Characters involved: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Roderigo, Cassio, Emilia, Montano.
The act started in Cyprus where the governor,Montano and two gentleman witness a storm. Even though, there are not many ships that survived in the storm, but it is still uncertain whether Othello's ship is one of them.Iago, Emilia, Desdemona and Roderigo arrived with the second ship. While waiting Othello to arrive with the third ship, Cassio and Desdemona tease Emilia of being a chatterbox but Iago criticize woman in general by saying that all woman are lazy in all except in sex:
"You rise to play and go to bed to work," (II.i.118)
While Cassio takes Desdemona for a talk about Othello, Iago had plans to frame him as a revenge so that he won't get promoted.
Othello arrive and greet Desdemona. While Roderigo are unloading the ship, Iago try to tell stories to him that Desdemona will get tired of Othello and will soon go with another man, which is Cassio. Roderigo explains that Cassio's act of holding Desdemona' hand were probably a symbol of respect. But, Roderigo start to get convinced with Iago and started a quarrel with Cassio that evening.
At the end of the act, Iago explains to the audience about his actions.He is confessing that he is in lust with Desdemona. He suspect that Othello had slept with Emilia, therefore, Iago wanted to get 'wife for wife'. However, if his plans doesn't work, he wants Othello to become insane and mad by thinking that his lieutenant is sleeping with his wife.
Reference:
Shakespeare, W. (1993).
Othello. United States of America: Washington Square Press.
Sparksnotes. (2010).
Othello. Retrieved January 16, 2011, from
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/section1.rhtml
