Lloyd Williams Othello Benchmark Journals

1-Bade him anon return and here speak with me,

The which he promised. Do but encave yourself,

And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorns

That dwell in every region of his face.

For I will make him tell the tale anew

Where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when

He hath, and is again to cope your wife.

I say, but mark his gesture. Marry, patience,

Or I shall say you are all in all in spleen,

And nothing of a man.


Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,

A huswife that by selling her desires

Buys herself bread and clothes. It is a creature

That dotes on Cassio, as ’tis the strumpet’s plague

To beguile many and be beguiled by one.

He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain

From the excess of laughter. Here he comes.


As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad.

And his unbookish jealousy must construe

Poor Cassio’s smiles, gestures, and light behavior

Quite in the wrong.—How do you now, lieutenant?


In this scene Othello is raging, and Iago has to pretend to be sympathetic to his cause. For this reason he would be act angry, or at least annoyed. Because Othello is his general, he would be very stiff, and formal. Then when he starts to talk to the audience, he would show his true face, He would put on a scowl, maybe brush himself off, and speak in a low menacing voice. Once he starts talking to cassio he is very playful, laughing and acting foolish.

2-Roderigo is missing for a large portion of the play. He tells Barbantio of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. He doesn’t show up again until Iago has gotten Cassio drunk, at which point he enrages Cassio. Then he takes a long absence once again until it is time for Iago to goad him into killing Cassio, which leads to his death. Due to Iago’s trickery, he spends most of the play believing that Desdemona will soon come to him.  Based on the scenes he was in, it’s clear that he was not socially important, and had no way of knowing anything that was going on.

3-When Iago was a very young child his younger brother Tiago was born. Tiago was always much stronger, and favored by his parents. Tiago quickly ascended rank in the military. Iago vowed to do the same, and quickly joined the army. When he was placed under a moor, his brother ridiculed him, increasing his hatred. One night at a saloon someone made a joke that Othello had been with Iago’s wife, and his hatred for the moor was born.

4-I have to make sure to accentuate when talking about Desdemona, and be generally sinister. I also have to laugh and joke with Cassio. I am going to use an umbrella as a dagger hooked to my waist. We have decided that all the actions should be really dramatized.

5-“Now will I question Cassio of Bianca. It is a creature that dotes on Cassio. He when he hears of her cannot refrain from the excess of laughter.” This line is important because it explains how a key component of the plan will work. Without this Cassio and Iago laughing at Bianca would make no sense, and disrupt the entire end of the play. Yes it went as planned for the most part, although I messed up a few of my lines. I think we could have been more dramatic and over the top. The livee performance made

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