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Summary A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO ESSAY - 2021 Othello – William Shakespeare Explore the significance of Othello’s background and otherness£4.49
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2021 Othello – William Shakespeare Explore
the significance of Othelloʼs background and
otherness to the tragedy of the play.
Remember to include in your answer relevant
analysis of Shakespeareʼs dramatic methods.
[25 marks]
2021
Othello – William Shakespeare Explore the significance of Othelloʼs background and otherness
to the tragedy of the play. Remember to include in your answer relevant analysis of
Shakespeareʼs dramatic methods. [25 marks]
Othelloʼs otherness despite transcending racial boundaries being what makes the tragedy
so cathartic.
Othelloʼs otherness establishing egalitarian love between him and Desdemona.
Othelloʼs otherness being what Iago manipulates.
In Aristotleʼs Poetics, Aristotle stated that the tragic hero must have a hamartia which interacts
with fate and society to bring about the tragedy. However, in relation to Othello certain critics
have stated that it is society itself which causes the tragedy to occur, creating a tragedy of an
individual caught in a society which he does not understand. In this essay I will therefore
discuss the ‘significance of Othelloʼs background and othernessʼ in relation to the tragedy of
the play as a whole.
As we are introduced to Othello in Act I Scene II, his character immediately creates a conflict of
interpretation as he contrasts the previous depictions of him as a “lascivious” and “lusty” Moor
in the previous scene by Iago, instead representing a powerful and commanding military general
with a perfect combination of peacefulness and valance. He delivers timelessly poetical lines
such as “life up your bright swords for the dew will rust them” as Brabantio and his men arrive.
This links Othello to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with all previously devilish implications
being replaced with allusions to heaven and purity as Othello talks of his love for Desdemona.
As the scene shifts to the Duco palace it becomes clear that Othello is admired whether it be
for his high socio-economic position where he is “highly renowned and prosperous” (Aristotle)
or due to his tales of “hair breadth scapes” and “men whose heads do hang beneath their
necks”. Othello has clearly transcended racial boundaries of the 16th century despite his
background and otherness. He is preferred by the Venetian nobility even more than Brabantio (a
white Venetian man) even after he attempts to appeal to racial and gender stereotypes of the
time, with the Duke stating to Brabantio that “your son in law is more fair than black”. This
presents him as the clear tragic hero of the novel who arguably stands amongst Hamlet, King
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