List of theme essay plans, including points, analysis and context. Produced by a student who achieved an A* in the Pearson Edexcel English Literature A-level.
OTHELLO- THEMED ESSAY PLANS
ESSAY: CONFLICT BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE.
POINTS
Othello is a public character placed within the framework of a domestic tragedy
Private life intrudes on Othello’s public life
Shakespeare demonstrates a contradiction between the behavior of Iago in the
public face and his private morality.
CRITICAL READING
Bradley- ‘High degree’, ‘no tale of private life could possibly rival’
Kastan- ‘The emotional truth of the struggle’, ‘uncompensated suffering’
Honnigman- ‘Godlike sense of power’, ‘Iago’s convenient masks’, ‘his essential
sadism’
QUOTES
‘valiant Othello’ AO2: Pre-modifying adjective
‘I did not see you. Welcome gentle signor’
‘a council room’AO2: Use of setting
‘of so flood-gate and overbearing nature that it engluts and swallows other sorrows’AO2:
Hyperbole, metaphor accentuates overreaction in public setting
‘make love’s quick pants in Desdemona’s arms’AO2: Links Othello’s action as a
husband verb ‘makes’ to his action as a leader (links public and private)
‘Farewell the plumed troops, and the big wars that makes ambition virtue!’AO2:
Exclamation
‘pictures out of doors, bells in your parlours’AO2: Accumulation of metaphors,
appearance of humour
‘I wish they were clyster pipes for your sake’AO2: Expletives, reality of sadism
CONTEXT
Othello’s position within society would have been unusual for a black man, the
fact that he is suggests the progressive and multicultural nature of Venice.
Shakespeare may have also had knowledge of great black public figures, such as
the Moroccan ambassador Al-Annuri who visited London in 1600.
The issues of interracial marriage- this would have been seen as a doomed
marriage, this provides a foothold for Iago to manipulate Othello, by exploiting the
insecurity he may have about his marriage.
Iago’s misogyny would have been more acceptable to a Jacobian audience. He is
also a character who is influenced very much by social classes which were
prevalent at that time.
, Shakespeare draws contextually from the Venetian war with the Turks, providing
a setting with potential for chaos, but also a society in which the ‘other’ was
frowned upon.
ESSAY: BETRAYAL
, POINTS:
Iago’s betrayal of Othello is central to the plot and drives the play’s action
Othello’s belief that his wife has betrayed him causes him to fall from a high
position
Emilia’s betrayal of Iago emphasizes the importance of love and relationships
between female characters
CRITICAL READING
Honigmann- ‘Emilia’s love (of Desdemona) is Iago’s undoing’ and ‘the spiritual impulses
which bind ordinary human beings together’
Honigmann- ‘Iago’s convenient masks’ and ‘he enjoys a godlike sense of power’
Loomba- ‘Italy a dangerous model for the English’
Katsan- ‘Tragedy as the fall from prosperity to wretchedness’
Nuttall- ‘tragic pleasure’ ‘a cruel or sadistic pleasure’ followed by ‘a later kind of
moralism’
QUOTES
‘a barbary horse’ AO2: Animalistic imagery, metaphor which shows Iago’s hatred
‘making the beast with two backs’
‘scurvy and provoking terms’AO2: Use of adjectives to suggest the nature of
Iago’s own insults whilst blaming Brabantio
‘the green eyed monster’ AO2: Extended metaphor
‘Why is this? Think’s thou I’d make a life of jealousy?’AO2: Repeated questioning-
denial
‘O, blood, blood, blood!’AO2: Breakdown- total belief of Desdemona’s betrayal
‘I charge get you home’AO2: Imperatives are ignored
‘It is proper I obey him- but not now’AO2: Conjunction ‘but’
CONTEXT
Iago’s ingrained racism could perhaps draw on the Jacobian fear of outsiders.
Othello’s position within society would have been unusual for a black man, the
fact that he is suggests the progressive and multicultural nature of Venice.
Shakespeare may have also had knowledge of great black public figures, such as
the Moroccan ambassador Al-Annuri who visited London in 1600.
Attitudes towards female characters- ‘The angel of the house’ and the lack of
power women had within marriage- It is foolish to marry someone because of love
even if love may occur sometimes in marriage. The matrimony is arranged by
families of the bride and the groom in order for the two sides to benefit from one
another. Mostly, it was arranged for wealth and reputation. Families of landowners
were expected to marry just to augment their land possession.
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