Category Archives: Uncategorized

Othello – Critical Essay Help

Posted on by
Reply

Okay, here’s the stuff we went over in class today, to help you with your critical essay writing.

Choose a play which has an effective opening scene or concluding scene.
By briefly referring to details of the scene, explain how the dramatist made it effective and discuss how it contributes to your appreciation of the text as a whole.

Introduction

  • Title
  • Author
  • Refer to Task (TART)
  • Outline the play (briefly)
  • Outline your overall argument – why is this an effective concluding scene?

– Othello has changed – what he does to Desdemona – para 2

– BUT there is redemption for him – he accepts he is wrong, language changes back to how we first knew him, punishes himself accordingly. – para 5

– We realise the full extent of Iago’s cruelty and consequences of his manipulation – he has led Othello to take such awful steps in the murder of Desdemona; – para 3 also see how Iago cruelly casts aside anyone, including his own wife.- para 4

– Consequences for all the characters – Othello, Desdemona and Emilia, but also Iago – he’s not given a quick death, suggesting his punishment is and should be long-lasting. – para 6

Para 1 – How does the play build to this scene

  •  Iago’s hatred for Othello and subsequent manipulation
  • Othello’s own insecurities due to his race, and how he is treated as an ‘other’ by the other characters in the play
  • The symbolism of the handkerchief – tainted, changed from a symbol of love to one of (supposed) infidelity and betrayal
  • Othello changing – his language from being very articulate, charming, to brutish, striking Desdemona, calling her a whore; in a sense becoming more like the man who has manipulated him so cunningly
  • Sense of foreboding building, leading to this climactic scene

 

Para 2 – Othello has changed – what he does to Desdemona

P: One of the harshest realities of the concluding scene of the play is the dawning realisation on the audience of how much Othello has changed. No longer the articulate, loving husband and general we initially meet at the beginning, we greet him in Act 5 Scene 2 standing over his sleeping wife, contemplating how he will murder her for her supposed infidelity. He contrasts admiring her beauty with reiterating the ‘need’ for her death:

E: “…I’ll not shed her blood, nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, and smooth as monumental alabaster: yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.”

E: Othello’s desire not to “shed” Desdemona’s blood seems to suggest he does not want there to be gruesome evidence of his crime, emphasising his denial over how brutal this act will be. His admiration of her skin – the pale colour foreshadowing her death – tells us that he clearly still loves his wife, but this is so incongruous to the violent act he is contemplating, and highlights the breakdown in his once-clear sense of logic and reason. As well as this, we can Iago’s insidious influence in his misogynistic language, and need to protect men from “treacherous” women. Ultimately, this soliloquy not only reveals the toll Iago’s lies have taken on Othello’s sense of reality and reason, but show us how far the honourable general has fallen as he contemplates this ruthless act.

Othello – Timed Critical Essay

Posted on by
Reply

Okay folks, you should be planning for the following essay questions, and I will choose ONE that you will write under FULL EXAM CONDITIONS on Monday 3rd February:

  1. Choose a play in which a central character is in conflict with or rejects another character.

Briefly explain the circumstances of the conflict or rejection and go on to discuss the consequences of this conflict or rejection for the play as a whole.

(You should write on Iago’s conflict with Othello – be clear that part of what is interesting is that it is conflict that Othello is unaware of).

  1. Choose a play in which a major character at times feels isolated from those around him or her.

Explain the reasons for the isolation and, with reference to appropriate techniques, discuss how the character’s response to his or her situation contributes to your understanding of the play as a whole.

  1. Choose a play in which one scene makes a major dramatic impact on the audience.

With reference to appropriate techniques, explain how the dramatic impact of the scene is created and discuss how the scene contributes to your appreciation of the play as a whole.

 

 

Othello Act 3 Scene 3 – Key Scene

Posted on by
Reply

Handouts to help with your essay planning for the following question:

Choose a play in which there is a scene involving a significant discovery or deception or revelation.

By referring to appropriate techniques, explain how the discovery or deception or revelation is presented and discuss how its impact contributes to your appreciation of the play as a whole.

You will be writing this on Monday’s lesson, but it will be open book.

Act 3 Scene 3 Othello’s Soliloquy

othello_act_3_scene_3

Act 3 Scene 3 What am I thinking Sections

Act 3 Scene 3 Othello's Soliloquy Annotations

Othello – Act 3 Scene 3

Posted on by
Reply

Probably the most important scene in the play – here are the questions to consider:

Turning point – changes Othello from devoted and trusting to insanely jealous

  • Iago suggests Desdemona’s infidelity
  • Begins subtly

“Ha! I like not that. […] I cannot think it, / That he would steal away so guiltylike, / Seeing you coming.”

  • The sneering tone of Iago’s “Ha!” immediately garners interest from Othello.
  • He wonders what Iago has noticed and sees Cassio leaving Desdemona.
  • Iago quickly seizes this opportunity to subtly suggest that this encounter may not have been as innocent as it first appeared.
  • His use of the words “steal” and “guilty-like” imply to Othello that Iago believes something has been happening that should not have been.
  • This smallest suggestion is enough to stir Othello’s jealousy as he later questions Iago about this encounter.
  • Iago’s skilful manipulation of this long discussion leads Othello to generate the idea of Desdemona’s affair himself.
  • At this point Othello’s jealousy allows him to be completely controlled by Iago

“Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; / Wear your eyes thus: not jealous nor secure.”

  • This is the crucial suggestion to the success of Iago’s plan. Having instructed Cassio to appeal to Desdemona’s good nature, he will give Othello countless opportunities to see them together.
  • Desdemona’s appeals on behalf of Cassio will also take on new meaning in the jealous eyes of Othello.
  • Changes Othello from devoted and trusting to insanely jealous
  • Having already persuaded Othello of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness, Iago obtains the proof that turns Othello’s jealousy into murderous rage.
  • He uses the handkerchief, a symbol of their love, to destroy their happiness and leads to the tragic end of the play.