Othello A04 Flashcards
AO4 focuses on making connections across texts and exploring meanings and interpretations that arise not just from the text's own context (AO3), but also from broader historical or cultural contexts informed by the study of the period. e.g We might make interpretations of Othello based on Macbeth, Romeo and Juliette, ect. (7 cards)
theme of appearance versus reality
Lady Macbeth says this to her husband: “look like th’innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t.”
comparable to Iago
theme of Jealousy/ madness
Hamlet: Ophelia goes mad when rejected by her lover and when falls out a willow tree, she accidentally falls in the water and then simply neglects to save herself from sinking.
comparable to Othello
Symbolism of sickness and nature
Benvoli finds Romeo wondering by a grove of Sycamore trees when love-sick
comparable to the Willow tree song D and E both sing
“The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree” Desdemona says this about Barbary, her mother’s maid.
Barbary was a woman who was abandoned by the man she loved, and she died singing the mournful “Willow” song — which Desdemona later sings herself. This moment is full of dramatic irony, as Desdemona unknowingly foreshadows her own fate: she too is about to be tragically abandoned and killed by the man she loves (Othello).
theme of a enternal love
Sonnet 116 ‘If this be error and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d’
comparable to “For if she be not happy, chaste and true// There’s no man happy” Emilia
Theme of tragic Hero and Fate:
Like Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, Othello explores how a tragic hero’s flaws and fate lead to downfall, reflecting Shakespearean ideas of tragedy.
Theme of Jealousy as a Destructive Force:
Othello’s jealousy parallels themes in Macbeth (ambition) and Romeo and Juliet (passion), showing how intense emotions can cause chaos.
Theme of Love and Tragedy:
Like Romeo and Juliet, Othello shows love entwined with tragedy, exploring how passion can both unite and destroy.
