Goal of literary essay: "Looking at the text as a work of art, demonstrating clear critical judgment and explaining to the reader of your essay how the enjoyment of the text is assisted by literary devices, linguistic effects and psychological insights; showing how the text relates to the time when it was written and how it relates to our world today."
Advice: look at class notes and your own improvements
-see if you can come up with a topic which fits all three topics
-extend your ideas to show how it connects to our world today
-passion
Manipulation
- Why is it so important to Iago to manipulate?
- Proving something - masculinity - wants to be top of the chain
- Anger, jealousy about the promotion
- [power is addictive]
- [whom does he manipulate?]
- Revenge
- [what does this theme and the treatment of it say about our society?]
- Egotistical
- Does power bring Iago joy?
- Why does Iago manipulate? - he wants something to gain - show Othello - he does end up becoming lieutenant (when Cassio harms Montano)
- Angry at Othello - wants to destroy him - allies - the way to gain them is to manipulate
- Fueled by anger
- Wants to make Othello and Cassio miserable
- [where are the quotes?]
- How would this work in real life - easy to manipulate people - eg. Talk trash about someone that the other person has never met before [remember our role plays]
- [manipulates: Roderigo, Brabantio, Cassio, Emilia, Othello]
- Why does he manipulate Roderigo? - fun, gaining power, flexing muscles, making money
- Iago needs to know what people really want and people's insecurities
- [Othello says "he's rude of speech," he also says he's old - he worries that he won't be enough for Desdemona and Iago taps into this fear]
- Othello is trusting [reminds us of Duncan from Macbeth - nice people get taken advantage of - Duncan was betrayed by the old Thane of Cawdor, and then murdered]
- "the Moor is of a free and open nature" [I iii 306]
- Iago: "I hate the Moor… it's thought betwixt my sheets he has done my office" (I iii 429-433) [is it true that Iago believes this? Or is he just building his anger because it feels good somehow?
- [Human nature]
- Characteristics of Iago that make him successful: thinks on the spot, good with words (charismatic), knows human nature, smart, devious, morals? , understands people's weaknesses and motivations
- How does this topic work with structure? - Emilia stealing the handkerchief is the climax, adds suspense to the play - his manipulation is the play
- II iii 45-47 - Iago talks about Cassio: "If I can fasten but one cup upon him/With that which he hath drunk tonight already,/He'll be as full of quarrel and offense/ As my young mistress' dog"
- Look at Iago's inflammatory language - he says to Brabantio "an old black ram is tupping your white ewe" - this is like when politicians call people "tax payers," rather than " citizens"- one makes people feel selfish
- Iago's first words "'sblood" - worst Shakespearean swearword
- Emilia and Iago do not show any love towards one another - but still, she steals the handkerchief
- [does Iago show affection after she steals the handkerchief]
Jealousy
-who is more jealous - Othello or Iago?
- Iago makes Othello become jealous
- Iago is not a dynamic character, but Othello is - he becomes a "green eyed monster" - we do see him become more himself at the end
- Iago is entirely driven by jealousy
- We see Othello at the beginning being strong and confident - this is take away by careful and malicious manipulation [which one of us could withstand a conscious taking apart of our character?]
- Othello wants proof "ocular proof" - once he sees the handkerchief - he loses all reason and doesn't see Desdemona as she is
- Iago in his "virtue? A fig!" - he isn't rash, he does plan his actions - but he does not control his passions in that his entire life is run by anger and jealousy
- Othello kills his wife over jealousy [but Iago manipulates five people to show their worst - Brabantio dies over heartbreak - his daughter marrying without his consent]
- Circumstantial evidence kills many people
- Why doesn't Othello trust his wife if he loves her so much [there are many quotes in this play about love - look at what Emilia says to Desdemona in Act V]
- Othello's race does make him insecure "I am black and rude of speech"
- Iago slowly sets it up - did you see Cassio paddling Desdemona's hand?
- III iii 165-167 - "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!/It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock/The meat it feeds on."
- All the animal imagery - shows the inhumane side of humans - the jealousy eats people up
- Othello does not believe Desdemona when she says she's not cheating on him - Othello doesn't trust in himself
- He trusts Iago as a military man and a friend and thinks he's honest
- Race - Iago thinks a black man is in charge and he overlooked him - there's many references to Othello's colour and the fact that he's a "Moor" [ the idea that already Othello shouldn't be in charge - and then he shows a lack of judgment]
- [it's important to compare the way the Duke sees Othello - total trust and admiration - this shows us how Iago is viewed by the people with the most power and status versus someone who is lower down - a weasel who gets no credit from anyone]
- How does this work in our life - WHAT IS THE PATHOLOGY OF JEALOUSY - who is jealous and what does it do - look it up
- Jealousy can consume people - one of the "basest" emotions - [the idea of "baseness" is mentioned throughout the play.]
Betrayal and Loyalty
-Which characters demonstrate true loyalty - Desdemona is true to Othello throughout [if you remember Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is actually loyal to Macbeth the whole way]
- [Desdemona also believes Othello is not jealous because she tries to help Cassio and isn't worried about appearances]
- Cassio is loyal
- Desdemona says "when I have spoken of you dispraisingly, he hath taken your part" (III iii 73) - speaking to Othello about Cassio
- Roderigo is loyal to Iago to the end - he tries to back out, but is unable to because Iago is too convincing
- Desdemona gives her life to Othello [and betrays her father - in Brabantio's eyes "Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:/She hath deceived her father, and may thee"(I iii 291-292)
- III iv 105-107 - Emilia is loyal to Desdemona for so long, but in the end chooses her husband - she doesn't fully realize that she betrays Desdemona until almost the end
- "my medicine keeps working" (IV i 45)
- [jealousy causes betrayal - who can remain loyal when someone is actively trying to dismantle loyalty?]
- [how do people prioritize loyalties?]
- [what types of loyalty are there in the play?]
- How are Desdemona and Iago opposing characters? Desdemona is always honest; Iago is called honest, but is not
- Desdemona is questioned, Iago is not
- [to what degree is the fact that Iago's a man cause the other men to trust him - compare how the men view Desdemona, Emilia, Bianca]
- Desdemona is shown to be honest (action)
- Iago is shown to be dishonest (action) - words make people believe he is honest
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