Themes: Revenge

Question 1

How is the theme of revenge presented in ‘Othello’?

Answer 1

Revenge is a central theme in ‘Othello’ as it is the main motive of the Machiavellian Iago in his journey to destroy the lives of not only Othello but also Michael Cassio. This drips down to Othello who takes revenge on Deademona reflecting the heirarchy of power in the play and Renaissance Society as a whole.

Question 2

“In complement extern, ‘tis not long after/But i will wear my heart on my sleeve/For daws to pack at. I am not what I am.”

Answer 2

Iago - Act 1, Scene 1
AO1: Allusion
AO1: Caesura
AO2: Iago alludes to the fact that he is of a duplicitous nature and that he is not to be trusted while still remaining the most trusted character among characters such as Roderigo and later on Othello
AO2: Emphasises the finality of Iago’s emotions, with his outward being all there is emotionally which creates an image of emotional turmoil
AO5: Honigmann - Iago is a complex character with many levels to the audience do not know who he really aside from this moment in the first scene (“he is anything but straightforward”)

Question 3

“Hell and night/Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.”

Answer 3

Iago - Act 1, Scene 3
AO1: Demonic “monstrous birth”
AO2: The imagery created of Iago birthing this plan puts him in an effeminate light as the act of giving birth is inherently female, showing that his plot at revenge makes him less of a man than the likes of Othello or Cassio (who he describes as a “proper man” making Iago self-aware)
AO5: Bradley - Othello is the most thrilling Shakespeare play as it tests the audience mentally and emotionally (“Extremes of pity and fear, sympathy and repulsion”, Iago and Othello are “star-crossed mortals”)

Question 4

“Arise black vengeance from thy hollow cell”

Answer 4

Othello - Act 3, Scene 3
AO1: Personification
AO2: Turning point for Othello’s transformation of character as his inner rage is unleashed, similar to how Iago has his “monstrous birth” in Act 1, Scene 1 (his revenge being on Desdemona for her infidelity)
AO3: Black man in Renaissance society
AO5: Loomba - Othello cannot escape his racial stereotypes (“Othello is both a fantasy of interracial love and social tolerance, and a nightmare of racial hatred and male violence”)

Question 5

“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!/It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock/The meat it feeds on.”

Answer 5

Iago - Act 3, Scene 3
AO1: Personification - “green-eyed monster”
AO1: Motif of “monster”
AO2: green connotes jealousy, with jealousy being personified as a monster causing Othello’s phycological erosion, creates motive for Othello’s revenge with it being jealousy
AO2: Othello constantly is compared to a “beast” or “monster” by people such as Iago that shows his place in society but he is now bound to become the metaphorical meat the monsters feed on, showing how he will be pushed further down the Chain of Being due to the masterful puppeteering of Iago
AO5: Honigmann - Iago is taunting Othello which he derives pleasure from (“he is anything but straightforward”)

Question 6

“it is thought abroad, that ‘twixt my sheets/He has done my office”

Answer 6

Iago: Act 1, Scene 3
AO1: Past participle verb - “done my office”
AO2: implies a sexual affair between Othello and Iago’s wife Emilia who goes unnamed until Act 3 (jealous that Othello can easily fill in his “office”, which he sees as his only job within his marriage), provides false motive for Iago as this is only a rumour (“thought abroad”)
AO3: women in ‘Othello’ and Renaissance society being seen only as sex objects