AO4

Question 1

How does Othello link to Macbeth?

Answer 1

Both have a transformation of a tragic hero to a villain
(can also link to Romeo but you must explain ‘Begone, respect and compassion. Rage and fury will be my guide. ‘)

Question 2

Where in a3s3 do we see Othello transform from hero to villain?

Answer 2

‘Arise, black vengeance, from the hollow hell,
yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne to tyrannous hate!’

Question 3

How does Othello link to The Tempest/ Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Answer 3

All have island settings or change of setting to signal chaos and conflict

Question 4

How does Othello link to King Lear?

Answer 4

• The Machiavellian villain Edmund plots against his brother and father to get their land and titles
• Edmund exploits women in the same way Iago does

Question 5

What is a Machiavellian villain?

Answer 5

• Comes from ideology in Machiavelli’s book ‘The Prince’
• Connotes someone cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics

Question 6

How does Othello link to Much Ado About Nothing?

Answer 6

Fear of cuckoldry
* The relationship between Desdemona and Emilia is similar to that of Beatrice and Hero, defending against the wrong accusations of men

Question 7

How does Othello link to The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster?

Answer 7

• Both Jacobean tragedies
• Unequal and socially unacceptable matches are portrayed frequently by Shakespeare’s contemporaries
• In TDOM, a revenge tragedy, the Duchess is cruelly tormented and then murdered by her brothers when they find out about her secret marriage to a servant
• Both texts raise questions about the ways in which men dominate and abuse women

Question 8

How does Othello link to Hecatommithi by Gerald Cinthio?

Answer 8

• Hecatommithi was one of the influences for Othello. It is another story of The Moor of Venice
• Shakespeare shifts the focus from Desdemona to Iago and Othello. He abandons Cinthio’s cautionary emphasis on young women who disobey authority, instead develops a tragedy with greater emotional nuance
• Iago’s motive becomes greater than just a desire for Desdemona, making his treachery more complex
• Shakespeare adds new characters such as the gullible Roderigo
• Shakespeare provides a greater political charge by setting the play against the background of war

Question 9

How does Othello link to A Geographical Historie of Africa by Joannes Leo Africanus?

Answer 9

A Geographocal Histories provides observations by a North African diplomat on the African character
* Of their virtues, Leo Africanus writes that Africans are supremely honest and noble-minded people. Of their vices, he writes that Africans are “so credulous that they beleeve matters impossible which are told to them.” Their credulousness makes them unusually “subject to jealousie.” Othello embodies all of these stereotypes

Question 10

Callaghan
‘The comic plot of the ___ daughter…

Answer 10

‘The comic plot of the rebellious daughter marrying her true love transforms into a domestic tragedy’

Question 11

What are the conventions of a Greek tragedy?

Answer 11

• Aristotle’s 3 Unities of Time, Place and Action
• Hubris
• Hamartia
• Anagnorisis- a moment of recognition which precipitates the protagonist towards his peripeteia (when O realises I’s plot)
• Peripeteia
• Catharsis

Question 12

What are the conventions of a Shakespearean tragedy?

Answer 12

• Ends with the death of the tragic heroes
• These deaths have a big impact on the larger community
• Other people die as part of the tragic chain of events.
• Moment of peak happiness or achievement
• Element of fate
• Heroes are in some part responsible for this change of fortunes and everything seems like a terrible accident