Othello Act 1 Scene 1 TASK

How does Shakespeare present the world of Venice in the first act, and how does he construct the interactions of his central characters (Iago, Othello, and Desdemona) with that Venetian world and with each other. How are these interactions complicated by the fact that Othello is a Moor and that Desdemona is a young women? Shakespeare presents the world of Venice as very racist and patriarchal because women and black people were seen as inferior to white men. This  is demonstrated by Iago and Roderigo and how they describe Othello and as if Desdemona would have not had a say in their marriage because she's a women, which also links to  Brabanito reaction to Desdemona marrying Othello because he says is must be a type of magic that Othello has used. Because Desdemona is a girl, they think she is incapable of making decisions for herself like this therefore see it must be a form of magic and that's how Brabanito justifies it to himself too. He doesn't like the idea of his daughter marrying a 'Moor'. What sort of person is Iago, as he appears in act 1? Are you satisfied by the reasons he gives for hating Othello? What is Iago's relationship with Roderigo? Iago appears to be a very manipulative person because he's taking all of Roderigo's money and making out to him as if he's working for him when in actual fact he's not using the money for what he says he will and he's not working for Roderigo because he actually likes Othello, but lies to Roderigo and says he hates him because he knows Roderigo wants to be with Desdemona so Roderigo also hates Othello. Iago holds all the power in  his relationship with Roderigo because he is able to manipulate him so easily into doing what he wants him to do and getting him to believe what ever he wants him to so that things will be better in his own situation. What sort of language does Iago use? What sort of language does Othello use? What might be the significance of this difference? Iago uses language to suggest the type of character he his e.g. 'poison' whereas Othello uses more gentle language which demonstrates he's not a nasty character. The significance of this difference could be to show how the play ends when we realise what Iago is really like and when Othello realises the mistake he has made by listening to Iago which demonstrates that Iago is almost poisonous for what he has done and Othello is not actually a nasty man, because although he kills Desdemona, he realises in the end that he was wrong and regrets it.