Othello Flashcards
AO5: Granville Barker
“A tragedy without meaning”
AO5: Coleridge
“Iagos excuses are the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity”
AO5: O’toole
Iago is the “Machiavellian villain”
“There is no Othello without Iago”
AO5: Heilman
“The least heroic of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes”
AO5: TS Elliot
“Othello does not obtain redemption although he believes he is honourable as he acted accordingly to the circumstances of female infidelity”
AO3: Race
- Animalistic qualities and had a primitive nature.
- Fit only to be slaves - Othello goes against society’s expectations.
- Were often associated with witchcraft.
- The devil was portrayed as having black skin.
- Othello sees him as incapable of villainy because he is white.
AO3: Gender
- Jacobean society was a patriarchal.
- Women were lower than men on the chain of being.
- Desdemona pushes the boundaries of this by disobeying her father and marrying Othello.
- Women are objects of their husband and fathers “Look to your house, your daughter and your bags” “I won his daughter” object - prize
- Most men assumed venetian women were promiscuous.
- Gender and race overlap a lot in the play and several characters in the play believe that black men sexually contaminate white women, including Othello.
- Desdemona understands societal expectations “I am bound for life and education” she is also at times in the play shown as being a submissive character.
- Bianca’s a prostitute and therefore low on the chain of being. Seen as a “fallen woman”.
AO3: Religion
- Jacobean (and elizabethan) society was an era of religious beliefs.
- Battling the Turks - an era of religious war.
- Hellish language would have been shocking for a Jacobean audience.
- Many people believed that black people couldn’t be christian as they were not aligned with god. Therefore the tragic end was inevitable.
- Women were viewed as untrustworthy because of Eve’s sin.
AO3: The Renaissance man
- The ideal man was well-balanced and in control of his emotions. Othello is portrayed as this at the start (Venice).
- However this changes with the setting (Venice to Cyprus) and progresses.
AO3: Venice
- Known for its beauty, culture, civilisation and pleasure.
- It was also known for its sexual freedom which is why venetian women were seen as promiscuous.
AO3: The Seven Deadly Sins
- Foundation of morality.
- Shakespeare employs them as a way of showing faults within protagonists and villains.
- Othello=Wrath, lago=Envy
- These sins are thought to lead to murder, as proved by Othello and lago.
AO3: Jealousy and Chaos
- Caused by evil spirits.
- Jealousy was seen as an infection with no cure or prevention.
- Chaos was the undoing of gods creation, a return to darkness and the break of the chain of being.
- Othello and lago are both overcome by jealousy and chaos.
AO3: Cuckoldery
- This was a fear because it showed they couldn’t control their wife and had married someone with an unnatural sexual appetite.
- Young beautiful wives would have captivated their husbands but were also seen as a target of other men, as Roderigo confirms.
AO3: Tragedy
- The tragic hero has to be played by someone with some kind of power (king, or prince) and they make a mistake or have misfortune.
- The tragic plot is that it must have a clear sense of plot and then a change in the heroes fortune from happiness to misery.
- The audience experience catharsis through the heroes suffering and death.
- The reign of James the 1st was the most prolific period of english dramatic writing.
- Jacobean tragedy’s revolve around an obsession with death, sexual passion and physical decay. Sin was always associated with sexuality.
AO4: Theme of tragedy breaking up relationships
- Macbeth
- Hamlet
- King Lear
- Romeo and Juliet
AO4: Theme of jealousy and deception
Much ado about nothing
AO4: Theme of loss and love
Romeo and Juliet
AO4: Theme of insanity
Hamlet
AO4: The Handkerchief as a token
- The nights tale
The handkerchief is seen as a love token of undying love (wedding ring level of significance)
Theme: Jealousy
Jealousy and Destruction
- Jealousy destroys both Othello and Iago… both male protagonists murderous and violent.
- Jealousy destroys love, honour and nobility in those it afflicts.
Professional Jealousy
- Iago envies Cassio because of promotion, social status and superior manners.
Sexual Jealousy
- Bianca, Iago and Othello are examples. All wrongly believe they have been betrayed by those they love.
Jealousy and madness
- Iago observes Othello “foam at the mouth and … breaks out into savage madness” later her feeds Othello’s jealousy. Iago comments “As he (Cassio) shall smile, Othello shall go mad”
Theme: Race and Colour
“An old black ram is tupping your white ewe”
“To fall in love with what she feared to look on… so could err all rules of nature.”
“O the more angel she, and you the blacker devil.”
Theme: Love and Relationships
Double Standards
- Socially acceptable for Cassio to consort with a courtesan, but it is presumptuous for Bianca to expect him to marry her.
- Two types of women: Chaste wives or whores.
Couples
- Iago is envious and unhappy married to Emilia
- Cassio cannot be seen in Bianca’s company.
Gender and power
By the end of the play, all female characters are silenced. That they ever had power is debatable.
- Only ever seen in relation to male characters.
Love triangle
- Iago seeks to displace Desdemona
