| Act I Exposition | Characters, Settings, ConflictOthello and Desdemona elope, Iago is passed over for promotion |
| Act II Rising Action | Conflict DevelopsIago sets plan in place; Cassio loses his promotion |
| Act III Climax | Iago’s plan succeedsOthello plans Cassio’s deathOthello’s character changes drastically |
| Act IV Falling Action | Conflict ClosingOthello plans Desdemona’s death; Iago gets the promotion and plots Cassio’s death |
| Act V Resolution | Iago’s plan revealedOthello kills himself Cassio now rules |
| Cuckhold | A man whose wife had an affair with another man while everyone else is aware but that man. |
| Desdemona and Othello were doomed from the beginning | Because of their different race and cultures |
| Othello is accepted | He is a good war general |
| Dramatic Irony | Audience knows something the characters dontEx: We know Iago is not honest while everyone else thinks he is. |
| Apostrophe | When characters talk to an item and giving it human traits”O thou invisible spirit of wine” -Cassio |
| Setting | Cyprus |
| Internal Conflict | Conflict inside the characterEx: Othello on whether he should kill Desdemona or not |
| Error and Judgement | Not checking facts (Othello listens to Iago) |
| Othello | the Moor and the Tragic Hero |
| Desdemona | Othello’s faithful wife who was killed in the end |
| Brabantio | Desdemona’s father who she deceives |
| Emilia | Iago’s wife; Desdemona’s attendant |
| Roderigo | Man in love with Desdemona |
| Cassio | Got the promotion Iago wanted; was said that he was in love with Desdemona |
| Iago | Mad at Othello for not getting the promotion and plotted revenge against him. |
| Bianca | Prostitute that was in love with Cassio; who didn’t love him back |
| Aside | character goes to the side of the stage where they talk to the audience or himself |
| Monologue | Long uninterrupted speech that one character addresses to another *other characters are on the stage |
| Soliloquy | Long speech reveals true thoughts and feelings, unheard by others, because he is alone; Internal Conflict |
| Shakespeare’s audience loved | Violence |
| Poor people | groundlings |
| Where the aristocrats sat | Galleries |
| Heckle | throws food/harass the actors |
| Time of a play | from 2 pm to 4 or 5 pm |
| Cannon | signaled the beginning of the play |
| Purtians | religious people who disliked the plays because they interrupted church and were immoral |
| Playbills | Play advertisements |
| Trap doors | Leads to under the stage which is represented as Hell |
| Sunlight | Only light used for plays |
| Companies | Small groups of actors |
| Pickpockets | tied to posts and publicly humiliated |
| Boys | Played female roles because they had higher voices and woman weren’t allowed to act |
| Tragedy | drama where central characters suffered disaster/great misfortune |
| The Tragic Hero | of noble birth; destruction is for the greater good |
| Tragic Flaws | Cause of the destruction of the Tragic Hero |
| Pride | The Tragic Flaw that leads to the downfall of the Tragic Hero |
| Enlightenment | when he/she finally understands what he/she has done he/she contributed to the tragic situation |
| Death of the Tragic Hero | not a pure loss, because it results in greater knowledge and awareness |
Othello and Globe Theater Study Guide
September 5, 2019