othello, acts ii-iv “the complications”. terms freytag’s pyramid rising action complication(s)...
TRANSCRIPT
Othello, Acts II-IV
“The complications”
Terms
• Freytag’s pyramid• Rising action• Complication(s)• Irony• Hamartia vs. ‘tragic flaw’
The action of a tragedy(Freytag’s Pyramid)
What are the sources of conflict in Othello?
• How do self-government and self-fashioning figure into the complications?
• How does Iago cause complications?• How do the main plot and the sub-plot work
together?
What’s the deal with the handkerchief?
How are women portrayed?
• Evidence for how Desdemona is portrayed
• Evidence for how Emilia is portrayed
• Bianca
• Vives, “Education of a Christian Woman”
What will bring about Othello’s downfall?
• “Tragic flaw”—theory that there is something in the hero that brings about her/his downfall. Implication is that it’s in her/his control to change this.
• “Hamartia”– Aristotelian term—the weakness, error, misstep, bad judgment, or whatever that brings the hero down. Integral to his/her character—may not necessarily be a bad thing but has a tragic result