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Othello Wider Reading Notes
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Just some notes I made about other Shakespearean tragedies and the links they form with Othello. This is useful for intertextuality when writing an essay.
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Wider Reading (Intertextuality)Hamlet
Hubris: Excessive pride
Hamartia: Procrastination
Peripeteia: Hamlet’s decision not to kill Claudius when he is praying
Anagnorisis: Hamlet’s point of recognition is when he sets up the mousetrap play. In the
play within the play, Hamlet has someone to murder the King, Gonzago, who then marries
his wife after doing so. After this, Claudius rises and leaves the room
Catharsis: This is when Hamlet engages in a sword fight with Laertes
Setting: Elsinore’s Castle, Denmark
Tragic Hero: 1. Like Othello, Hamlet is driven to madness as a result of the hamartia he
possesses and this fatal flaw eventually leads to his demise.
2. Hamlet is also presented as an outsider like Othello, as a result of the murder of his father
and the reign of new King, his uncle, Claudius
Tragic Villain: 1. Like Iago, Claudius is power hungry and keen to over-reach his position in
society.
2. Unlike Iago, Claudius dies at the end of the play, in order for the natural order to
restored, ensuring the catharsis takes place.
3. Claudius, like Iago, manipulates Hamlet just like Iago manipulates Othello. However, as
the play progresses, Hamlet begins to counter-manipulate Claudius, but Iago manipulates
Othello to the very end of the play.
The conflict of the play seems to stem from the upset and negative emotions Hamlet
experiences as a result of learning that his Uncle Claudius, poisoned his father in
order to become the King.
Upholds the tradition of the Jacobean tragedy. Hamlet is a revenge tragedy
Macbeth
Hubris: Excessive Pride
Hamartia: His fatal flaw is his ‘o’er leaping ambition’.
Peripeteia: This is evident is when Macbeth commits regicide, killing King Duncan
Anagnorisis: Macbeth realises the error of his ways immediately after he kills the King. He
refuses to go back into Duncan’s chamber and smear the blood over his body.
Catharsis: The sword fight of Macbeth and Macduff at the end demonstrates the cleansing
and restoration of order. Macbeth dies at the end to achieve redemption for his sins and
gain a noble death as the eponymous Aristotelian tragic hero of the play.
Setting: Scotland
Tragic Hero: 1. Lady Macbeth confronts Macbeth making him unable to cope with tragic
situations and provoking Macbeth and his journey as the tragic hero.
2. The allusion to the death of Macbeth’s child seems to elicit a sympathetic response from
the audience causing the contemporary audience to pity Macbeth.
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