Othello: The Moor of Venice

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Othello The Moor of Venice
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The Play Itself
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• Principal source is a story by Giovanni Battista
  Giraldi aka Cinthio
• In his story, only 1 character was named
• Desdemona which means unlucky
• First performed on November 1, 1604 by the Kings
  Men
• Othello usually played by white men in black
  face
• 1943 first black actor to play Othello in the US
• Numerous versions
• O, 2000 (only black student (stereotypical
  basketball player) falls in love with rich, white
  girl)
• Timeless
• Othello is a civilized outsider worthy of
  empathy. He is only a villain because of his
  difference
• Othello, Washington
• As streets named Macbeth and Hamlet

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Language of Othello

• Separation of words commonly found together
• Blank Verse except when it isnt
• Repitition

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Puns/ Metaphors

• Puns
• Blood both family and passion
• Abused (x8) deluded, deceived, violated,
  injured
• Complexion both temperament and skin color
• Honest (x40) truthfulness and a social
  inferior
• With women Honest means chaste
• I will let you figure out the dirty puns
• Metaphors
• Animals, animals, animals

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Tragedy

• A drama of a solemn and dignified quality that
  typically depicts the development of a conflict
  between the protagonist and a superior force,
  such as fate, circumstance, or society, and
  reaches a mournful or ruinous conclusion.

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• Hamartia/Tragic flaw a defect in the protagonist
  that brings about his or her downfall.
• Hubris derived from the Greek word hybris, means
  excessive pride. In Greek tragedy, hubris is
  often viewed as the flaw that leads to the
  downfall of the tragic hero.

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Tragic hero

• The main character of great importance to his
  state or culture and who is conventionally of
  noble birth and high social station, the ruler or
  an important leader in his society.
• The moral health of the state is identified with,
  and dependent on, that of its ruler, and so the
  tragic heros story is also that of his state.
• Such heroes are mixed characters, neither
  thoroughly good or thoroughly evil, yet better
  or greater than the rest of us in the sense
  that they are of higher than ordinary moral worth
  and social significance.

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Othello A Shakespearean Tragedy

• Othello is a Shakespearean Tragedy
• It encompasses elements of tragedies such as
• It ends with the death of numerous characters
  including the title character
• The protagonist is admirable, but flawed, with
  the audience able to understand and sympathise
  with the character.
• The protagonist is capable of both good and evil
• Free will is insisted upon the protagonist must
  always be able to back out of a situation or to
  redeem themselves but always towards their
  inevitable doom.

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THE CULTURE OF THE TIME
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Order

• There was a clear social order according to birth
• Proper order of great chain of being
• If the order was broken everyone and everything
  was upset
• Foreigners upset the order

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The Wifes Status

• Marriages were arranged, usually for wealth
• Women had a lower social status
• The husband, in the accepted role as head of the
  household, gives moral direction to his wife and
  children--who sit obediently listening.

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Evil Women!

• The men in Othello have differing views of
  women from Othello who idolizes his wife
  (Desdemona) to Iago who sees love as "merely a
  lust of the blood and a permission of the will.
• The attitudes of the audience at the time are
  likely to have been varied too.

• In the Elizabethan times there was a long and
  well established tradition in the Church of what
  we would now call misogyny women were
  distrusted simply because they were women. At
  the time it was assumed that women would cheat
  it was part of their nature!

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The Cuckold

• Any man whose wife cheated on him (without his
  knowledge) was known as a cuckold.
• The word derives from cuckoo the bird known
  for laying their eggs in anothers nest.

• It was highly undesirable to be considered a
  cuckold.
• All of the community would find out about it and
  it was considered a public humiliation.
• Cuckolds were often described as having horns a
  hangover from the days when a cuckold was forced
  to parade around his town wearing antlers as a
  sign of his wifes infidelity.

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Setting
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Geography

• Othello takes place in two countries
• Venice
• Cyprus
• The Republic of Venice existed from 727-1797.
• It is located in present-day Italy.

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• http//geography.about.com/library/cia/blcitaly.ht
  m

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Setting

• Venice controlled the island of Cyprus from
  1489-1570.
• The island was a place for commerce and a good
  location for the Venetian fleet in the eastern
  part of the Mediterranean Sea.
• Cyprus was lost to the Turks in 1571.

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http//www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/eu.htm
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Venetians

• Most are noblemen and women (Brabantio,
  Desdemona, Roderigo)
• Also, there are the nobles servants (Emilia)
• Some are soldiers (Othello, Cassio, Iago)
• Others are part of Venetian government (the Duke)

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Moors

• Nomadic people of the northern shores of Africa,
  originally the inhabitants of Mauretania
• Converted to Islam in the 8th century
• Invaded Spain in 711 and dominated until the 11th
  century
• had great dynasties up until 1492, when the last
  of their cities was conquered by Spain
• virtually exterminated by Spain during the
  Inquisition (late 1400s-1820)

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Moors (contd)

• Othello is a Moor
• Discriminated against because of his race
• Black?
• Arab/Berber
• Othello has been accepted in some ways because he
  is a Christian and a military genius
• According to Venetian law, the army general was
  required to be a foreigner
• Yet his marriage to Desdemona reflects the
  prevailing view toward interracial marriage.

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Characters
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Othello

• Virtuous to a fault
• Great sense of moral virtue
• Loves too much
• Trusts too much
• Excitable
• Naïve about women
• Strict code of honor works for and against him
• FOREIGNER

• Strong dynamic character
• Tragic Hero
• Powerful leader
• Well respected
• Easy to relate to
• Excellent speaker
• Wins Desdemona

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Othellos Insecurities

• FOREIGNER
• Not always comfortable in noble circles
• Prefers the battlefield
• Older than Desdemona

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Iago

• Static character
• Corrupt/evil
• 28 year old Venetian
• Married to Emilia
• ancient low ranking officer
• Lying (pun intended)
• Called honest by all the characters (x15)
• Works through insinuation (planting seeds)

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Iago

• Manipulates all the characters
• Plays on each characters weakness
• Uses them to complete his scheme against Othello
• Pretends to speak with good intentions
• Interesting note his name is a shortened version
  of Santiago/Saint James
• St. James of Spain was known as the Moor Killer

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Iagos Motives

• Loves evil just to see people suffer
• Revenge against Othello
• Naming Cassio as lieutenant
• Othello and Emilia?
• Jealousy
• Cassio
• Othello

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Ultimate Iago

• Epitome of Deception
• I am not what I am (1,1,60)
• Anti Christ
• Eden/Snake
• God said I am what I am
• Amoral person with no standards
• Intelligent/Intuitive character able to
  manipulate others through his or her weakness
• Egotist
• Malcontent/Cynic
• Shows contempt/bitterness for all conventional
  standards of decency
• Dishonesty, sexuality, arrogance

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Desdemona

• Young, sheltered, naïve, innocent
• Lovely, sophisticated, gentle, courageous
• Captivated by Othello and his adventures
• Dutiful Elizabethan wife
• Unusual for a wife to accompany her husband on
  military business.
• Disobedient? By Elizabethan standards!
• Pushy/Nagging? By Elizabethan standards!
• Guilty of loving Othello too much!

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Desdemona

• Notice differences in how she speaks to the
  different men in her life
• Father
• Iago
• Othello
• Risks her husbands anger to argue for Cassio
• Inspired devotion in Emilia that E is willing to
  die for
• Wont betray Othello on her deathbed

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Cassio

• Dynamic
• Attractive
• Loyal
• Impatient and rash in the beginning
• Used by Iago in his schemes
• Goodness wins out
• Awarded with control of Cyprus
• Will bring order!

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Emilia

• Dynamic
• Coarse the ills we do, their ills instruct us
  to
• Distrustful of men but loyal to Iago at first
• Cynical
• BUT Emilias goodness is shown when she reveals
  Iago and his actions
• Dies to save Desdemonas name
• The only character Iago underestimates

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Roderigo

• Static
• Wealthy fool used by Iago for
• In love with Desdemona

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Themes, Symbols, Motifs, Imagery
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Themes

• Gender/Gender Roles
• Marriage
• Race
• Manipulation
• Hate
• Self Identity/Knowledge

• Jealousy
• Blindness/Darkness vs. Sight
• Honesty
• Pride
• Betrayal
• Good vs. Evil

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Symbols/Motifs/Imagery

• Animals
• Jealousy Imagery
• The Handkerchief
• The Devil
• Magic
• Plants/Gardening

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Conventions
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Foil

• Othello to Iago
• Cassio to Othello
• Desdemona to Emilia

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Soliloquy

• Device used to give the audience insight into the
  characters thoughts
• (aside spoken by facing the audience)

• Iago 1.6.374 ff
• Iago 2.1.280 ff
• Iago 2.3.324 ff
• Othello 3.2.260 ff
• Othello 5.2.1 ff

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Conflict

• External
• War
• Venice vs. Ottoman Empire/Turkey
• Iago vs everyone
• Brabantio vs Desdemona
• Emilia vs men

• Internal
• Othello
• Bianca
• Roderigo

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Dramatic Irony

• Iago
• Honesty
• Plan
• Othello believing Iago
• The Handkerchief