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Identity A* Othello essay
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Essay written by an A-level English literature private tutor + A* student. A high level (A*) Othello essay on identity for Edexcel A level English
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Explore how Shakespeare treats the theme of iden ty in Othello. You must relate yourdiscussion to relevant contextual factors and ideas from your cri cal reading. (35 marks)
Iden ty is treated as a malleable tool suited for manipula on and exploita on as explored through
binary opposi ons of masculinity and femininity as well as good and evil. Consequently iden ty is
presented to be a social construct and is treated as such through the idea that Othello’s race
dictates his iden ty.
Shakespeare employs the character of Iago as a symbol of evil, his iden ty is therefore in line with
that of the devil. Consequently iden ty is presented to be a tool in order to exploit and manipulate
for one’s own bene t. Iago is o en seen to be colluding with the audience during his soliloquies
this illustrates his intellect as a character allowing an audience to form a rela onship with him.
During an aside Iago outlines his role as the playwright ‘with as li le as a web as this will I ensnare
as great a y as Cassio’. A ‘web’ is intricately designed and suggests Iago to not only be
manipula ve but also intellectual. The spider metaphor evokes images of a predator capturing its
pray, as a web is designed for this sole purpose an audience can clearly see Iago’s intent reinforcing
Othello as a revenge tragedy. Alterna vely an audience could be in collusion with Iago as the
spider metaphor further evokes the concept of the Great Chain of Being, placing Iago in the role of
the predator naturally places Iago above Cassio in the natural order foreshadowing the tragedy
Iago manifests. However as it is Iago who places himself in this role as he is the ‘playwright’ he can
be seen to be inver ng the natural order sugges ng his social status to be a crucial mo va on. This
is further supported by the biblical connota ons of a spider. Chris an teachings believe that spider
webs are works of evil ergo likening Iago to Satan, the creator of evil addi onally foreshadowing
the tragedy that Iago brings. Iago is further likened to satan ‘to abuse Othello’s ear’ the
iconography of the ‘ear’ evokes biblical interpreta ons, where the ‘ear’ is seen to be the proper
organ of religious understanding this idea juxtaposes the inten onal and violent verb ‘abuse’
sugges ng Iago to appropriate religion for his own gain. In addi on to this as he is seen to admit
this desire in a soliloquy; Iago’s satanic parallel is integral to his own iden ty. Iago’s satanic iden ty
is further illustrated through his duplicitous story-telling and illusory abili es ‘Men should be what
they seem or those that be not, would they might have seen none’. Iago suggests to Othello that a
man who puts on a false face must work at maintaining this facade. However this irony serves to
deceive Othello as an audience is aware that Iago is referring to himself as opposed to Cassio. The
enigma c exclama ve reinforces Iago’s appearance as ‘honest’ allowing for the confusion between
illusion and the de ni ve to con nue to manifest. Moreover the serpen ne syntax employed
further likens Iago to the devil sugges ng his integral role of deceiving others in order to cause
chaos. Shakespeare explicitly li ers Iago’s language with satanic references as acknowledged by
Stoll who believes Iago is ‘one of Shakespeare’s most consistent characters’. In order to evaluate
this cri cism one must consider both ways in which Iago presents himself as a consistent character.
His collusion with the audience allows for a consistent rela onship and understanding between
them that Iago’s true iden ty is that of the devil, whilst he does not reveal this to other characters
it is evident that the facade he upholds of a loyal man is consistent as can be seen through the
epithet ‘honest Iago’; ergo presen ng Iago’s iden ty through the binary opposi ons of good and
evil. In addi on to this his collusion with the audience allows for him to play with language as is
evident ‘Men should be what they seem or those that be not, would they might have seen none’
through the manipula on of Othello. In response to Stoll it could therefore be argued that whilst
other characters such as Desdemona are seen to have con ict within their uid iden ty, Iago is
presented to have two separate personas, it is his consistency between these iden es which
allow him to exploit others. Therefore it is evident that through his role as the devil and the
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