Key question 39: Othello Act 1 What sort of person is Lago, as he appears in act 1? Are you satisfied by the reasons he gives fro hating Othello? What is Lago’s relationship with Roderigo? Manipulative, cunning, treacherous, selfish, sycophant and jealous are words that can be used to describe Lago in the first act. He envies Othello for his position and cannot accept the fact that a black man holds a higher position than him and uses all means including manipulating Roderigo to bring down Othello. His reasons to justify his hatred for Othello are not satisfactory because the root cause is his jealous. His relationship with Roderigo seems strong in act one because they are both bonded by hatred towards Othello. However, Roderigo is a fool because …show more content…
What happens to him and how does Lago plan to use the situation in his plan against Othello Cassio is presented as a noble man, well cultured and a loyal person when it comes to friendship. He is a civilized man and wants to keep all the people around him pleased. However, Lago thinks his character makes him weak and easy to exploit. He gets drunk and ends up in a fight with Roderigo. As cunning as he is, Lago uses this mess to ensure Cassio is punished. He uses Montano to file a case against him and Cassio ends up losing his rank. Furthermore, he corrupts Othello’s mind using this mess so that he gets angrier, and making Cassio his scapegoat in his plans on Othello. Act 3 At the beginning of 3.3, Othello is completely in love with Desmodena. By the end of that scene, 480 lines later, Othello is ready to murder her for having an affair with Cassio. How have we gone from the first position to the second position so quickly? How does Lago print the idea of Desmodena’s infidelity in Othello’s mind, and how does he make it …show more content…
Her commitment to help Cassio was the beginning of Othello’s doubts on Desmodena’s relationship. Lago decides to use this chance to fill hatred in Othello. He manages to print the idea of infidelity in Othello’s mind through his repetitive questions to Othello. For example, he creates doubt when he asks Othello why his wife was so eager to help Cassio and why she married a black man. He convinces him that she is a liar and a good actress because it was through her leis that she married him. Lago played his cards well and managed to create doubt and hatred in Othello. Act 4 How does the handkerchief function in act 4? Keep track of its movement from here to the end of the play. Why is the handkerchief so important to Othello? In act 4, the handkerchief becomes the solid proof that makes Othello believe his wife was in deed having an affair with Cassio. At the beginning of the story, Othello gave it to Desmodena to symbolize their relationship. At some point in act 3, it drops as Desmodena tries to wipe his angry husband with it. Emila picks it and Lago plants it in Cassio’s room who then gives it to Bianca. Bianca returns it to Cassio thinking that it belonged to his other mistress and it is between this conversations that Othello got convinced that Desmodena was cheating on him. Later in act 5, Othello uses to justify himself for killing his wife. However, it is proved that Lago and not Desmodena