Discussion Questions

Why does Iago confess to Roderigo that he serves Othello out of self-interest and not out of loyalty?

The Duke says that asserting is not proving and asks for stronger evidence. What, in Othello's defense, works as evidence for the Senate?

Desdemona says her duty is divided and applies it as her mother did with her father. Why does this answer succeed where Brabantio's accusation did not?

Othello says that if death came now, it would be the greatest joy, for he fears that no future comfort will equal this one. What does this speech show about the way he lives happiness?

Iago tells Cassio that reputation is an unfounded and false imposition, and that he has lost nothing. Why does Cassio not accept this consolation?

Pushkin, quoted in The Brothers Karamazov, reads Othello's jealousy as betrayed trust, and in the scene Othello himself lists, alone, his color, his age and his lack of eloquence as reasons to be replaced (ll. 270-273). What exactly does Iago manipulate: a trait of Othello's, or a vulnerability that any husband would have before the same insinuation?

Desdemona keeps pressing Cassio's case just when Othello only wants to know about the handkerchief. What does each hear in what the other says?

In Act III (see Act III: The temptation and the handkerchief), Iago leads Othello from insinuation to the demand for proof. What does Iago still do in this act, and what does Othello do without him?

Desdemona says she would never betray her husband for anything in the world, and Emilia says she might: what does each understand by duty within marriage?

Othello decided the method and moment of Desdemona's death in Act IV (see Act IV: The Humiliation and the Willow Song), but in this act he hesitates (ll. 1-22), hears her plea (ll. 79-84) and meets Emilia's turn. What does each of these moments change in his decision?