Othello

Question 1

How is Othello perceived throughout the play?

Answer 1

Beginning - A noble and humble man
Middle - Physiologically on the edge with his mental state eroding away
End - Perpetuating his own stereotypes through his violent actions

Question 1

“Not I I must be found: My parts, my title and my perfect soul Shall manifest me rightly.”

Answer 1

Othello, Act 1 Scene 2
AO1: Tripartite
AO2: Othello holds himself in a high regard
AO3: Hubris and Tragic Hero Elements?
AO5: Leavis - Othello’s self-dramatisation causes his eventual downfall

Question 2

Repetition of “turn”

Answer 2

Othello - Act 4, Scene 1
AO1: Diacope
AO2: sexual innuendo with Desdemona metaphorically turning to other men and being disloyal to her husband (suggests she is on the same level as Bianca, Cassio’s true mistress) and feeding into Othello’s jealousy-fuelled delusions, displaying his transformation of character
AO3: Women in Renaissance Society
AO3: Aristotle’s Tragic Hero (exerts traits such as his hamartia: his naivete)
AO5: Nutall - the audience experience entertainment from watching the tragedy of Othello and Desdemona unfold despite having an emotional disturbance (“If people go again to see such things they must enjoy them”)

Question 3

“Put out the light, and then put out the light: […] put out thy light”

Answer 3

Othello, Act 5 Scene 2
AO1: Diacope, Archaic possessive pronoun, Symbolism, Epanalepsis
AO2: Othello snuffs out the lights to murder in the dark as well as snuffs out the light of Desdemona’s life
AO2: “Thy” - shows Othello still retains some level of respect and love for Desdemona
AO2: Death on marital bed carries sexual connotations
AO3: Stereotypes of a black man in Renaissance society
AO5: Loomba - “a nightmare of racial hatred and male violence”