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the wake of Othello's and Desdemona's elopement, Shakespeare creates strong forward momentum as characters react to this precipitating (eilig) event this relationship between Othello, the dark skinned outsider, and Desdemona, the desirable young Venetian woman, is at the center of the drama the setting of Venice is crucial, only in such a cosmopolitan (weltbürgerlich) city could a Moor risk such a marriage lago is characterized from the very beginning as a resourceful villain; he goals Rodrigo into doing his dirty work and he fools Othello into believing he is his most honest and loyal follower perhabs most intriguing is lago's insistence that he is only leading people to follow their natural inclination (Neigung) lago's method of villainy is also revealed in the scene: he appeals to different people by feigning (vortäuschen) loyalty or by framing himself as a trusted friend and confidant he discovers what motivated them and leverages it for his own ends when Brabantio arrives to confront Othello accusing him of bewitching his daughter and stealing her away, Othello stands up to him confidently Brabantio then follows Othello and the others to the Duke's court, certain his status as a prominent Venetian citizen will uphold his authority lago cements his role as master manipulator having just come from Brabantio where he insulted Othello and sounded the alarm on his elopement (Durchbrennen), he now plays the role of loyal follower Othello, whose confidence in Act 1 is unshakeable, does not shrink from a confrontation with Brabantio; he is certain his military and love for Desdemona will see him through Cassio's arrival with a summons (Aufforderung) from the Duke offers an opportunity to determine whose authority is stronger: the Moor or Brabantio ACT 1, SCENE 3 • the Duke of Venice and his senators meet to determine where the Turkish Navy is most likely to attack when Othello and Brabantio arrive, Brabantio accuses Othello of charming or even drugging his daughter into marrying him ● • Othello responds with an account of how Brabantio invited him to his house where Desdemona fell in love with him because of his stories of war and adventure ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ACT 2, SCENE 1 the play's setting moves from Venice to Cyprus, where Cassio arrived first • a storm has caused delay and there is concern for the safety of Othello and the others next to land is Desdemona who is sailing with lago and his wife Emilia while they wait for Othello they talk about women's desire which gives us a clear idea of lago's underlying hostility toward women, who's nature he believes is fundamentally deceptive when lago notices that Cassio and Desdemona are friendly and look like a natural couple, he hatches his plan to use jealousy to enact his revenge then Othello arrives, greets Desdemona and announces that the Turkish fleet has been destroyed by the storm ● ● he suggests they summoned Desdemona for her side of the story and when she arrives she supports Othello's version of events Brabantio warns Othello that she has deceived her father ● the Duke orders Othello to Cyprus to fend off the invasion Desdemona insists on going with him Roderigo, upset at how things turned out, is reassured by lago, who urges him to go to Cyprus too ● it's important to know that Othello is confident and charismatic, a leader of men and an object of desire the Duke and Senators clearly prefer him to Brabantio even after the latter appeals to racial and customary kinship (Verwandtschaft) with his fellow Venetian citizens his stories bolster (stärken) the sense of his accomplishment winning over Desdemona the set of experiences and his eloquence (Beredtheit) in reacting them are Othello's source of strength their marriage flying in the face of convention is based on a romantic notion of adventure that Othello trades on and Desdemona feeds on in hopes of escaping her fathers suffocating will while Desdemona is a strong character who stands up for her desire and choice of husband, she is also potentially caught in a fantasy since she has little experience of the world we'll want to keep this in mind as we see how lago works to plant the seeds of their destruction by praying on these insecurities ACT 2, SCENE 2 Othello sends a herald to announce that there will be a celebration to mark the destruction of the Turkish fleet as well as Othello's recent marriage the military mission Othello leads comes to an anti climactic conclusion when the term sinks the Turkish fleet this plot point fades as the Venetians arrived safely with little to do now apart from celebrate their good fortune the stage for lago's plan of is set the first indication is his contempt (Verachtung) for women: they're dishonest and promiscuous Emilia shows no indication that she'll stand up for her husband in order to defend her gender Shakespeare clears the way for a test of Othello's skill in managing a peacetime garrison as well as an exploration of how Othello and Desdemona's relationship will bear up under lago's plot against them ACT 2, SCENE 3 lago encourages Cassio to drink, hoping to take advantage of his inability to handle liquor though Cassio knows better, lago persuades him, making him a target lago sets Roderigo on core with him and a brawl (Schlägerei) breaks out, Cassio beats Roderigo and Montano, who tries to intervene, is wounded ● after Othello returns to his lodging, Cassio bemoans his carelessness to lago • lago faking friendship, reassures him he can help he suggests Cassio appeal to Desdemona to intercede (einsetzen) with her husband after Cassio exists, lago suggests that he is only giving advice and that it's Cassio's responsibility to see what kind of trouble it might bring him • scene ends with Roderigo disappointed again, beaten, almost out of money, determined to return to Venice lago reassures him his plan has just begun and that he should stay ● in this scene lago begins to turn the screw on Othello and Desdemona he does it by first compromising Cassio, who he will use as a wedge (Keil) to drive between them ● it is important to know the indirectness that characterized his method, he is playing the long game equally important is his cultivation of the nickname „honest lago" demonstrates how affective he is in getting his adversaries (Kontrahenten) to participate in their own destruction the inclining Desdemona: she is inclined (geneigt) to believe what she hears as she did with Othello's stories of adventure Cassio is so desperate to return to Othello's good graces that he'll do anything, believe easily a man of lago's skill → this makes them both right for manipulation ● this interrupts Othello's private time with Desdemona and he arrives angry, demoting Cassio and casting him ● ● ACT 3, SCENE 1 Cassio has hired a group of musicians to play outside Othello and Desdemona's room presumably in order to cheer up his former superior • Othello, angry at being woken up, sends a clownish servant to pay them to stop ● once the musicians have departed, Cassio pays the servant to take a message to Emilia, lago's wife, who is also Desdemona's waiting woman the image of a net, mashing all lago's victims: this important metaphor foreshadows the way the setting reflects a net or a trap slowly closing on it's victims: → Venice (place with space), to Cyprus (an island with limited space), then to the Fortress, a garden, private rooms, the bedchamber and finally the bed itself, where the net closes ● lago enters and wonders whether Cassio has made any progress in getting Desdemona's help when he learns Cassio needs to speak to Emilia, he goes to get her also promising to lure Othello away so Cassio can ask for Desdemona's help Cassio tries to return to Othello's good graces by arranging music for the newly wedded couple on their first real night together but it doesn't work lago's plan takes another step forward as Cassio is making progress in gaining an interview with Desdemona lago is careful here to use intermediaries (Vermittler) in order to hide his connection to the plot • an important gap is beginning to open here: the audience knows lago to be a scheming threat to Othello and Desdemona but the characters in the play grow more certain that he's not only honest but actively helping them in their time of need ACT 3, SCENE 2 Othello, lago and some gentlemen stroll together Othello gives lago some letters to deliver to a ship bound for Venice Othello then embarks on a tour of the fortifications ● ACT 3, SCENE 3 opens with Desdemona assuring Cassio she'll help him get his rank back ● • when Cassio sees Othello and lago approaching, he leaves in a hurry ● in responds, lago makes one of his signature remarks: by encouraging Othello to think he knows something he's keeping hidden, he opens a space in which doubt then jealousy can grow when Othello asks Desdemona what she's been doing, she tells him she's been talking to a suitor, which could mean a man who has a romantic interest but in this case means someone who needs something from her Desdemona then asks Othello when he'll consider listening to Cassio's suit; Othello says not now when she exits lago piles on the inferences that for example she did deceive her father marrying you and when she seemed to shake inferior looks she loved them most when Desdemona reenters the scene to inform him that his dinner guests await he tells her he has a headache, she offers her handkerchief, he rejects it and it falls to the ground ● • Emilia picks it up, then lago demands it's the perfect object to plant in Cassio's quarters ● • Othello's increasing jealousy is exacerbated by lago's claim that he's heard Cassio talk in his sleep about having sex with Desdemona he claims he's seen Cassio with the handkerchief; Othello swears he'll kill Desdemona, lago promises to kill Cassio ● this interaction shows two things about lago: he is trusted by Othello (important to see before scene 3, where he uses that trust to undermine Othello's faith in his wife's fidelity): Othello uses lago as a conveyer of information, which is significant because lago manipulates others by inventing and spreading misinformation to influence their behavior rather than taking a more direct action his role as a person, who controls information is an essential element of his character ● he does this by suggesting possibilities by indirection and by innuendo ● it also provides the material, the handkerchief, for the ocular proof Othello demands at the scene's end this long scene demonstrates lago's method of leading Othello to think the worst possible thoughts about his wife ● ACT 3, SCENE 4 Desdemona is determined to advance Cassio's suit only to be confronted about her handkerchief when she tells him, she doesn't have it, Othello offers a lengthy explanation of it's origins: losing it would break the spell of love after Othello exits, Cassio arrives to plead further with Desdemona: she tells him that she is trying but that her husband is out of sorts they speculate about what's going on with Othello wondering about the cause of his sudden jealousy at scene's end we learn that Cassio has found the handkerchief in his chamber as he asks his lover Bianca to copy the stitching on it the importance of the handkerchief comes to the force in this scene Othello, who in act 1 dismissed Brabantio's charges of witchcraft, charms and magic, here succumbs to the idea that the little peace of cloth has power in the web of it this demonstrates a further erosion of his self-assurance we also learn that lago has planted the handkerchief in Cassio's bedchamber advancing his plan to provide ocular proof of the affair with Desdemona ACT 4, SCENE 1 · begins with a crucial exchange between lago and Othello lago again opens a space in which Othello might fill his mind with images of Desdemona's affair with Cassio ● ● ● • lago talks about Bianca with Cassio and makes him laugh while Othello watches but cannot hear what they're saying ● Othello believes Cassio is talking about Desdemona and becomes enraged then Bianca enters with the handkerchief Cassio told her to copy to Othello this seems like certain proof Desdemona has been unfaithful to him Lodovico arrives from Venice bringing messages from the Duke ● • these contain orders for Othello to return to Venice leaving Cassio in charge in Cyprus ● Desdemona's glad to hear of Cassio's good fortune but Othello interprets her reaction all wrong: he yells and strikes her ● ● • as jealousy takes hold of Othello, lago escalates the situation manufacturing evidence of an affair, he builds a false case against Desdemona bit by bit and now he plays his final card he gives Othello the ocular proof Othello has demanded: the ocular or visible proof is the handkerchief Cassio has given to Bianca his lover this comes after the scenes opening conversations between lago and Othello in which lago aggressively plants animated images of sexual congress between Cassio and Desdemona ● ● ● in this scene things get graphic: lago offers explicit displays of sexuality only to disavow them → the effects are swift and devastating Othello falls down in a trance; after he recovers lago instructs him to hide and observe as lago and Cassio have a conversation ● ACT 4, SCENE 2 Othello nearly insane with jealousy aggressively questions Emilia about Desdemona and Cassio's relationship ● ● Lodovico is shocked at Othello's uncharacteristic behavior lago pretends to be shocked as well, however he reiterates his loyalty to Othello about whom he will not speak badly ● while the audience can see the absurdity of these moments, Othello is drawn into them by lago's skill in enlisting Othello's own imagination as in this exchange lago's goal of his revenge is not just to get something he has lost but the destruction of a marriage, madness and the death of Othello and Desdemona at the end of this scene with Othello at his most vulnerable lago suggests the most intimate method of murdering Desdemona: to strangle her in her bed Emilia vehemently denies any wrongdoing but Othello doesn't believe her he speaks cruelly to Desdemona and accuses her of being a strumpet although he also says he loves her she's confused and sad so she asks Emilia to fetch lago who plays the friend and tries to cheer her up after Desdemona and Emilia leave Roderigo arrives and angrily confronts lago: he complains once again that he has provided lago money yet lago has failed to get Desdemona for him lago as he has done before calms him down and presents a solution to the problem he tells him Othello and Desdemona will leave Cyprus shortly and Cassio will be in charge; he suggests Roderigo kill Cassio the scene ends with another angry outburst from Roderigo who continues to be frustrated at his lack of progress in wining Desdemona from the Moor lago's rhetorical skill is on display as he rallies him into staying so that he may use him further lago talks him into killing Cassio so that Othello and Desdemona will have to stay in Cyprus