Test your knowledge of Act 1!

Welcome to….

OTHEPARDY!

Twenty Questions

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6 7 8 9 10

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1. Who tells Roderigo of hatred towards Othello?

Iago

2. Who does Iago vulgarly describe Othello making love with Desdemona to?

Desdemona’s Father (Senator)

3. What was the Senators reaction to Desdemona’s love for Othello?

He was no longer mad about what Iago told him

4. Whose men were ordered to attack Othello?

Brabantio’s

5. What was “the beast with two backs” used to describe?

Othello and Desdemona making love

6. Why do you think Roderigo notified Brabantio about Desdemona escaping from home and helped him with the situation?

Roderigo wants to get on Brabantio’s good side and doesn’t want Desdemona with Othello because he loves her and wants to marry her.

7. Why does Roderigo want to drown himself? (p.55, l.305) Who talks him out of it?

Roderigo loves Desdemona so much but knows he cannot have her due to her happy marriage with Othello. He believes death is the only cure to living a torturing life however Iago has a long conversation with him about it and changes Roderigo’s mind about killing himself.

8. Why is Brabantio so sure that Othello has put a spell on Desdemona?

Brabantio feels his daughter is too perfect for Othello and that he is someone to fear of not to love. Since Desdemona has refused to marry all the handsome men in the city Brabantio is confident that Othello has tricked, drugged or kidnapped her.

9. What response does Desdemona give when her father asks, “Where most you owe obedience?” What influences Desdemona to answer the way she does?

Desdemona answered saying I have to give my obedience to my husband. Her mother’s actions influenced her to make this decision. “And so much duty as my mother showed to you, preferring you before her father”

10. Why does Desdemona come along with Othello to Cyprus even though war will be taking place?

Desdemona says she’d be miserable if she were left home while her husband went off to war. She makes it clear that she wants to be with him and wants to adapt to his lifestyle while forgetting her old life.    

11. Why does Iago hate Othello?

Iago hates Othello because he promoted Cassio, rather than the much more qualified, Iago.

12. Who is Roderigo in love with?

Desdemona

13. Which character hides his real identity in order to get back at Othello.

Iago

14. Which character can be described as highly educated but young and inexperienced in battle and is represented as an arithmetician?

Cassio

15. How exactly does Iago plan on getting revenge on Othello?

In his soliloquy, Iago basically states that he will spread the rumour that Cassio and Desdemona are too intimate and since 

16. How does Iago make himself look favorable in Othello’s eyes?

Iago makes himself look favorable in Othello’s eyes by telling him how Brabantio’s “scurvy and provoking terms” against Othello made him want to attack Brabantio. He also suggests that Othello watch his marriage because Brabantio might invoke the law against it, thus playing on Othello’s trust in him.

17. Who does Desdemona pledge her duty to?

Desdemona perceives “a divided duty” between her father and her husband, and as her mother had shown allegiance to her husband, so Desdemona professes “Due to the Moor.”

18. What news does Michael Cassio bring when he enters?

Michael Cassio tells Othello that the duke requires his service because of some military action, “a business of some kind,” in Cyprus.

19. What accusation does Brabantio make against Othello to the duke?

When Brabantio arrives at the duke’s he says that Desdemona has been “abused … stolen … and corrupted by spells and medicines bought of mountebanks” in order to accuse Othello of entrapping his daughter.

20. What is the military issue that the Duke of Venice and his senators discuss?

The duke and the senators are in the process of determining the validity of reports that say “a hundred and seven,” “a hundred forty,” and “two hundred” Turkish galleys are approaching Cyprus.