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Summary A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO ESSAY - 2019 Othello – William Shakespeare ‘Othello is a misguided murderer rather than a cruel one.’£4.49
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2019 Othello – William Shakespeare ‘Othello is
a misguided murderer rather than a cruel one.ʼ
To what extent do you agree with this view?
Remember to include in your answer relevant
comment on Shakespeareʼs dramatic methods.
[25 marks]
Othello – William Shakespeare ‘Othello is a misguided murderer rather than a cruel one.ʼ To
what extent do you agree with this view? Remember to include in your answer relevant
comment on Shakespeareʼs dramatic methods. [25 marks]
Othelloʼs initial presentation in the play and how this becomes contradicted.
The method in which Iago manipulates Othello in Act III.
The cruelty in which Othelloʼs strikes Desdemona.
The kindness in which he smothers her still presenting his love – 16th century
interpretations.
In Aristotleʼ Poetics, Aristotle stated that the tragic heroes peripetia should occur due to a
‘combination of his own hamartia interacting with fate and the society around him which results
in his tragedyʼ. In Othello this interaction can be seen as being Iago who acts as an agent of
chaos within the play as he misguides Othello and manipulates him into committing cruelties. In
this essay I will therefore discuss to what extent ‘Othello is a misguided murderer rather than a
cruel oneʼ.
As we are introduced to Othello immediately a conflict of interpretation arises. He contrasts
Iagoʼs previous depictions of him as a “lascivious Moor” who is “making the beast with two
backs” by instead presenting the audience with a character of colourful complexity who
balances the peaceful commanding power of a general with the deep infatuation with a man in
love. It is therefore in this initial interpretations where readers and audiences must question
whether Othelloʼs cruelty stems from something innately within him or is something which is
forced upon him by the tragic villain Iago.
Othelloʼs character seems to have transcended racial boundaries of the time as in Act I Scene III
he is chosen by the senate over Brabantio, a white Venetian noble man, representing Othelloʼs
place as being “highly renowned and prosperous” (Aristotle). His deep impending love for
Desdemona seems to make up his entire character at the beginning of the play with the lovers
building a type of egalitarian love between each other which would have been shocking to 16th
century audiences. While all other characters (specially male) view woman in terms of
ownership, objectifying them, Othello gives Desdemona her own voice telling the Senate to call
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