Summary AQA A LEVEL English Literature A: Othello Complete Notes
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Course
Paper 1: Love through the ages
Institution
AQA
I remember when I was doing my A Levels there weren't a whole lot of resources particularly when it came to Othello. So I compiled the key areas that I focused on to achieve an A in my AQA A LEVEL ENGLISH LITERATURE A exams in 2024, saving you the trouble of having to look for model answers, or pra...
OTHELLO
AO1
EXAM TECHNIQUE
Essay Structure: 50% extract + 50% wider play / PARA 1: Extract For + PARA 2: Extract Against ~
repeat for wider play
Emergency Techniques To Look For In Extract:
● Relationship between characters, change in a character’s behaviours/actions
● Drama: who enters/exits, Aside + who else is on stage hearing it, Dramatic Device: props
(handkerchief), dramatic impact on the audience / Context + Setting: Cyprus or
Venice/location (country, city, house, room), time of day (how much light)? Who speaks + is it
stately, informal, conspiratorial, friendly, insincere? Who is silent? Language: tragedy/comedy
● Structure: place of extract / Form: soliloquy/prose/blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)
○ NOTE: most of ‘Othello’ is in iambic pentameter so only analyse speaking in prose
● Language: length of turn (who dominates), semantics, types of utterance: exclamations +
questions + interruptions + shared lines, recurring motifs (disease, poison, sight), tone
POTENTIAL THEMES IN Q: Tragedy
● Shakespeare doesn’t celebrate female strength and agency in ‘Othello’ because he was
instead exploring the destructive impact patriarchal society ha on the individual woman
● At different times in the play both Emilia and Desdemona try to assert themselves in the face
of patriarchal power, and both women arguably die as a result of their belief that they can
have a voice and choose their own path in life
● Desdemona and Emilia’s friendship is defined against demands of loyalty/ rules made by men
● ‘The character of Bianca is little more than a plot device.’ To what extent do you agree?
EXAM CHECKLIST: Themes, Characterisation Structure, Dialogue, language, Dramatic Devices,
Audience’s Response, Alternative Interpretation + critics
[REMEMBER: The Cuckolded Soldier Does Lose Desdemona After All]
AO2: Structure/Form Sentence Starters
● The play’s pivotal climax in Othello’s switch in allegiance from Desdemona to Iago marks the
moment that helps us understand why…
● Iago’s dramatic irony is used to / serves to…
● 1mThe play’s exposition establishes………
● The denouement in Act 5 reveals/ concludes that…
● Acts 2-5 are set in Cyprus, loosely fulfilling the unity of place in classical tragedy, creating a
suffocating, claustrophobic mood which adds to….
● The play’s action is compressed, as typical for a tragedy, into a short time frame which
emphasises…
● Iago’s dramatic irony is used to / serves to…
● Protagonist / antagonist hero/ Machiavellian/ malcontent/ foil/ tragic victim/ tragic villain
● The stage direction “……………”
Shakespeare’s Aims
● His depiction of a protagonist of uncertain origin would be to stoke contemporary prejudice
● His depiction of interracial marriage (a provocative + controversial plotline) was set in a
different country so Shakespeare could explore their union with a bit more freedom
● His depiction of women (triumvirate) as just as smart, brave and foolish as men means that
it’s natural for them to Q their role in society + charge of sexual impropriety haunts them
● Foreign setting: comment on home-grown political/social issues to be made circumspectly
● Depicts social class is often military terms but play’s exploration of rank go beyond (purse)
● Shakespeare chose Italian setting to exploit contemporary interest in the country
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