ELIT 17 CLASS 13

AGENDARecitationsShort FilmDiscussion: Othello

RECITATIONS

Othello, the Moor:

Desdemona: Iago: Cassio: Emilia: Bianca:Roderigo:

Brabantio: Duke of Venice: Gratiano: Lodovico: Montano: Clown:

Let me ask you!

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

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 brotherLodovico: Brabantio's kinsman

and Desdemona's cousinMontano: Othello's Venetian

predecessor in the government of Cyprus

Clown: a servant

OTHELLO

Show video

IN GROUPS

Discuss your answers to the homework questions and your QHQs.

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?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5tPr1fJqo

Director: Jonathan MillerWriter: William Shakespeare (play)Stars: Anthony Pedley, Bob Hoskins, Geoffrey Chater

BBC Production for Television: Othello 1981

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 DesdemonaA most dear husband. Now, I do love her too,Not out of absolute lust (though peradventureI stand accountant for as great a sin)But partly led to diet my revengeFor that I do suspect the lusty MoorHath leaped into my seat—the thought whereofDoth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards,And nothing can or shall content my soul

Till I am evened with him, wife for wife,Or, failing so, yet that I put the MoorAt least into a jealousy so strongThat judgment cannot cure. Which thing to do,If this poor trash of Venice, whom I traceFor 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 meFor making him egregiously an assAnd practicing upon his peace and quietEven to madness. ’Tis here, but yet confused.Knavery’s plain face is never seen till used.

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?

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?

How does the handkerchief function in act 4? Why is the handkerchief so important to Othello?

Let me ask you!

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

QUESTIONSWhat 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?

QUESTIONS

How does Othello approach the killing of Desdemona? What does he think he is doing, and why?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QERWOhfXubA&index=24&list=PL135A41AF3B965ABF

QUESTIONSWhat 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?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1u0lOUDA_Y&index=25&list=PL135A41AF3B965ABFhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds_1ACovFH4&list=PL135A41AF3B965ABF&index=26

QUESTIONS

Does Othello justify his killing of Desdemona? What is he doing in his last long speech?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRAt4aisiLI&list=PL135A41AF3B965ABF&index=28

Writing: Essay #1Post #14: Part of

your essayEssay introduction

and thesis, at least two good body paragraphs.

Essay Due Friday, Week 7 at noon