Othello PLANS

Question 1

Language

Answer 1

Create a sense of Othello’s otherness
1- BUBB - verse vs prose of soldiers hiding how they really feel - ‘rude am I in my speech’, iambic pentameter - insecurity (Alice Sharman)

Question 2

Identity

Answer 2

1- Contrast Loomba ‘propensity to violence’ with the fact Othello feels the need to assert how he can be diplomatic and assertive with words rather than violence
This reflects a sense of juxtaposition ‘more fair than black’ in his listeners
-> alice Sharman - still defined by his racial identity
Weighed up against these stereotypes of race

2 - ‘warlike moor’ vs ‘moor on a warlike isle’ - private life becomes concerned with contrasting his racial identity - ‘give fire to renewed spirits + bring Cyprus comfort’ - Wheale - incapable of any loving relationship next to the masculine codes of behaviour that have created him’

Question 3

Love

Answer 3

1)
Contrast WHEALE - ‘incapable loving relationship beyond the masculine codes which have created him’ (compare prose vs. Verse wheale?, rude am I in my speech)- Bonnie Greer - fragile soul - eloquence

2)
However his love for Desdemona seems to be threatened - his passions ‘o love, thy crown and hearted throne to tyrannous hate’ - marriage to Iago
‘Forced to resort to masculine bonds in Iago’ McEvroy

Question 4

Reputation

Answer 4

1) Iago feels ‘stranded in his rank’ Nigel wheale - Eastman - bridges the gap between his self esteem and the place accorded to him by the world
‘I know my price, I am worth no worse a place’