... y' are robbed! refers to

Analyze the question: The line is from Shakespeare's Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago and Rodrigo wake Brabantio at night, and Iago shouts: "Awake! What ho, Brabantio! Thieves! Thieves! Thieves! Look to your house, your daughter and your bags! Thieves! Thieves!" Earlier in the same passage, Iago says "Awake, what ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves!" and Rodrigo says "Signior, is all your family within?" The fragment "...y' are robbed!" matches Iago's line: "Zounds, sir, y' are robbed! For shame, put on your gown; Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul."

Explain the concept: Here "robbed" is used figuratively. Iago is not talking about money or goods. He is deliberately alarming Brabantio to tell him that his daughter Desdemona has been taken from his house, and that she has secretly married Othello, the Moor.

Step-by-step:

1. Brabantio is a Venetian senator, and Desdemona is his daughter.
2. Iago and Rodrigo, who is a rejected suitor, want to cause trouble for Othello.
3. Iago uses the language of theft ("Thieves!", "robbed") to stir up Brabantio's anger.
4. The "robbery" is Desdemona's secret elopement with Othello, which Brabantio sees as the theft of his daughter.

Checking the options:

• A. Brabantio's rejection of Othello is wrong. It happens later and is not what "robbed" refers to.
• B. Desdemona's defense of Othello comes later, in the Senate scene.
• C. Iago does take Rodrigo's money, but that is not what this line refers to, since it is addressed to Brabantio.
• D. Othello's elopement with Desdemona is correct.

Answer: D

Tip: In Othello, watch for the imagery of theft in Act 1 Scene 1 ("thieves", "robbed", "bags"). It always links to Desdemona's elopement, and Iago uses it to inflame Brabantio. Link the keyword to the event, and you can answer such quotation questions quickly.