Paper 1: Othello Flashcards
Relevant context (AO3)
1) Ottoman- Venetian conflict
Cyprus- symbolises liminal position which is also reflected in Othello- he fights for a Venetian force yet he is still an outsider- neither a Turk or a European
Villainous character- Venetian
Hero- outsider
Goes against contemporary audience belief of Venetian gentility and nobility
2) Renaissance belief- Platonic Doctrine- ‘a beautiful body housed a beautiful soul
3) A woman’s marriage was arranged by her father- and women had to shows the same respect to their husbands the same way as their fathers
‘honour’- Shakespearean audience- the upkeep of your reputation was of high importance esp. for a high class Venetian
For women this meant staying a virgin until marriage
Modern audience- wave of secularisation and rise in women’s rights in the 20th Century so it meant different things in different cultures
4) Courtly love- brang emotion and hyperbolic use of language- typical of a Venetian Renaissance man
5) Intense love between man and woman- key point of literature- women were to be adored by men
6) Idea of a patriarchal dictum and the whole contemporary play surrounding it- Renaissance plays men played the role of women
7) Bible presented women as fragile being being reliant on their husbands
Other interpretations (AO4)
1) Marxist critic of today (2003) ‘Tragedy is thus an instrument for regulating social feeling’
2) T.S Eliot ‘never read a more terrible exposure of human emotion’
3) Contrasting critics; Thomas Rymer (1693) ‘moral is only a warning to housewives to look well in their linen’ referring the domestic duties and women should step out of line putting the blame on women
Similarly, Lisa Jardine (1983) puts down women but in a different way stating Desdemona shows ‘passivity in adversity’
Feminist critics highlight the ways Shakespeare portrays gender roles both Emilia and Desdemona honour the patriarchal dictum
From the plays earliest performances, audiences responded sympathetically to D’s plight however Attitudes in the 20th Century changed as feminist critics underscored the women’s strength and outlined that they were constrained by the male characters’ patriarchal superstitions
Marilyn French comments on the feminine values of Othello, Emilia and Cassio subscribe to which are destroyed by Iago whose ‘ordinary wisdom of the male world’ comes to dominate
Argues that the stage world of Jacobean drama is wholly masculine as there is only a male point of view on Offer
4) Lady Macbeth and Iago- similar qualities as they both act as a necessary evil as she is determined to become Queen but can only happen if Macbeth kills Duncan how she knows he is ‘too full o’ the milk of human kindness’
5) Iago’s most underrated and constant victim is his wife Emilia
How to structure Paper 1
Start with Othello: Tragic love has been a central theme of literature through the ages
Talk about the concept and how it relates to the play
Othello: Language, Form, Structure
4 paragraphs, intro, conclusion
Unseen Poetry Comparison- Introduction- unpick the question- rephrase it in your own works
3 paragraphs Language, Structure
GG and Pre-1900 Poetry-
Intro- Refer to the concept and how it relates to the play
Topic sentence: relate it to all 3 texts are the similar or not
Topic sentence: Structure- how is prose and poetry different is their expression- relate it to all 3 texts
Othello and Iago (AO1 and AO2)
Language
1) Act 4 scene 1: Othello’s fractured sense of self is conveyed through lexis and syntax. Previously the hero spoke of himself in the 1st and 3rd person (the usage conveyed his nobility and status)
His use of questions ‘lie with her, lie on her?…Handkerchief, confession, handkerchief… be hanged for his Labour…I tremble at it’
‘Ocular proof’ is a symbol of female infidelity and male hold on power so Othello feels threatened when he doesn’t know his wife
Shakespeare expose the frivolity of the item and how the reliance on it is a clear breakdown
Only character who realised the silliness is Iago calling it ‘merely a trifle’ purposeful?
Othello- there’s magic in the web of it- undermines the whole relationship
2) There is terrible irony in the fact that Othello declares ‘it is not words that shake me’ thus the events of the play and the violence of his outburst suggests that words are the cause of Othello’s destruction
3) Iago and Othello exchange of sacred vows in Act 3 scene 3- they complete each other’s iambic pentameter when Iago says ‘for too much loving you’ Othello replies ‘I am bound to thee forever’ Importance of comradeship
4) Venetian Ottoman conflict, Othello desires ‘for disposition for my wife’ and Shakespeare presents Othello’s conflicted nature through his attempt to balance out both priorities of his duty as a commander and a husband.
Ending of Othello
The nature and impact of the ending reflects the overall force of the literary text
1) In his epitaph (suicide) Act 5 scene 2 he highlights his service as a Christian hero by killing the ‘Turbaned Turk’ inside who beat ‘beat a Venetian and traduced the state’ suggests that his love was doomed from the start Venetian obsession with reputation
2) Unusual end- traditional tragedies the threat is eradicated- showcasing that evil lives on in everyone and the flaws of love are evident in every relationship
Iago- symbolic of human emotion- jealously anger ends in a domestic setting developed my Shakespeare in the Renaissance
3) Audience are meant to have some catharsis (purging of emotions) despite the fact that a tragedy is expected
The audience is exposed to destructive qualities and acts as a cautionary tale
Othello and Iago- (AO2)- Structure
Shakespeare built the character Iago from an idea already existing in the theatrical culture of his time
The devil in religious morality plays- developed into the villain in Elizabethan drama and tragedy Iago self declaration stating ‘I am not what I am’ highlights his hubris imitating the words of God in the Bible when he said ‘I am that I am’
Narrative structure- In the first 3 acts Iago comes to dominate while Othello goes into decline and sinks further when he ‘stifles’ his wife
Act 3 scene 3- climactic point of the play the change in Othello is showcased in his only soliloquy the audience for the first time are exposed to Othello’s thoughts and feelings
Women- Emilia and Desdemona
1) Williow scene- highly significant -the scene with all women-
not included in all versions
Quarto (original version) it isn’t
Folio (collection) it is
Feminist manifesto- double standards for men and women
Check AO3 feminist critics
Prolepsis for tragic end
2) They are both similar: very loyal to their husbands and aware of the patriarchal dictum
Desdemona affirms with such innocence ‘I never did offend you in my life; never loved Cassio
She is veracious in say that she has not cheated therefore proving to him that she is loyal however only made the statement to please her husband as he believes she is lewd and unchaste
Emilia is also loyal: instead of giving the handkerchief back to her mistress she gives it to Iago ‘I am glad I have found this napkin… I nothing but to please his fantasy’
3) However there is a sharp contrast between these women in regard to the experiences and perceptions of reality in terms of CONFIDENCE
Emilia- older woman, worldly and self confident character is displayed during her last convention with Desdemona, ‘who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch’
1st Feminist speech
Desdemona- naive and sweet and lacks confidence and displays her sweetness when she says ‘I do not think there is any such woman’
The lack of self confidence is displayed in the moments leading up to her death, where instead of fighting for her life she is indigent to her husband
3)
Setting
Literary love- problematic- use of structure highlights the problematic notion of placing a very private experience into a public realm perhaps could be prolepsis for tragedy.
The ‘desperate tempests hath so banged the Turks’ and the enemy has been a replaced by a domestic war- describing the war as ‘desperate’ is heavily ironic- as earlier Othello was almost thankful for the war as it brought such ‘calms’ afterwards
The breakdown of Othello’s positive view of the war is reflective of the breakdown of Othello’s idealisation of Desdemona
Shakespeare signal’s Othello’s naivety as he is able to realise the futility of the war, but not the futility of idealised love -leads to tragic end in the domestic battle in the bedroom
Physical War is gone and there is a sudden focus on the negative aspects of their relationship
