Othello Act 1, Apuntes de Teatro

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Othello

Francisco Javier Castillo

tragedy: a dramatic subgenre

• tragedy : a piece of drama revolving around a character who is brought to personal ruin and destruction, often through his or her owns actions and feelings, and sometimes brought about by circumstance.
• tragic hero : a) someone of high importance or fortune; b) he cannot avoid the tragic outcome.

First setting: Venice

Venice, a powerful republic in the Mediterranean

List of characters

Othello, a general of the Venetian army

Desdemona

Desdemona

• The daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio.
• Desdemona and Othello are secretly married before the play begins.
• She is a young lady with no experience.
• In many ways she is pure and meek, but she is also determined and self-possessed.

Iago

• The villain of the play
• He is twenty-eight years old
• He is Othello’s ensign (a job also known as an ancient or standard-bearer)
• His hatred towards Othello comes from the fact he has been passed over for promotion to lieutenant.
• He also thinks that there has been sex between Othello and Emilia
• But Iago’s motivations are never very clearly expressed and seem to originate in an obsessive delight in manipulation and destruction.

Michael Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant

Emilia, Iago’s wife

Emilia

Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant.

A cynical, worldly woman.

She is deeply attached to her mistress and distrustful of her husband.

Brabantio

• Desdemona’s father.
• A self-important Venetian senator.
• As a friend of Othello, Brabantio feels betrayed when the general marries his daughter in secret.
• The archetype of the domineering father, who has to control all the decisions of the family and, of course, of Desdemona.

Roderigo, A Venetian