First Impression:
Othello: Character- Othello -Before he appears, led to believe by Iago that Othello is conceited and personally lascivious.
- But Othello’s appearance in Act I Scene 2 shows an impressive figure who displays openness, sincerity and a
Oppositions: natural authority. A02
- All the characters hold specific, and often - Unlike Shakespeare’s other tragic protagonists, Othello is not a monarch (King Lear), an aspiring monarch
opposing views of the Moor. We have to (Macbeth) nor a displaced prince (Hamlet). AO3
judge Othello in the light of the evidence - Othello speaks and acts powerfully and in a way that inspires confidence in his character throughout the first
they present, whilst also taking into two acts of the play (for example his dignity in front of the senate in Act I Scene 3).
account the hero’s words, actions and idea - Othello’s positive attributes indicate that we should view him as a hero, as does his customary mode of
of himself (which change). speech. (Othello speaks in blank verse early in the play and is a fine rhetorician, despite his protestations to
- The hero’s two contradictory ;both military the contrary.) A02
man and lover-husband.
- A black man in a white world- contributing
to his insecurities which are part of his A03:
hamartia. A03 • Othello is the first Moor who is a tragic hero in Jacobean drama.
• The first Moorish protagonists on the English stage appeared in George Peele’s The Battle of Alcazar
(c.1591). Muly Mahamet, a dark-skinned Moor, is a scheming usurper, while his uncle, the rightful
Domestic Tragedy:
- The Turkish invasion and machinations of the king Abdelmelec, is a fair-skinned Moor who is portrayed sympathetically.
• Peele’s play was anti-Spanish and pro-Moroccan because of its historical context.
Venetian state provide the backdrop to an
essentially private tragedy.A03
• The Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588, and Elizabeth I attempted to form an alliance with
- However, while the play focuses on the tragic Moroccan Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur in the 1590s.
consequences of sexual jealousy- Othello is
proud of his profession and his reputation as Race:
a soldier is an essential part of the hero’s - Othello is not the stereotypical immoral, lustful Moor of much Renaissance drama.
conception of himself A02 - Shakespeare encourages the audience to view the Moor’s race positively, as Othello does himself in Acts I
- . Othello’s desire for revenge is prompted by
and II.AO2 Race is not an issue for the heroine: as Othello reminds Iago, ‘she had eyes and chose me’
his need to recover his reputation. A Jacobean (III.3.192). A02
audience would have understood the weight - Othello’s race trouble him later in the play, as he begins to fulfill his stereotypical characteristics which as
Othello attaches to his reputation: a man’s Shakespearean audience would expect A05
honour was important and his wife’s chastity - Othello mentions his blackness, his unsophisticated manners and his advanced age in a speech which
was an integral part of it. A03 suggests diminishing self-confidence as a husband (see III.3.262). A02
- When Othello fears that he has been - A modern audience would never feel that Othello becomes jealous and murderous because he is black A05.
cuckolded the hero doubts himself and is - His negative emotions and actions are a result of being ‘Perplexed in the extreme’ (V.2.344) by Iago, whose
forced to accommodate a new role, that of discrimination is a part of his evil, just as Othello’s blackness is portrayed by Shakespeare as part of his
duped husband, which his pride will not allow nobility A02
him to accept A02
- . It is possible to argue that Othello’s marriage
is a political act; a black soldier marrying a
white aristocrat cannot be viewed in any
other way, according to the views of the
time.A05
Othello: Character- Othello -Before he appears, led to believe by Iago that Othello is conceited and personally lascivious.
- But Othello’s appearance in Act I Scene 2 shows an impressive figure who displays openness, sincerity and a
Oppositions: natural authority. A02
- All the characters hold specific, and often - Unlike Shakespeare’s other tragic protagonists, Othello is not a monarch (King Lear), an aspiring monarch
opposing views of the Moor. We have to (Macbeth) nor a displaced prince (Hamlet). AO3
judge Othello in the light of the evidence - Othello speaks and acts powerfully and in a way that inspires confidence in his character throughout the first
they present, whilst also taking into two acts of the play (for example his dignity in front of the senate in Act I Scene 3).
account the hero’s words, actions and idea - Othello’s positive attributes indicate that we should view him as a hero, as does his customary mode of
of himself (which change). speech. (Othello speaks in blank verse early in the play and is a fine rhetorician, despite his protestations to
- The hero’s two contradictory ;both military the contrary.) A02
man and lover-husband.
- A black man in a white world- contributing
to his insecurities which are part of his A03:
hamartia. A03 • Othello is the first Moor who is a tragic hero in Jacobean drama.
• The first Moorish protagonists on the English stage appeared in George Peele’s The Battle of Alcazar
(c.1591). Muly Mahamet, a dark-skinned Moor, is a scheming usurper, while his uncle, the rightful
Domestic Tragedy:
- The Turkish invasion and machinations of the king Abdelmelec, is a fair-skinned Moor who is portrayed sympathetically.
• Peele’s play was anti-Spanish and pro-Moroccan because of its historical context.
Venetian state provide the backdrop to an
essentially private tragedy.A03
• The Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588, and Elizabeth I attempted to form an alliance with
- However, while the play focuses on the tragic Moroccan Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur in the 1590s.
consequences of sexual jealousy- Othello is
proud of his profession and his reputation as Race:
a soldier is an essential part of the hero’s - Othello is not the stereotypical immoral, lustful Moor of much Renaissance drama.
conception of himself A02 - Shakespeare encourages the audience to view the Moor’s race positively, as Othello does himself in Acts I
- . Othello’s desire for revenge is prompted by
and II.AO2 Race is not an issue for the heroine: as Othello reminds Iago, ‘she had eyes and chose me’
his need to recover his reputation. A Jacobean (III.3.192). A02
audience would have understood the weight - Othello’s race trouble him later in the play, as he begins to fulfill his stereotypical characteristics which as
Othello attaches to his reputation: a man’s Shakespearean audience would expect A05
honour was important and his wife’s chastity - Othello mentions his blackness, his unsophisticated manners and his advanced age in a speech which
was an integral part of it. A03 suggests diminishing self-confidence as a husband (see III.3.262). A02
- When Othello fears that he has been - A modern audience would never feel that Othello becomes jealous and murderous because he is black A05.
cuckolded the hero doubts himself and is - His negative emotions and actions are a result of being ‘Perplexed in the extreme’ (V.2.344) by Iago, whose
forced to accommodate a new role, that of discrimination is a part of his evil, just as Othello’s blackness is portrayed by Shakespeare as part of his
duped husband, which his pride will not allow nobility A02
him to accept A02
- . It is possible to argue that Othello’s marriage
is a political act; a black soldier marrying a
white aristocrat cannot be viewed in any
other way, according to the views of the
time.A05
