17 13 special 18

2. AGENDA
Recitation
Discussion: Othello

3. RECITATIONS
Robb Jones

4. Othello, the Moor:
Desdemona:
Iago:
Cassio:
Emilia:
Bianca:
Roderigo:
Brabantio:
Duke of Venice:
Gratiano:
Lodovico:
Montano:
Clown:
Let me
ask you!

5. Othello, the Moor: A
general in the
Venetian military.
Desdemona: Othello's
wife and daughter of
Brabantio
Iago: Othello's ensign
and Emilia's husband.
Antagonist.
Cassio: Othello's
lieutenant.
Emilia: Iago's wife and
Desdemona's
maidservant
Bianca: Cassio's
girlfriend

6. Brabantio: a Venetian
senator, Gratiano's brother,
and Desdemona's father
Roderigo: a dissolute
Venetian, in love with
Desdemona
Duke of Venice: or the "Doge"
Gratiano: Brabantio's brother
Lodovico: Brabantio's
kinsman and Desdemona's
cousin
Montano: Othello's Venetian
predecessor in the
government of Cyprus
Clown: a servant

7. IN GROUPS
Discuss
your
answers to
the
homework
questions

8. QUESTIONS
2. What sort of person is Iago, as he appears in
act 1? Are you satisfied by the reasons he
gives for hating Othello? What is Iago's
relationship with Roderigo? Is he a trickster
character? Why or why not?

9. RODERIGO. Thou toldst me thou didst hold him in thy hate.
IAGO. Despise me
If I do not. Three great ones of the city,
In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,
Off-capped to him; and, by the faith of man,
I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.
But he, as loving his own pride and purposes,
Evades them with a bombast circumstance,
Horribly stuffed with epithets of war,
And in conclusion,
Nonsuits my mediators. For “Certes,” says he,
“I have already chose my officer.”
And what was he?
Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
Act 1, Scene 1,
Lines 7-21

10. I hate the Moor,
And it is thought abroad that ’twixt my
sheets
’Has done my office. I know not if ’t be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety. (1.2. 429-434)

11. QUESTIONS
3. What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in
act 2? What is the effect of having him share his
thoughts and plans with us through his
soliloquies? Pay attention to the language used
in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of descriptive
language does he use? How does it contribute to
the picture of Iago that Shakespeare is drawing?

12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5tPr1fJqo
Director: Jonathan Miller
Writer: William Shakespeare
(play)
Stars: Anthony Pedley, Bob
Hoskins, Geoffrey Chater
BBC Production for Television: Othello
1981

13. IAGO’S SOLILOQUY: ACT 2, SCENE1, LINES 308-334
That Cassio loves her, I do well
believe ’t.
That she loves him, ’tis apt and of
great credit.
The Moor, howbeit that I endure him
not,
Is of a constant, loving, noble nature,
And I dare think he’ll prove to
Desdemona
A most dear husband. Now, I do love
her too,
Not out of absolute lust (though
peradventure
I stand accountant for as great a sin)
But partly led to diet my revenge
For that I do suspect the lusty Moor
Hath leaped into my seat—the
thought whereof
Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw
my inwards,
Till I am evened with him, wife for wife,
Or, failing so, yet that I put the Moor
At least into a jealousy so strong
That judgment cannot cure. Which
thing to do,
If this poor trash of Venice, whom I
trace
For his quick hunting, stand the
putting on,
I’ll have our Michael Cassio on the hip,
Abuse him to the Moor in the garb
(For I fear Cassio with my nightcap
too),
Make the Moor thank me, love me, and
reward me
For making him egregiously an ass
And practicing upon his peace and
quiet
Even to madness. ’Tis here, but yet
confused.

14. QUESTIONS
4. At the beginning of 3.3 Othello is
completely in love with Desdemona. By
the end of that scene, 480 lines later,
Othello is ready to murder her for having
an affair with Cassio. How have we gone
from the first position to the second
position so quickly? How does Iago
plant the idea of Desdemona's infidelity
in Othello's mind, and how does he
make it grow?

15. QUESTIONS
5. What sort of person is Emilia,
and what seems to be the
nature of her relationship with
her husband Iago? How does
Desdemona's handkerchief
come into play within that
relationship between Emilia and
Iago?

16. How does the handkerchief
function in act 4? Why is the
handkerchief so important to
Othello?
Let me
ask you!

17. How is Othello changing in
act 4? What is the effect of
his public humiliation of
Desdemona by slapping
her?

18. QUESTIONS
What is the nature of the relationship
between Emilia and Desdemona?
What especially is the effect of 4.3,
in which we get an extended scene
between these two women alone?
How effective is Shakespeare in
portraying this private world of
women?

19. QUESTIONS
How does Othello
approach the killing
of Desdemona?
What does he think
he is doing, and
why?
1:36 to 1:44 Fishburne Othello
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKQdBPJNgmc&index=23&list=PL13
5A41AF3B965ABF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QERWOhfXubA&list=PL135A41AF3B
965ABF&index=24

20. QUESTIONS
What is the effect of
having Emilia play
such an important role
after the murder? Why
is she now standing up
to Othello and her
husband? What is her
reward?
1:44 to 1:51
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1u0lOUDA_Y&index=25&list=PL135A41AF3
B965ABF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds_1ACovFH4&list=PL135A41AF3B965ABF
&index=26

21. QUESTIONS
Does Othello justify his killing of
Desdemona? What is he doing in his last
long speech?
1:51 to 1:58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAt4aisiLI&list=PL135A41AF3B965ABF&
index=28

22. Writing: Essay #1
Post #14: Part of
your essay:
introduction,
thesis, at least two
good body
paragraphs.
Essay Due Friday,
Week 8 at noon