OTHELLO By William Shakespeare MuscharaEnglish 11 Paul Robeson

OTHELLO By: William Shakespeare Muschara-English 11

Paul Robeson as Othello (1944)

TRAGEDY v This play is written by William Shakespeare v He had 4 peak tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear v All of the Four Great Tragedies are both similar and different, but Othello is the most different from the other three because it is what we call a “domestic” tragedy. v No thrones are at stake in Othello. v Instead, it is about a marriage—a mostly social, rather than political, concern. v Othello is also famous because Othello himself is the first black tragic hero in all of Western literature.

Edwin Booth as Iago (19 th century)

SOURCE MATERIAL v Shakespeare took the plot of Othello, as he so often did for his plays, from another author’s work. In this case, he read a novella by an Italian named Giraldi Cinthio published in 1565. Scholars believe Shakespeare may have read an Italian version of the play or possibly a French version published in 1584. (The novella was not available in English). v Cinthio’s story has a clear moral—and it’s a racist one. You’ll hear Cinthio’s perspective expressed by the disaffected and incompetent character Brabantio or (at times) by Iago himself. v Shakespeare, as he often did with his source material, complicated the plot and theme—making it not so cut-and-dry an affair. v Shakespeare also made many other changes to Cinthio’s story: moving the action of the play to the early days of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage; adding the father of Desdemona, Brabantio; adding the gullible, disappointed suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo; actively involved Iago’s wife in the story. In general Shakespeare “grays” the black-andwhite morality of Cinthio, and in his most dramatic change, ennobles the Moor into a hero.

Othello telling his story to Desdemona and Brabantio (Act 1, scene 3; 19 th century)

W HY OTHELLO IS UNIQUE? v Othello has no significant sub-plot v The play utilizes dramatic irony to a greater extent that any other play he wrote. (Dramatic Irony: http: //ed. ted. com/lessons/in-on-a-secret-that-s-dramatic -irony-christopher-warner v In this play, the two principal roles are roughly equal with Iago, in fact, getting a few more lines than the title character. v Othello also is less episodic in its use of time. v We’ve already mentioned how Othello differs in scope and thematic range from the other three great tragedies. v

SETTING v The play has two main settings: Venice and Cyprus v Venice: Othello is the Moor of Venice. He’s a North African by birth, but a Christian convert and now mercenary/general for the very rich citystate of Venice. In the play, Venice (at first) represents civilization, order and law, urbanity, light and reason. v Cyprus, an island under Venetian control as an outpost to protect Venice from the Islamic Turkish empire, represents wildness, passion, confusion, rebellion—a borderland between civilization and true savagery —represented by the Turks.

< Venic e > Cyprus

CHARACTERS v Othello, a Moor but also a Christian convert and Venetian citizen—a mercenary-general v Michael Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant v Iago, Othello’s Ensign (or Ancient)—a flagbearer, not quite as high ranked as a lieutenant v Roderigo, a “friend” of Iago’s who is in love with Desdemona v Desdemona, Othello’s wife and daughter of Brabantio v Brabantio, father to Desdemona v Emilia, wife to Iago, serving lady to Desdemona v Bianca, a courtesan (or “whore”) favored by Michael Cassio v The Duke of Venice v Montano, Governor of the island of Cyprus v Lodovico and Gratiano, two noble Venetians

Gertrude Elliott as Desdemona (1902)

SET UP FOR ACT 1. 1 v The play opens in darkness—just as Hamlet did. Three times in this play, the peace and silence of the night will be interrupted through Iago’s machinations. We learn soon after the play opens that tonight is a special night because tonight Desdemona, the daughter of Brabantio, has stolen away from her home to marry the Moorish General Othello. Iago (whose motivations we will be contemplating the entire play) and his friend Roderigo (who’d hoped to marry Desdemona himself) are angry about the secret marriage. They decide to go to Desdemona’s father’s house and wake him up concerning his daughter’s questionable actions.

INTRODUCTORY VIDEO v http: //www. shmoop. com/othello/

4 -CORNERS ACTIVITY v Similar to an anticipation guide v I will give you a statement. v You must decide whether you agree, slightly disagree, or disagree. v Based on what you decide you will move to a corner in the room.

ROOM AGREE Slightly Agree My Desk Door Disagre e Slightly Disagree

WHERE TO FIND TEXT: v. Please write down this link: vhttp: //www. folgerdigitaltexts. org/? chapter=0

MOVIE TRAILER v https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=RAYu. ASqrs 94

WORKS CITED v http: //wreforum. org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/venice. jpg v http: //www. folger. edu/othello v http: //www. sigmalive. com/en/uploads/images/news/cyprus 2. jpg