Othello Act I, Scene iii

"He holds me well, the better shall my purpose work on him.  Cassio's a proper man.  Let me see now, to get his place, and to plume up my will in double knavery - How, how? - Let's see. -" - Iago.

For this blog, I am going to answer a question found on p. 1119 of my text book.

Identify the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s).  Are there any foil characters?  What dramatic functions are served by the various minor characters?  Do they shed light on the actions or motives of the major characters?  Do they advance the plot by eliciting actions by others?  Do they embody ideas or feelings that illuminate the major characters or the movement of the plot?

In this play, the protagonist and antagonist are very clear.  The protagonist is Othello and the antagonist is Iago.  This is obvious from the quote I used above because Iago is the evil character who is trying to come up with a way to destroy Othello.  Iago has a grudge against Othello because he didn't get the job as lieutenant and because he believes that Othello slept with his wife.  Therefore, Iago will stop at nothing to get revenge on Othello and destroy his life.  The foil characters of this play are Iago and Cassio.  One reason for this is because Iago has no respect for women and believes that they are all the same and play the same dirty tricks on men.  Cassio, on the other hand, greats Desdemona and Emilia with respect.  He kneeled before Desdemona when she entered the scene and kissed Emilia as a sign of respect when she entered the scene.  The functions of the minor characters are that they serve as a way for Iago to find a way to get revenge on Othello.  For example, during the party after winning against the Turks, Iago says there are two men who want to have drinks with Cassio and himself.  Then, Iago is able to get Cassio drunk.  This ultimately is leading to Iago's revenge towards Othello.  In this same way, they shed light on the motives of the major characters, especially Iago.  These minor characters do advance the plot because they are being used by Iago.  They do not, however, embody the ideas and feelings illuminated by the major characters.