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Cassio in Shakespeare's "Othello"
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A full, in-depth A* essay plan exploring the character of Cassio in Shakespeare's "Othello", for the Pearson Edexcel A-Level English Literature.
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By: mischacarr1 • 5 months ago
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cassioIntroduction
o He is a Florentine: much like Othello, he is an outsider within society
o Similarly, like Othello through his position as general, Florence considered culturally
respected place hence he was respected due to his background
Has intellect but bad in practice – does not deserve his position (tool to
present Iago’s jealousy)
o “Bookish theoric’, ‘great arithmetician” – Iago presents intellect as a pejorative trait
as he does not use it in practice
o “Spinster” – Iago feminises him, comparing him to a woman due to his lack of
knowledge of war: shows role of women as helpless and the pointlessness of female
intellect (“duty, beauty, wit and fortunes”, descending tricolon shows how only men
need intellect, hence Cassio’s lack of knowledge of war makes him like a woman.
o "Mere prattle without practice is all his soldiership" - plosive alliteration emphasises
the harshness of this critique, Cassio is a good talker but has little experience,
implying that he makes a poor soldier and doesn’t deserve to have been promoted
o Despite his intellect, Iago still manages to deceive him as his wit is only limited to
books rather than common sense (“bookish” wit)
o However, Iago’s manipulation of Cassio shows a white man can too be manipulated –
Shakespeare possibly shows that Leo Africanus’s view that black men are gullible can
also apply to white men
Relations with Desdemona
o Praises Desdemona: hyperbolic language: “hail to thee lady! And the grace of
heaven” – vow would appeal to Jacobean audience due to religious foundations of
society, emphasising his desire and admiration for her (religious language elevates
her to a religious figure, possible implicative of her purity?)
o “Most exquisite lady” – respects Desdemona in a way Othello doesn’t (different
treatment from black and white man?)
o Possible adultery with Cassio - handkerchief’s red and white could signify
consummation, but that of Desdemona and Cassio instead of with Othello, OR
strawberries are implicit sexual allusion to female genitalia - when Desdemona loses
handkerchief and it ends up with Cassio, Othello interprets this as Desdemona giving
away purity to someone else, showing disloyalty and adultery
Relations with Bianca
o Bianca: means “white”, pure connotations despite being a prostitute/”courtezan” –
contradictory as she remains loyal to Cassio (Shakespeare points towards complexity
of women Robertson “either sub or superhuman” and mocks men for viewing women
as either “pure and innocent” or “vulgar” and “common” - must be “especially
careful about adopting any single perspective of a character
Critics:
Watts – “believes he is more civilised than those around him”
Watts – “spineless wooer”
Hopkins – name means “hollow” – intellect is hollow (only book-smart rather than smarts
that can be applied)
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