Othello AO2

• Asides

  • "This is the night that either makes me, or fordoes me quite" - Iago A5S1
  • Used to emphasise themes of loyalty, race and deception
  • "Close to sympathising with the villain" - Honigmann
  • "Dramatic perspectives can even make us the villain's accomplices" - Honigmann
• Othello's soliloquy

  • "Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men" - Othello, A5S2
  • Speaking to himself shows decline in mental health, which was a sign of weak masculinity for Jacobean audience
  • "The noble Othello is now tragically pathetic" - Leavis
• Iago's positioning

  • In the Globe production, Iago hides himself from Brabantio using the pillars
  • Is a visual representation of his characteristic modus operandus: manipulating others in the mode of the director
• Entrances and exists

  • Othello shouts "Excellent wretch!" after D exists in A3S1
  • Shows how Iago has corrupted him to hate her
  • "The guise of a madman" - Mack
• Props

  • Handkerchief is "ocular proof"
  • Colour white mirrors wedding sheets, often used as a symbol of virginity
  • Colour red mirrors corruption or violence
• Proxemics of Othello

  • "[He kneels]" to Iago in A3S3
  • Visual representation of the change of hierarchy
• Othello's stylized speech patterns

  • Speaks in blank verse with an eloquence and style that has an elevated tone
  • Example - "My parts, my title and my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly. is it they?"
  • Towards the end his syntax becomes more broken and frantic, representing his mental state
  • However, the loftiness of his tone proves consistent, showing the forever valued importance of status in Venice
• Animalistic imagery

  • "Old black ram is tupping your white ewe" - Iago, A1S1
  • "Making the beast with two backs" - Iago, A1S1
  • Emphasises racial tension
  • "Black skinned people were typed as godless, bestial, and hideous, fit only to be saved" - Loomba
• Hamartia (ignorance of facts)

  • Othello "strikes" Desdemona when she tries to plead her innocence
  • Shows Jacobean patriarchal values
  • Links to Great Chain of Being
• Pathos (Acts destructive of life)

  • "Where should Othello go?" - Othello
  • Kills himself after he realises what he's done
  • "Othello is overcome with the pathos of it" - Leavis
  • "He has discovered his mistake, but there is no tragic self-discovery" - Leavis
• Foil characters

  • Emilia is a foil to Desdemona as she stands up for women's voices
  • "Their ills instruct us so" and "I do believe its husband's faults if their wives do fall" compared to "Nobody, I myself"
  • "Female openness was considered dangerous" - Loomba