Othello Revision

1
Othello Revision

• Themes

2
Characterisation

• Othello vs. Iago protagonist vs. antagonist
• Othello changes from someone in control of his
  private and public life to someone who has lost
  his sanity
• Iago is two-face and he reacts differently to
  different people. He weaves a web to trap all the
  other characters in his plan of revenge.

3
Language

• Iambic pentameter vs. prose (pay extra attention
  to the changes
• E.g. Iago uses different ones to talk to
  different characters Othello uses prose when he
  suffers some mental breakdown)
• Othello loses his ability of elegant speech and
  there is a lot of fragmentation in his speech at
  the end.

4
Jealousy

• It is a monster, Begot upon itself, born on
  itself. (Act 3 scene 4) there does not need to
  be any reason for someone to be jealous
• Jealousy can drive someone insane, as in the case
  of Othello. Jealousy also drives someone to
  revenge, as in the case of Iago.

5
Race

• Othellos race is frequently highlighted by other
  characters (black ram, barbary horse, the
  devil..)
• His marriage is not generally accepted due to
  the fact that a black man marries a white noble
  woman, even though the two have love for one
  another. They are therefore not considered
  equal

6
Reminders

• Othello is a play, and is therefore watched by an
  audience. When you read the play, you have to
  visualise the play being performed on stage,
  especially when it comes to asides and
  soliloquies.