main ideas Flashcards
collision of private(domestic) and public (political) issues
-juxtaposes R’s failure to marry D with I’s failure to gain promotion
-B makes D’s elopement public, a political affair
deception and deceit being a preeminent theme
-R deceived into believing he could win D’s heart
-B deceived by I, D and O
-I deceived himself by believing that he would be promoted
“shows of service on their lords” VS “ I am not what I am” carefully structured to question appearance vs reality
language men use to define women in patriarchal context
“A fellow almost damned in a fair wife”
-casual sexism inflicts I’s misogyny
-male views women as inferior and as possessions : “Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags!”
Renaissance stereotype of black man as cunning sexual predator
-suggests D married out of her will as her “youth and maidhood” have been “abused”
-“the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor” makes her elopement more outrageous
Othello is not introduced to us in the first scene
O is a mysterious figure, not referred to by name
-perhaps Shakespeare structured the scene to the influence of rumour
-“self-satisfied and bombastic speaker” VS admitting that O is an effective soldier
Are Iago’s motives plausible?
yes, he is a character who is egotistical, envious. Driven by concrete facts about his professional position
he is discontented as he is held back by “curse of service”
Association of poison with Iago’s lines
“poison his delight” “plague him with flies”
-use of metaphors associates him with corruption, disease and poison
-> foreshadows poisoning of O’s mind
O and D’s marriage is presented as a “subversion of natural order”
R as “curled darlings” in Venetian society
-both R, I and B share the xenophobic view of D’s marriage
-B’s death later is the result of his extreme sorrow from D’s “gross revolt”
“an old black ram”, “ a Barbary horse” and “the beast with two backs”
-> unnatural match and cast Othello as a lustful predator
SEX AND RACE ARE INTERLINKED
the language of insults
“boarded a land carrack” metaphor of piracy continues the idea of accusation of “foul thief”
themes jealousy
O “tear her all to pieces!” “chop her into messes”
“green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on”
“ a monster begot upon itself born on itself”
(shakespeare also explores theme of jealousy in The Winter’s Tale, King Leontes is fuelled by his own thoughts instead of external forces)
the masculine code of honour is threatened by idea of active female sexuality
double standard women are classified as either chaste wives or whores
gender and power
- Desdemona deceived her father, asserted independence from patriarchy by her marriage
2.defend against suspicions but soon all women are silenced or killed
context: During the Renaissance, people believed men were intellectually and morally superior bc of Christian teachings “ a woman ought to serve her husband as unto God, affirming that in nothing has woman equal power with man”
imagery of poisoning
“poison his delight”
“Doth like a poisonous mineral gnaw my inwards”
“pour this pestilence into his ear”
“burn like the mines of sulphur”
O “If there be cords or knives poison or fire…”
“Get me some poison, Iago…”
Lodivico’s comment of “poisons sight” “tragic loading of bodies”
york notes p311 imagery of hell
