Summary: Act I, scene i
In following him I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so for my peculiar end.
See Important Quotations Explained
Othello begins on a street in Venice,
in the midst of an argument between Roderigo and Iago. The rich
Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him in his suit to Desdemona,
but he has seen no progress, and he has just learned that Desdemona
has married Othello, a general whom Iago serves as ensign. Iago
reassures Roderigo that he hates Othello. Chief among Iago’s reasons
for this hatred is Othello’s recent promotion of Michael Cassio
to the post of lieutenant. In spite of Iago’s service in battle
and the recommendation of three “great ones” of the city, Othello
chose to give the position to a man with no experience leading men
in battle. As he waits for an opportunity to further his own self-interest,
Iago only pretends to serve Othello.
Iago advises Roderigo to spoil some of Othello’s pleasure
in his marriage by rousing Desdemona’s family against the general.
The two men come to the street outside the house of Desdemona’s
father, Brabanzio, and cry out that he has been robbed by “thieves.”
Brabanzio, who is a Venetian senator, comes to the window. At first,
he doesn’t believe what he hears, because he has told Roderigo to
stay away from his daughter before and thinks Roderigo is merely scheming
once again in order to see Desdemona. Iago speaks in inflammatory
terms, vulgarly telling the senator that his daughter and Othello
are having sex by saying that they are “making the beast with two
backs” (I.i.118). Brabanzio begins to take
what he hears seriously and decides to search for his daughter.
Seeing the success of his plan, Iago leaves Roderigo alone and goes
to attend on Othello. Like Brabanzio, Othello has no idea of Iago’s
role in Roderigo’s accusations. As Iago departs, Brabanzio comes
out of his house, furious that his daughter has left him. Declaring
that his daughter has been stolen from him by magic “charms,” Brabanzio and
his men follow Roderigo to Othello.
Read a translation of
Act I, scene i →
Summary: Act I, scene ii
Iago arrives at Othello’s lodgings, where he warns the
general that Brabanzio will not hesitate to attempt to force a divorce
between Othello and Desdemona. Othello sees a party of men approaching, and
Iago, thinking that Brabanzio and his followers have arrived, counsels
Othello to retreat indoors. Othello stands his ground, but the party
turns out to be Cassio and officers from the Venetian court. They
bring Othello the message that he is wanted by the duke of Venice
about a matter concerning Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean
Sea controlled by Venice. As Cassio and his men prepare to leave,
Iago mentions that Othello is married, but before he can say any
more, Brabanzio, Roderigo, and Brabanzio’s men arrive to accost
Othello. Brabanzio orders his men to attack and subdue Othello.
A struggle between Brabanzio’s and Othello’s followers seems imminent,
but Othello brings the confrontation to a halt by calmly and authoritatively
telling both sides to put up their swords. Hearing that the duke
has summoned Othello to the court, Brabanzio decides to bring his
cause before the duke himself.
Read a translation of
Act I, scene ii →
Analysis: Act I, scenes i–ii
The action of the first scene heightens the audience’s
anticipation of Othello’s first appearance. We learn Iago’s name
in the second line of the play and Roderigo’s soon afterward, but
Othello is not once mentioned by his name. Rather, he is ambiguously
referred to as “he” and “him.” He is also called “the Moor” (I.i.57),
“the thick-lips” (I.i.66), and “a Barbary
horse” (I.i.113)—all names signifying that
he is dark-skinned.
Iago plays on the senator’s fears, making him imagine
a barbarous and threatening Moor, or native of Africa, whose bestial
sexual appetite has turned him into a thief and a rapist. Knowing
nothing of Othello, one would expect that the audience, too, would
be seduced by Iago’s portrait of the general, but several factors
keep us from believing him. In the first place, Roderigo is clearly
a pathetic and jealous character. He adores Desdemona, but she has
married Othello and seems unaware of Roderigo’s existence. Roderigo doesn’t
even have the ability to woo Desdemona on his own: he has already
appealed to Brabanzio for Desdemona’s hand, and when that fails,
he turns to Iago for help. Rich and inexperienced, Roderigo naïvely
gives his money to Iago in exchange for vague but unfulfilled promises
of amorous success.
The fact that Iago immediately paints himself as the villain
also prepares us to be sympathetic to Othello. Iago explains to
Roderigo that he has no respect for Othello beyond what he has to
show to further his own revenge: “I follow him to serve my turn
upon him” (I.i.42). Iago explicitly delights
in his villainy, always tipping the audience off about his plotting.
In these first two scenes, Iago tells Roderigo to shout beneath
Brabanzio’s window and predicts exactly what will happen when they
do so. Once Brabanzio has been roused, Iago also tells Roderigo
where he can meet Othello. Because of the dramatic irony Iago establishes,
the audience is forced into a position of feeling intimately connected
with Iago’s villainy.