Act 1 - make sure you complete the study notes handout.
Activities from the textbook to note:
pg 8. Animals
pg. 12 The Moor
pg 16. Janus
pg. 32 The effect of Othello's words
pg. 38 'A man he is of honesty and trust'.
pg. 40 'Iago's garden imagery'
Locate key aspects::
- focus on animal imagery
- metaphor of sight and sound
- imperative tone in Iago
- references to appearance and reality in Iago
- allusion to the god Janus
•Roderigo: “Iago, who hast had my purse /As if the strings were thine”
•Simile: shows Iago in a position of control and manipulation over Roderigo
•Iago: “I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.”
•Arrogant and confident tone: shows Iago’s indignant and angry feelings to have been overlooked by Othello for Michael Cassio
•Iago calls Othello a “Barbary horse,” an “old black ram,” and also tells Brabanzio that his daughter and Othello are “making the beast with two backs” (I.i.117–118).
Foreshadowing - Iago - 'I am not what I am'.
Iago's malice: •Repetition of his imperative tone to Roderigo show his dominance. Locate quotes that emphasise this.
•Animal imagery in the closing position the audience to grasp the placement of his anger.
Metaphor of nature: •Some examples are: “Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme . . . the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills” (I.iii.317–322);
•Iago cultivates his “conceits” so that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic way in which Iago’s plots consume the other characters and determine their behavior makes his conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago’s efforts.
Focus on the soliloquy: •http://ed.ted.com/on/He3RS98Z#watch
Respond to critical responses of the play:
Feminist reading: ‘a maiden never bold’
•Feminist critics highlight the ways Shakespeare portrays gender roles. In Act 1, Scene 3, Brabantio describes his daughter Desdemona as ‘a maiden never bold’, yet in choosing a foreigner she has violated the Venetian norm of arranged endogamous marriages (the practice of marrying within a local community or ethnic group) and rejected her father’s authority. Still, she honours the patriarchal dictum that, once married, the wife owes her husband the same respect and duty she had shown her father.
Locate quotes that show Desdemona’s perspective in the opening of the play.
New historicist critics often debate whether or not race was a factor in early modern representations of non-English peoples. Although Othello’s racial identity is clearly a factor in Shakespeare’s text, when the play was first performed the audience would not have seen it as squarely focused on race as we do. As a result, Shakespeare’s Othello has been appropriated worldwide as a vehicle for the exploration of racial and ethnic tensions.
•In the opening scene Iago refers to Othello as ‘the thick-lips’ (1.1.66) and later he raises a toast to ‘the health of black Othello’ (2.2.29). Through these and other comments we learn that Othello is a black African of sub-Saharan origin
Psychosocial analysis: •Examines the psychological aspect of the drama.
In this Act consider:
1.Why is Iago doing what he is doing?
2.Explain the quote ‘I am not what I am’ what does this reveal about his self-perception?
3.How does Othello draw people to him? What parallels can be drawn between him and Iago?
4.How authentic does Othello and Desdemona’s relationship appear in this Act?
Reflection of the scene:
1.Locate quotes that show Othello is of a different ethnicity to others.
2.Describe Brabantio’s perspective of Othello by referring to specific quotations.
3.Explain with reference to quotes how the perception that people from other parts of the world are influenced by magic.
•
•How do these elements contribute to the perception of Othello as an outsider?
pg 8. Animals
pg. 12 The Moor
pg 16. Janus
pg. 32 The effect of Othello's words
pg. 38 'A man he is of honesty and trust'.
pg. 40 'Iago's garden imagery'
Locate key aspects::
- focus on animal imagery
- metaphor of sight and sound
- imperative tone in Iago
- references to appearance and reality in Iago
- allusion to the god Janus
•Roderigo: “Iago, who hast had my purse /As if the strings were thine”
•Simile: shows Iago in a position of control and manipulation over Roderigo
•Iago: “I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.”
•Arrogant and confident tone: shows Iago’s indignant and angry feelings to have been overlooked by Othello for Michael Cassio
•Iago calls Othello a “Barbary horse,” an “old black ram,” and also tells Brabanzio that his daughter and Othello are “making the beast with two backs” (I.i.117–118).
Foreshadowing - Iago - 'I am not what I am'.
Iago's malice: •Repetition of his imperative tone to Roderigo show his dominance. Locate quotes that emphasise this.
•Animal imagery in the closing position the audience to grasp the placement of his anger.
Metaphor of nature: •Some examples are: “Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme . . . the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills” (I.iii.317–322);
•Iago cultivates his “conceits” so that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic way in which Iago’s plots consume the other characters and determine their behavior makes his conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago’s efforts.
Focus on the soliloquy: •http://ed.ted.com/on/He3RS98Z#watch
Respond to critical responses of the play:
Feminist reading: ‘a maiden never bold’
•Feminist critics highlight the ways Shakespeare portrays gender roles. In Act 1, Scene 3, Brabantio describes his daughter Desdemona as ‘a maiden never bold’, yet in choosing a foreigner she has violated the Venetian norm of arranged endogamous marriages (the practice of marrying within a local community or ethnic group) and rejected her father’s authority. Still, she honours the patriarchal dictum that, once married, the wife owes her husband the same respect and duty she had shown her father.
Locate quotes that show Desdemona’s perspective in the opening of the play.
New historicist critics often debate whether or not race was a factor in early modern representations of non-English peoples. Although Othello’s racial identity is clearly a factor in Shakespeare’s text, when the play was first performed the audience would not have seen it as squarely focused on race as we do. As a result, Shakespeare’s Othello has been appropriated worldwide as a vehicle for the exploration of racial and ethnic tensions.
•In the opening scene Iago refers to Othello as ‘the thick-lips’ (1.1.66) and later he raises a toast to ‘the health of black Othello’ (2.2.29). Through these and other comments we learn that Othello is a black African of sub-Saharan origin
Psychosocial analysis: •Examines the psychological aspect of the drama.
In this Act consider:
1.Why is Iago doing what he is doing?
2.Explain the quote ‘I am not what I am’ what does this reveal about his self-perception?
3.How does Othello draw people to him? What parallels can be drawn between him and Iago?
4.How authentic does Othello and Desdemona’s relationship appear in this Act?
Reflection of the scene:
1.Locate quotes that show Othello is of a different ethnicity to others.
2.Describe Brabantio’s perspective of Othello by referring to specific quotations.
3.Explain with reference to quotes how the perception that people from other parts of the world are influenced by magic.
•
•How do these elements contribute to the perception of Othello as an outsider?