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West Forsyth Major Works Data Sheet AP Literature and Composition Class Period: 1B Title of Work: Othello Author: William Shakespeare Date of Publication: 1604 Genre: Tragedy/Drama

Characteristics of the Genre: A tragedy is a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, usually one dealing with the downfall of the protagonist; in this case, Othello. He goes from being the “noble moor” to killing the woman he loves and then himself. He destroys the great life he had and drags others down along with him. A drama is a story involving conflict or contrast of character. Othello contains a great deal of conflict. Brabantio is upset about Othello and Desdemona’s love and Iago wants Cassio’s place of office. The central conflict is that Othello thinks Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio. Othello shows contrast of character because he changes dramatically from the beginning of the play to the end.

Historical Information about the Period of Publication:

Biographical Information about the Author:

Shakespeare did most of his work during the Elizabethan Era in England. During the rule of Queen Elizabeth, England transformed into a world power with the world’s most powerful navy. The Elizabethan Era coincided with the period of the Renaissance which began in the early 16 th century and continued into the 17th century as well. Many famous poets appeared during the Renaissance such as John Milton. Many of the greatest works in Literature were written during the Renaissance period, a time of great focus on culture and literature.

William Shakespeare was born on April 23rd, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England and had seven siblings. His parents were John and Mary Shakespeare. Shakespeare attended Stratford grammar school and married Anne Hathaway, a much older woman. Shakespeare’s acting group was originally called Lord Chamberlain’s Men and later, The King’s Men. Shakespeare wrote thirty seven different plays and one thousand seven hundred new words were attributed to him. Shakespeare’s first play was A History of King Henry VI and his last was The Tempest. Shakespeare wrote Othello in 1603 and Shakespeare died on his birthday in 1616. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.

Plot Summary: Othello and Desdemona fall in love with each other and plan to elope and become married. The reasoning behind their elopement is due to the fact that Othello and Desdemona are not of the same race. Thus Desdemona’s father will not approve of their marriage. Meanwhile, Iago is devising a plan that will cause a tremendous amount of chaos. His plan is to lead Othello to believe that his wife, Desdemona has been cheating on him with another man. Iago gets to Othello, and causes him so much jealously that Othello can no longer take it. He then resorts to killing Desdemona, this shows how manipulative Iago can be. To drive someone to the point where they feel like they have to kill someone simply over the statements that someone else has said, which is very key to the personality that Iago possesses. Once Othello kills Desdemona, Emilia soon discovers that Iago is responsible for all of this she tries to expose the truth, while trying to do this though, Iago kills her. Othello then feels the crushing weight of guilt upon him and then stabs himself. In conclusion everyone dies except Iago and Cassio. Iago refuses to give an explanation for his actions, and he then states that he will never talk again.

Description of the Author’s Style:

Example that Demonstrates Style and Explanation:

Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Blank verse is seen in Act I, Scene I, lines 97-102. This style expresses Brabantio’s attitude toward Roderigo and his daughter.

Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar concluding syllables in different words, most often at the ends of lines. Rhyme is predominantly a function of sound rather than spelling. Prose is poetry that is straightforward with the audience. It often makes use of striking imagery and figures of speech and is densely compact. A pun is a play on words that relies on a word having more than one meaning or sounding like another word. A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without using the words like or as. Rhetoric is the way in which the author persuades, expresses, and communicates his thoughts and beliefs to the audience/reader.

Meyer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. Print.

Rhyme is used in Act I, Scene iii, lines 202-209. This style illustrates the duke’s opinion on how Brabantio treats Desdemona. Prose is used by Iago in Act II, Scene I, lines 263-289. This style gives a clear understanding of Iago’s evil plans. Shakespeare used puns throughout Othello for both serious literary use and for comic purposes. In Act III, scene iv, the clown uses a pun on the word lie (lines 2-9). The clown is asked where Cassio “lies” and then the clown turn the diato a pun by referring to the untruthful meaning and the lodging meaning of the word. The use of a pun in this scene gives comic relief from what was becoming a violent act. In Act V, scene ii, there is a metaphor portraying Desdemona’s innocence. The metaphor relates Desdemona to a “light” that should be put out. Othello also states that although he longs to kill Desdemona he does not want to hurt her “white skin.” The metaphors using white and light can be used to infer that Desdemona still has an innocent heart. Shakespeare while writing Othello must consider rhetoric so that the actors will portray his ideals to the audience. An example of the use of rhetoric can be seen by contrasting the rhetoric’s of Othello and Iago. Othello’s rhetoric can be characterized by honest and truthful while Iago’s is full of lies. The rhetoric that is used by each character tells the audience/reader a lot about the persona of each character.

Memorable Quotations Quotation (and Speaker): 1. “Tis not a year or two shows us a man. / They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; / To eat us hungerly, and when they are full, / They belch us.” – Emilia 2. “My lord, this would not be believed in Venice, / Though I should swear I saw’t.” – Lodovico

3. “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my

Significance: The quote shows how of the underclass are often more knowledgeable than one would expect. Emilia is really the only character in the play capable of pointing out that Othello is treating Desdemona badly, and she does so succinctly. This is Lodovico’s reaction after seeing Othello slap Desdemona. It serves the dual purpose of reflecting the theme that Venice is a place of safety and sanity and showing the level to which Othello’s actions have deteriorated. The repetition of reputation signifies the importance that

reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.” – Cassio

4. “Your wife, my lord, your true and loyal wife.” – Desdemona

5. "Haply for I am black, and have not those soft parts of conversation That chamberers have, or for I am declined Into the vale of years-yet that's not muchShe's gone. I am abused, and my relief Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage, That we can call these delicate creatures ours, And not their appetites! I had rather a toad And live upon the vapor of a dungeon Than keep a corner in the thing I love For others' uses. Yet 'tis the plague of great ones; Prerogatived are they less than the base. 'Tis destiny unshunnable, like death."- Othello

6. "I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss"- Othello

7. “I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are making the beast with two backs.”-Iago

military status and power have for men in the play. The ranking Iago is given is the main force that drives his grand plan that affects everyone. Irony is also present in this quote because Cassio is talking to Iago, the man who caused him to lose his reputation, but Cassio is unaware that Iago has planned this. The static character of the loyal and oblivious Desdemona is expressed through this quote as she questions Othello’s anger towards her. Desdemona refers to Othello as “my lord,” exemplifying the inferiority of women. The fact that Othello kills his loyal wife also displays the cruelty of men. These differences between the genders are major themes of the play. This quote really defines the amount of racism throughout William Shakespeare's writing of the play. Othello realizes the impact that his race has on the outcome of his destiny; people view him differently and do not measure him as equivalent to those who are courtiers. He also begins to question whether his skin color may be the reason Desdemona has "not been faithful" (according to Iago) and begins to believe it may be true. Also, Othello refers to marriage as a curse and also refers to women as 'creatures'. Shakespeare makes sexism aware in this quote because in the time period of this play, women were seen as a prize to be won instead of human beings. Othello also realizes in this quote that death is unavoidable and at some point everyone will face their destiny whether they like it or not.

Othello's life ends with this last line showing his remorse for killing Desdemona which is part of the anagnorisis. In the end the only thing left for him to do is die too because his tragic flaw led him to making a huge mistake, leaving him with nothing. This quote, which Iago says this in Act I scene I to Barbantio, Desdemona’s father, helps to move Iago’s plan of getting his revenge on Othello into action by alerting Barbantio to Othello’s and Desdemona’s marriage.

8. “Confess yourself freely to her; importune her help to put you in your place again.”-Iago

Iago says this to Cassio after he had just gotten fired from his job as lieutenant. This goes to show how malicious and devious Iago is because he knows that while Cassio’s motives are pure, Othello will over react to the fact that Cassio and Desdemona will be spending so much time together.

9. “Every day thou daff’st me with some device, Iago, and rather, as it seems to me now, keep’st from me all conveniency than suppliest me with the least advantage of hope. I will indeed no longer endure it, nor am I yet persuaded to put up in pace what already I have foolishly suffered.” - Roderigo

While this quote appears to communicate Roderigo’s longdue revelation concerning the true intentions behind his “friend’s” words, it actually serves to demonstrate Roderigo’s idiocy in that their conversation concludes with Roderigo’s falling into Iago’s latest trap

10. “She is abused, stol’n from me, and corrupted by spells and medicines bought of mountebanks. For nature so preposterously to err, being not deficient, blind, or lame of sense, sans witchcraft could not.”- Brabantio

Character’s Name: 1. Othello

2. Desdemona

While Brabantio’s statement concerning his daughter’s love for Othello only being possible by means of witchcraft demonstrates his vehement narrow-mindedness, it also upholds the element of racism portrayed throughout the play. Whereas Desdemona is blind to Othello’s race and elopes without her father’s consent, Brabantio is thoroughly disgusted and confused by her actions.

Major Characters Significance (Why is this character significant to the story?): He is the protagonist and the He is the reason for the main hero of the story. Othello is conflict of the plot. His race the general of the army in creates the conflict between Venice him and Brabantio about Othello and Desdemona getting married. He is also the center point of Iago’s plan to gain power. Also he is significant because he is the one who takes Desdemona’s life and also his own. Without him there would be no tragedy. Desdemona is the daughter of Desdemona is an important Barbantio and the wife of character because she a Othello. She was secretly symbol of strength in the married to Othello and was play. Many of the other eventually put to death as a characters are unstable and result of Othello’s distrust in rely on others to feel secure. her. Even though she was But Desdemona is verbally and physically independent and does not let attacked by her husband she the untrue lies corrupt who stayed true to her beliefs she is on the inside. throughout the play. Role (What role does this person have in the story?):

Character Traits (What sort of person is this?): powerful, eloquent, jealous

dignified, charming, bold

3. Iago

His role is Othello’s ancient and second hand man.

He plays the antagonist of the play and causes all the evil to occur.

Evil, Murderous, and Manipulative

4. Roderigo

Roderigo is madly in love with Desdemona and will stop at nothing to be with her. He agrees to give Iago money in hopes that he will help him win Desdemona over, but this does not work out as well as he planed. He also agrees to

Roderigo is an important character because without him Iago would not be able to get back at Othello for not making him lieutenant. He also is a figure that shows how easily people can be manipulated.

jealous, greedy, foolish

kill Cassio but this back fires because he too ends up getting killed. 5. Cassio

Cassio is Othello’s lieutenant and due to his high ranking position, Iago resents him. Cassio serves as the man who essentially causes the rift and lack of faith and trust that Othello has in Desdemona. Although Cassio respects and ires Othello, Iago tricks Othello into thinking that Cassio is trying to and has wooed Desdemona, while Cassio is simply attempting to regain Othello’s trust after he takes part in a brawl with Montano. Othello loses his trust in Cassio after this fight and demotes him.

Cassio progresses Othello’s distrust in Desdemona once Iago instills in his mind that Cassio is wooing Desdemona. Without Cassio, Othello would have no reason to no longer have trust in Desdemona. Cassio unintentionally acts as the progressing factor that leads to many characters deaths.

naive, charming, responsible

6. Barbantio

He plays Desdemona's father and a senator of Venice.

He sets the play in motion by allowing his newly wedded daughter to accompany her husband to Cyprus. He also presents foreshadowing in the future by the betrayal of his daughter.

Loving, Worried, and Hypocritical

7. Emilia

Wife to Iago; maid to Desdemona

In the story, Emilia contributes to some key points of the plot. Emilia steals Desdemona’s handkerchief, and gives it to Iago. This act results in Desdemona’s death, because the handkerchief is Othello’s supposed “visual proof” -the justification of his murderous actions. Emilia also reveals the truth of Iago’s plan to the other characters. In relation to literary significance, Emilia’s final act of exposing Iago provides the needed “agnorisis” for the the other characters, resulting in audience catharsis. Emilia also suffers from her own tragic flaw; her desire to please her husband, no matter his treatment of her, results in her friend’s death. To essentially atone for her

Indelicate- Emilia occasionally makes crude statements when speaking with Desdemona.Loyal Despite Iago’s treatment of her, Emilia tries her best to please him, which results in Desdemona’s stolen handkerchief. Emilia’s loyalty changes to Desdemona in Act V, when she sacrifices herself to clear Desdemona’s name. Outspoken - Emilia is not afraid to speak her mind to Othello, Desdemona, or to the small group gathered in Othello and Desdemona’s chamber in Act V.

mistake, she ends up giving up her own life, but she cannot undo the damage her actions cause. The two elements of a tragic flaw, and agnorisis and catharsis are essential in making Othello a tragedy. Emilia also has symbolic significance in relation to the handkerchief, because she supplies the symbol in the first place. 8. Montano

The governor of Cyprus

He tells the updates on the war and waits no the return of the Venetian ships

trusting, easily manipulated

9. Lodovico

Lodovico acts as a messenger from Venice to Cyprus and is the witness of Othello slapping Desdemona. He also informs others of Iago’s plot.

Lodovico informs others of the situations going on and in Act Four he informs all that Cassio is replacing Othello. He reprimands Othello for killing Desdemona and helps discover Iago’s plan because he finds the note declaring that Cassio is to be killed.

respectable, trustworthy

10. Duke of Venice

Duke of Venice; Friend to Othello

The Duke of Venice is not a main character throughout the play, however, the appearances he does make are significant. He can be credited for everything that happens in Cyprus, because he makes the decision to let Desdemona accompany Othello on his journey. The Duke acts as mediator between Othello and Brabantio in Act I, urging Brabantio to accept Desdemona’s marriage. The Duke of Venice is also representative of the order, and rationality, associated with Venice. As a location, Venice is very significant because it contrasts the chaos of Cyprus. Moreover, the Duke being the official voice of that location carries great significance.

Wise - When Brabantio calls on the Duke of arrest Othello for “stealing” his daughter, the Duke demonstrates his wisdom by letting each side explain themselves. The Duke can be credited with reconciling Brabantio and Othello. Benevolent - The Duke listens to Desdemona’s pleas to stay with her husband, and kindly grants her wish.

Description of the Setting(s) and the Mood the Setting(s) Create: The setting change from Venice to Cyprus indicates there would be a turning point in the play, which that Othello has no control over for his authorities as it was in Venice, and the change allows that Destimona lost her trust from Othello and has no control over her fate. The change foreshadows the events in the play and the tragic stories also.

Significance of the Opening Scene: Shakespeare does well to begin the play in media res which gives the reader a feel of ignorance and slight confusion, parallel to the state of most of the characters throughout the play whether they are aware of it or not. The opening scene is the initial platform for Iago to show his dishonesty by itting to his lies to Othello and also by his obvious manipulation of Roderigo. It shows Iago’s dark and mischievous nature when he speaks to Barbantio from the shadows and doesn’t allow him to know his identity. The first scene only consists of three actors while the final scene has eight. This is significant because the scenes in which Iago is alone or with one other character shows his secrecy and how he controls so much “behind the scenes” and unaware to others.

Major Symbols, Motifs, Images: Symbols: 1. The handkerchief: For Desdemona, the handkerchief represents Othello’s love since he gave it to her. For Othello, the handkerchief symbolizes faithfulness and marital fidelity since his mother used it to keep Othello’s father faithful to her. Also, the pattern of strawberries on white cloth of the handkerchief represents bloodstains from a virgin left on white bed sheets on the wedding night, also having the handkerchief represent virginity. 2. The song “Willow”: This song is about a woman who has been betrayed by her husband. Desdemona sings this song as she prepares for bed in Act V and anticipates her death. Desdemona’s maid, Barbary, was the one to teach Desdemona the song and Barbary had suffered an unfaithful act from someone as well as the woman in the song and died singing the song. For Desdemona, this song represents a sad and melancholy acceptance of the Othello’s recent alienation of love and affection towards her. It also symbolizes Desdemona’s thoughts of infidelity. 3. Candle: Before Othello smothers Desdemona, he blows out a candle. The candle symbolizes Desdemona’s life. Desdemona’s life is fragile as she went from belonging to her father, Brabantio, to belonging to her husband, Othello, for a short time. Othello makes the realization that he can blow out a candle numerous times, but can only kill Desdemona once. Motifs:

Significance of the Ending/Closing Scene: The closing scene is an unveiling of sorts where Iago is exposed in front of multiple characters. The final scene shows the protagonist’s mistake and the result of Iago’s lies but also shows Othello’s heroic resolve and how the truth always comes out.

Inability to see. -Almost every character throughout the play at some point gives reference to Othello as the “moor”, meaning someone descended from Northern Africa, except Desdemona. Desdemona is able to truly see “His honours and his valiant parts” even if Othello is not able to see it. -Iago tells Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful, but

Othello demands “Ocular Proof.” Though he truly doesn’t need the proof because he doesn’t want to see Desdemona in the vile act. Flora -”Our bodies are our gardens, to which our will are gardeners”-Iago. Iago knows if he plants seeds of deceit, they will grow if left unchecked. Iago himself considers himself a good gardner both for himself and of others. -“The Moor already changes with my poison”, “Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons.” Iago not only grows these “ conceits but also plants them into the mind of others. Fauna -Iago in Act 1 tells Brabanzio that Othello and Desdemona are “making the beast with two backs”. Cassio says that when his is becomes drunk he is presently a beast. Roderigo says that he would change his humanity with a baboon for Desdemona. Emilia during the last scene says that she will play the swan and die in music. These references to animals said throughout the entire play every character acts as animals drawn with primal forces instead of a logical society. Themes: The Danger of Isolation-When the setting is switched from Venice to Cyprus the scenery isn't the only thing that changes the people do as well. When the characters are in Cyprus they aren't surrounded by the people that they would normally be around and they only have themselves to prey upon. Iago's plan works well in this setting because the characters are more likely to turn on each other. Military Heroism-Even Othello himself during he trial scene states that he and Desdemona fell in love was because she found him heroic and he ired her because she found him heroic. They fell in love over his war stories, he is hero, and he is noble. Othello the Noble Moor of Venice... this title was gained because of his heroism in the wars between the Turks and the Veniatians. “Green- Eyed Monster”- The whole reason this story and all this tragedy even happened is because of Iago and his jealousy over Cassio. This is a theme of this play that it never ends good when it starts with jealousy. Possible Topics/Questions for Discussion: How does the attitude towards women, specifically stemming from Iago, contribute to his evil plan in the play? Would you consider Othello more of a victim or villain? Give specific examples to your claim. How does Shakespeare’s use of irony contribute to the development of the plot? Should Othello’s statement about the fact that he “loved only too well” be defended or rebutted?