Plot Events
This is how Iago gets Cassio to fight at the feast in Act II, scene iii (2 possible correct answers, bonus points for both!)
1. What is he got Roderigo to provoke him?
2. What is he got Cassio drunk?
This character's "virtue" will be turned to "pitch". Their strength of heart and loyalty will be used against them - their hamartia? (Act II, scene iii)
Who is Desdemona?
"O, let the heavens / Give him defense against the elements, / For I have lost him on a dangerous sea." (II.i.48-50)
Significance = Cassio, Othello's new lieutenant, says this out of his concern for the general's safety, and hopes he will make it Cyprus safely.
In Act II, scene iii, this is how Cassio loses his rank as lieutenant.
What is he gets caught up in a drunken brawl with Roderigo and Montano.
Act II takes place on this island nation.
What is Cyprus?
This is how Cassio gets time alone to speak with Desdemona (II.iii)
What is he gets Iago's help to use his wife Emilia to speak with Desdemona on Cassio's behalf?
This character is duped into an uncontrollable rage of jealousy and suspicion.
Who is Othello?
"Confess yourself freely to her; importune her help to / Put you in your place again." (II.iii.292-3)
Speaker = Iago
Significance = Iago says this to advise Cassio what to do after being demoted by Othello. This will be part of Iago's plot to get revenge, as he will get Cassio and Desdemona close together to make Othello suspicious.
Iago advises Cassio to do this to mend his fractured bond with Othello in Act II, scene iii.
What is he tells Cassio to plead with Desdemona to speak up for him to Othello, because she holds so much influence over him now as his wife.
This is what caused the war with the Turks to end prematurely. A synonym would be a "tempest"
What is a storm?
In Act III, scene iii, this is why Othello is hesitant to reinstate Cassio as his lieutenant.
What is even though Othello still loves Cassio, because Montano is so well-reputed in Cyprus, it would not look good to reinstate the man who stabbed him?
This servant character pays the musicians to stop playing in III.i.
"The general and his wife are talking of it / And she speaks for you stoutly. The Moor replies / That he you hurt is of great fame in Cyprus..." (III.i.43-45)
Speaker = Emilia
Significance = Emilia says this to Cassio at the beginning of Act III to update him on the state of his plea to become lieutenant again. She tells him that, despite Desdemona's effort, Othello resists reinstating Cassio because Montano is well-reputed in Cyprus.
Iago "pours" his "pestilence" into Othello's ears in Act III, scene iii, when he hints to him that...
What is that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair?
This is the pattern embroidered on the handkerchief Othello gave to Desdemona as a wedding present.
What are strawberries?
In Act III, scene iv, Iago advises Othello to do this in order to eavesdrop on his and Cassio's conversation.
What is hide himself in a closet?
A courtesan (prostitute) in Cyprus, who has a standing relationship with Cassio.
Who is Bianca?
"Why then tomorrow night, or Tuesday morn; / Or Tuesday noon, or night, on Wednesday morn; / I prithee, name the time, but let it not / Exceed three days" (III.iii.68-71)
Speaker = Desdemona
Significance = Desdemona pleads with Othello to give her a straight answer about Cassio, who she wants to be reinstated. This also has the effect of making Othello more suspicious about why she cares so much for Cassio.
Emilia teases Iago with this in III.iii.323-356
Iago's final speech at the end of Act II, scene iii is an example of this dramatic device:
What is a soliloquy?
This is what Cassio asks Bianca to do in Act III, scene iv.
What is copy the embroidery pattern on Desdemona's handkerchief onto another?
This character desperately waits for a resolution that will restore their former glory, but cannot help feeling and acting incredibly "guiltylike".
Who is Cassio?
"That handkerchief / Did and Egyptian to my mother give; / She was a charmer, and could almost read / The thoughts of people [...] but if she lost it, / Or made a gift of it, my father's eye / Should hold her loathed and his spirits should hunt / After new fancies" (III.iv.57-65)
Speaker = Othello
Significance = Othello tells Desdemona the history of the handkerchief as a way of making her feel bad for misplacing it and to remind her that it is a symbol of her fidelity and loyalty to him in marriage.
This is why Bianca is upset with Cassio in III.iv.
What is that he hasn't been coming to visit her enough since he came to Cyprus?
The following line from Iago is an example of which dramatic device?
"Men should be what they seem; / Or those that be not, would they might seem none!" (III.iii.144-5)
What is Dramatic Irony?
The audience would pick up on Iago's line to Othello here, knowing that Iago himself is deceiving Othello and only "seeming" to be honest and loyal to him.