Othello Act 1 Quiz (Act I)

Othello Act 1 questions

The answers and an explanation for each question appear as you play, and on the answer-key page of the printout.

1. Why does Iago say he hates Othello as the play opens?
   Othello stole Iago's inheritance · Othello insulted Emilia in public · Othello refused to lend him money · Othello made Cassio lieutenant instead of him
2. Iago tells Roderigo 'I am not what I am.' What does the line reveal?
   He has forgotten his own name and rank · He is secretly the son of a Venetian duke · He hides his true self behind a show of service · He deeply regrets his own dishonesty
3. How does Othello say he won Desdemona's love?
   He used charms and witchcraft on her · She loved him for the dangers he had passed · Her father arranged the whole marriage · He saved her from drowning off Cyprus
4. How does Othello respond when Brabantio's armed men come to seize him?
   Calmly, telling them to sheathe their swords · With fury, drawing his sword first · By fleeing to the ship at once · By begging Iago to defend him
5. What does Brabantio's parting warning to Othello set up for later?
   The war with the Turks in Cyprus · Brabantio's plan to poison Othello · Cassio's rise to lieutenant · The idea that Desdemona might deceive him

More Othello practice: all Othello quizzes · characters quiz · language & structure quiz · plot recall quiz · read Othello free

Original questions written for Pagine. Quotations are from the public-domain text.