, “plague him with flies”
- Explain1: His intentions are veil and is vindictive. He plans to curse Othello, and bring him to his downfall.
- Evidence2: “his joy be joy…throw such changes of vexation on’t, as it may lose some colour.”
- Explain2: He wants to make Othello suffer, feel the clash of all kinds of 'vexations’ and break his control.
- Evidence3: Use of repetition “Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight” - triplet
- Explain3: He could be addressing Brabantio, but it seems that he is too consumed with revenge it matters not. He continuously repeats his ideas expressing it differently each time as though revenge is forever on his mind.
Themes that arise:
- Revenge
C. The passive role of Roderigo to which we can observe through the following short discourse after Iago’s monologue
(Character, structure)

Point1: Passive role of Roderigo
- Evidence1: [Structure] Dialogue mainly composes of Iago
- Explain1: Iago is more dominant. He is the mastermind, whilst Roderigo merely comments “What a full fortune does the thicklips owe if he can carry’t thus!”, which is simply a racist insult directed towards Othello, underlined by how he called him 'thicklips’.
Point2: Roderigo awaits the plan of act from Iago, which until then he acts upon.
- Evidence1: Iago - “Rouse him”
- Explain1: It is Iago who first suggests the action. Roderigo is just a 'pawn’ Iago manipulates to carry out his own sinister motives.
- Evidence2: “Here is her father’s house; I’ll call aloud”
- Explain2: He gives the impression that he is so willing to do whatever Iago tells him to do. This further accentuates Iago’s cunningness.
Conclusion:

From this extract we can conclude that Iago is seen as a machiavellian villain, who will ultimately bring Othello (the tragic hero) to his downfall.
Roderigo acts as something Iago can manipulate and from this point begins the series of events that would befall chaos and misfortune to other characters of the play.
I admire how Shakespeare has set up the character of Iago, which causes the audience to dislike him and at times loathe his malice yet admire his crafty mind.
This particular play also demonstrates the power of language and how if used wisely can manipulate the way one thinks.