Dramatic Techniques & Structure Flashcards
What dramatic techniques do we see in Othello?
- Entrances/exits
- Iago’s use of aside
- Dramatic irony
- Prose vs blank verse
What structural techniques do we see in Othello?
- Rhyming couplets
- Cyclical structure of in media res
- Cyclical structure of setting at night
Rhyming couplets
“Look to her Moor, if thou hast eyes to see…’
“look to her Moor if thou hast eyes to see: she has deceived her father and may thee” a1s3 Brabantio
Dramatic irony
‘Honest ___’ (Othello)
‘Honest Iago’
Rhyming couplets
‘so let the Turk of Cyprus us beguile…’
“so let the turk of cyprus us beguile, we lost it not so long as we can smile” a1s3
Roderigo as a courtly lover
‘I will incontinently ____ myself’ a1s3
‘It is silliness to live when… a1s3
‘my sick fool Roderigo, whom love hath…
“ I will incontinently drown myself” a1s3
“ It is silliness to live when to live is torment” prose courtly lover a1s3
(Iago) ‘my sick fool Roderigo, Whom love hath turned almost the wrong side out’ a2s2
Rhyming couplets
Brabantio “For if such actions… A1S2
“For if such actions may have passage free Bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be”
Staging a2s3
Desdemona
Desdemona enters when Cassio is dismissed- foreshadows D being dismissed from her role as wife next?
-a show of performative masculinity from Othello?
Dramatic irony a3s3
‘Thou dost conspire… (Othello)
‘Thou dost conspire against thy friend, Iago’
Handkerchief Desdemona a3s3
‘She drops her handkerchief’ after Othello complains of head pain
Iago ‘snatches’ the handkerchief off of Emilia when she takes it
Othello referring to himself in 3rd person and repetition of ‘Farewell’
‘Farewell: Othello’s occupation gone’
O doesn’t recognise himself
Levels a3s3
Othello kneels and then Iago kneels- they are ‘equal’ but Iago has the upper hand
Structure of Desdemona and Othello’s argument over the handkerchief a3s4
Repetition of Othello of ‘The handkerchief!’ shows his blindness due to jealousy. This shows there is nothing D could say to change his mind- women are powerless to the will of men
Cyclical structure of in media res
A4S1 begins in media res like A1S1 reflecting the development of Othello and Iago’s relationship. Instead of I and Roderigo plotting revenge on O, it is Othello plotting revenge on Desdemona
D and O antithesis to each other using religious imagery a4s2
‘Heaven doth ____’
‘Heaven truly knows that thou…’
‘Heaven doth truly know it’ (Desdemona)
‘Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell’ (Othello)
