Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Act two is set within a public scene, with lots of characters waiting
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The setting of Cyprus is also significant as it removes Desdemona and
Othello from the social structure and security of the Venetian environment in which their loved developed
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Chaos is external at the start: 'chidden billow seems to pelt the clouds
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No personal memories are attached to Cassio's description of Desdemona: it is not personal, but courtesy
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Despite this, Iago will be able to manipulate Othello
into believing otherwise
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) Her first thought is with Othello (what tidings can you tell me of my lord?),
showing her concern and affection for him
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He does offer a 'bold
show of courtesy' (a kiss) but this is all
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Emilia 'has no speech': this is significant in that it is not only symbolic of the passivity of women in the
Jacobean era, but it also foreshadows how both Emilia and Desdemona will die (particularly since it is
Desdemona who makes this remark
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Arguments for Desdemona's dishonesty: she tricked Brabantio; hid her concern for Othello ('I do beguile/the
thing I am by seeming otherwise' - with the enjambement reflecting the distance between her true self and
her outer portrayal); lies about the handkerchief
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Ultimately, both women die at the hands of their husbands
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He presents reasons for his attack on
Othello and even gives genuine advice to Cassio, but still goes too far
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Desemona's engagement in the bawdy exchange emphasises her sexuality, which is narratively important to
the plot
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'You may relish him more/in the soldier than in the scholar': it is ironic that when Iago is at his most honest,
he is disregarded as entertaining and foolish
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Othello's reception of Desdemona: all encompassing nature of love prepares us for the absoluteness of his
jealousy later
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Iago as a social statistician who applies statistics to individuals and targets them through his knowledge of
their character (e
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targets Othello's impulsive personality and insecurity
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That Iago plans to 'set down the pegs that make this music'
holds more resonance in the light of this context, as if he were an agent of hell
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That he brings love to its basest form shows his lack of understanding of
it
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This is reflective of his egocentric nature, in that he views everyone in his own image (perhaps as he
views Desdemona with a lusty spirit, such as his
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Monetary value of marriage: 'the purchase made
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' Uneasy shift from public to
private, linked
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Pretence of friendship between Iago and Cassio: fools Cassio into getting drunk, though he admits that he is
'unfortunate in the infirmity
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'Am I to put our Cassio': involves audience, this builds the idea of the audience as an accomplice (by
listening to Iago's plan
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' This belief that those of a higher rank are more likely to be saved is supported by the
chain of being
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This is
ironic, as there appears to be more violence after the war than before it
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'Iago can inform you': Iago given control over the narrative
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