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Othello in "Othello"
- Module
- Unit 1 - Drama
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
A full, in-depth A* essay plan exploring the character of Othello in Shakespeare's "Othello", for the Pearson Edexcel A-Level English Literature.
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OthelloIntro
- Would expect the black character to be the villain – Shakespeare challenges social norms
- Coleridge – implausible for Desdemona to fall in love with Othello which is a flaw of Shakespeare’s
writing: just wouldn’t be accurate for the time period
Barbaric, abhorrent, lustful
- Introduced to Othello through racists’ viewpoints
- Iago; “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” – implies he is corrupting the innocence of a lamb
through juxtaposing colour imagery
- Roderigo; “what full fortune does the thick lips owe us?” – plosive alliteration sounds like he is spitting
words out, emphasizing anger; ‘thick lips’ is derogatory slur on Othello’s race; Othello influenced by
Desdemona’s dowry (payment from father to groom in 17 century); Leo Africanus “so greedily addicted
unto their filthy lucre”
- Brabantio; “chains of magic” – metaphor emphasizing Othello’s power over wife and how he trapped her
against her will; predatory, she is weak and helpless; “chains” connotations of slavery; strong beliefs in
witchcraft amongst Jacobean society - James I wrote “Daemonologie” – belief that black connoted black
magic and evil
- Burnett “he himself is a racially oppressed figure in an unfamiliar environment where the attitudes of the
white majority prevail”
Sophisticated, defies stereotypes
1) Speech
- Originally presented through Iago, Brabantio and Roderigo as unsophisticated, barbaric, lascivious by
others, but Shakespeare presents him as more educated that the white characters
- Brabantio’s speech is emotional and ambiguous: “I’ll have’t disputed on – ‘tis probable, and palpable to
thinking. I therefore apprehend” and Othello’s response is logical and articulate “how may the Duke be
therewith satisfied” – blank verse and IP presents Othello as more sophisticated than Brabantio, confirms
Othello is worthy of position as General
- Only subtly suggested as the Elizabethan society wouldn’t have supported this view (believed white were
superior to black, and the possibility of a “beastly (Africanus)” Moor being in any way superior to a white
man was abhorrent)
2) Personality
- Duke says he is “far more fair than black” – respected by white colleagues, controversial in era
- Othello says he’s “rude […] in [his] speech” yet remains humble, despite being articulate and having
intelligent speech (moors often linked to seven deadly sins “proud and high-minded”, “covetous”
(Africanus) and he challenges this stereotype through his lack of pride and greed)
Confirms stereotypes by end
- “[his] parts, [his] title, and [his] perfect soul shall manifest [him] rightly” - good nature will pay off, yet
Othello dies (despite O’s best efforts to challenge stereotypes, Shakespeare confirms traditional racist views
of Elizabethan audience – his soul did not manifest him rightly, as he is ultimately, as Holderness says,
possesses “pride and arrogance”)
- Collapses into chaotic prose as seen on page from sophisticated free verse “to please the palate of my
appetite”, refers to himself in the third person “that married with Othello” shows he feels detached from
own body. Becomes increasingly more animalistic (explored by Shakespeare through Iago’s racist
discourse “old black ram”, “foam at the mouth”, “gnaw” – eventually internalises these and adopts
animalistic behaviour (calls himself a “circumciséd dog” and promises to “tear [Desdemona] to pieces”)
- Adheres to views of Leo Africanus who calls blacks “dogs”, “beastly”, “lives in the forest among beasts
Desdemona and Othello’s contrasting reactions in the face of death
- Act 4 Scene 1 – Othello’s speech partakes in erratic and catastrophic retreat into prose from sophisticated
free verse “to please the palate of my appetite”, refers to himself in the third person “that married with
Othello” showing delusion
- Desdemona remains in blank verse despite her emotional state: “O banish me, my lord, but kill me not” –
calm and collected in face of death
- Shakespeare either tries to present O negatively or to sculpt “assertive and headstrong” female - Atkins
- O adheres to views of Leo Africanus who calls blacks “dogs”, “beastly”, “lives in the forest among beasts”
- D adheres to loyal wife who should honour + obey by sacrificing her soul at the end “I, myself”
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