Contents
Introduction
Background .......................................................................... vi
Shakespeare’s Life .................................................................. vi
How the Single Text Shakespeare Question is Marked.................... vi
Time and Place in Othello ....................................................... viii
Essential Scenes in Othello........................................................ ix
Characters ............................................................................. x
Text
Act 1 .................................................................................... 1
Act 2 .................................................................................. 32
Act 3 .................................................................................. 62
Act 4 .................................................................................. 96
Act 5 ................................................................................. 126
Analysis of Key Scenes
Act 1, Scene 1 ..................................................................... 153
Act 1, Scene 3 ..................................................................... 155
Act 2, Scene 1 ..................................................................... 158
Act 3, Scene 3 ..................................................................... 160
Act 5, Scene 2 ..................................................................... 163
Character Study
Othello .............................................................................. 166
Iago .................................................................................. 169
Desdemona ........................................................................ 172
Cassio ............................................................................... 175
Roderigo ............................................................................ 178
Emilia ............................................................................... 180
Brabantio ........................................................................... 182
Bianca ............................................................................... 183
Shakespeare’s Themes
Jealousy ............................................................................. 184
Race .................................................................................. 185
Male–Female Relationships .................................................... 186
Style
Irony ................................................................................. 188
Imagery ............................................................................. 190
Sample Essays
Sample Essay 1 .................................................................... 193
Sample Essay 2 .................................................................... 195
Sample Essay 3 .................................................................... 198
Sample Essay 4 .................................................................... 200
End Notes
The Critics ......................................................................... 203
Othello on Screen ................................................................. 204
Leaving Certificate Questions................................................. 204
Literary Terms ..................................................................... 205
Shakespeare’s text and line numbers
Over the years, Shakespeare’s plays have been printed in different formats. Most
popular versions nearly always have some modernised spelling and punctuation.
Line numbers may also differ slightly, depending on particular editions.
C
haracter Study
Othello
First Impressions
THE PLAY’S PROTAGONIST is an unusual tragic hero. Othello
is a combination of contradictions. In the beginning, he is
proud, patient and self-confident, but once he falls victim to
his passions, he behaves in a most inhuman manner. From
the outset, there are tensions underlying Othello’s twin roles
as dutiful soldier and loving husband.
Our initial impression of Othello’s character comes from his
enemies, Iago and Roderigo, who depict him in a completely hostile way. Throughout
the opening scenes, their obvious hatred and prejudice suggest that because he is a
North African, Othello is viewed as a black man in a white world, a cultural and racial
outsider. Iago describes him as ‘an old black ram’ and the ‘lascivious Moor’, a boastful
figure who has used witchcraft to seduce Desdemona, Brabantio’s daughter.
When he first appears, however, this negative impression is immediately contradicted.
Responding to his irate father-in-law, Othello is self-controlled and diplomatic: ‘Good signor,
you shall more command with years/Than with your weapons’. Audiences are already likely
to feel a certain amount of sympathy for Othello because of the offensive way others treat
him. We do not even hear his actual name until well into Act 1, Scene 3, when the Duke
of Venice acknowledges his military abilities and leadership. ‘Valiant Othello’ is clearly a
trusted servant of the Venetian state. In public, even his enemies pretend to respect him
since he holds such an important position as general of Venice’s armies.
Othello has other character traits. Iago’s insightful comment that ‘The Moor is of
a free and open nature’ is both a strength and a weakness. Othello is undoubtedly a
fearless soldier and an able general. His knowledge comes from the battlefield, where
he has spent most of his days. As a result, he is used to military life and the need to act
quickly and decisively. As the leader of the Venetian troops, he is indispensable to the
defence of territories controlled by Venice. For this reason, he is sent to fight the Turks
and protect Cyprus. Othello himself is proud of his military reputation. But since he
has spent so much of his life on the battlefield, he is unfamiliar with Venetian society and
the wickedness that can sometimes exist in human nature.
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Shakespeare Focus: Othello
Although Othello claims that he is ‘rude’ and inarticulate in his own use of language
(‘little blessed with the soft phrase of peace’), his seemingly rehearsed explanation about
winning his ‘fair lady’s love’ is polished and persuasive. Is this false modesty? Does it
suggest that Othello is really tying to impress? We can only wonder about his egotism
and whether it shows an underlying insecurity.
Audiences will also question Othello’s understanding of romantic love. He says
that Desdemona loved him ‘for the dangers’ he had experienced and that he in turn loved
her because ‘she did pity them’. Throughout the play’s opening scenes, Shakespeare
has intentionally created an aura of romance and mystery around the dark Moor, and
Othello’s poetic expression and thoughts strengthen this image.
But although Othello first inspires confidence in his character, the question of
his elopement causes unease. The circumstances surrounding his secret marriage
to Desdemona are never explained, but it is Othello who is initially blamed for the
deception. Once again, the fact that the couple have flaunted civilised Venetian behaviour
raises questions about both their characters.
Whether he is using Desdemona to flatter his own ego or is simply infatuated with
her, Othello’s intense feelings are undeniable. In response to Brabantio’s ominous
warning (‘She has deceived her father, and may thee’), Othello confidently proclaims
his trust in his wife – ‘My life upon her faith!’ – as he leaves the care of Desdemona to
‘honest Iago’.
Othello’s Development
At the start of Act 2, Othello has triumphed over tremendous obstacles: cultural prejudice,
Brabantio’s hostility and the threat of the Turkish fleet. When he and his wife are reunited
in Cyprus, Othello can hardly express his happiness (‘it is too much of joy’). But less
than two days later, the marriage is utterly destroyed, and with it the lovers themselves.
The fact that Othello is unable to control his powerful emotions is ominous. Critics
have argued that the hero’s tragic downfall results primarily from his failure as a husband.
From Act 3, Scene 3 onwards, Othello’s suffering is intense. Over and over again, he
struggles with raging anger, confusion and jealousy. He is acutely aware of the precarious
nature of success and happiness. ‘But I do love thee!/And when I love thee not,/Chaos
is come again.’ These are the words of someone who fears uncertainty and believes
himself to have been rescued from it by true love. Increasingly tortured by doubts about
Desdemona, he is easily manipulated by his ‘demi-devil’ ensign. It is important to
remember that Iago is so exceptionally plausible and cunning that he is able to deceive
many others as well as Othello. Iago’s chilling influence is evident in Othello’s language,
which echoes the imagery of his ensign as the play progresses.
Throughout the second half of the drama, Othello’s noble character is transformed
for the worse as he becomes ever more ‘ensnared’ by Iago. Why Othello should trust his
Character Study
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ensign more than his own wife has always intrigued audiences. That his enormous pride
has been hurt is certain – ‘Othello’s occupation’s gone’. The Moor’s cruel behaviour
is crude and irrational. Yet his obsession with honour and Desdemona’s apparent
unfaithfulness might suggest that he is an idealistic character. Central to Othello’s demise
is an overwhelming desire for revenge that brings together his crucial roles as soldier
and husband. Tragically, his misplaced insistence on honour can be seen as both his
redemption and downfall.
Final View
Othello remains a complex and enigmatic figure who continues to divide opinion. We are
left considering the extent to which he is a vulnerable victim or a pompous villain. He
describes himself as an ‘honourable murderer’. His numerous dying claims infuriate and
fascinate: ‘one that loved not wisely but too well’. Othello’s assertion that he was ‘not
easily jealous’ must leave many people asking if he ever really knew himself.
However, it is possible to feel some sympathy for the Moor although we can never
condone his actions. In his final moments, he appears to be almost entirely self-centred
and concerned with his reputation. Is he essentially narcissistic and self-dramatising?
It is characteristic that Othello judges himself before carrying out his own execution and
dying alongside his love.
The Moor’s killing could be seen as an attempt to regain his honourable military
identity. Whether his suicide is an act of redemption or an effort to restore his reputation
is open to debate. Some critics view Othello’s violent death as a cowardly escape from
taking responsibility for his actions. For others, his decision to die ‘no way but this’ is an
acceptance of his inevitable fate as a wretched hero.
On the surface, of course, Iago is the undeniable architect of Othello’s downfall.
Yet it could be argued that it is the tension between Othello’s experience as an outsider
adapting to a foreign culture and his own personal trauma that makes him a truly tragic
figure. At any rate, the protagonist’s story forces audiences to consider the nature of his
character flaws as well as his difficulty in acknowledging his own destructiveness.
In the end, fate is cruel to Othello. But in his final speeches, there are some glimpses
of the protagonist’s former greatness: his military achievements, loyalty to Venice, the
intensity of his love and his terrible realisation that, by killing Desdemona, he has
destroyed the best in himself.
Key Characteristics of Othello
• Othello: ‘one not easily jealous’
• Honourable, dignified, calm
• Jealous, paranoid, violent, uncontrolled
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Shakespeare Focus: Othello
• Accomplished, heroic, idealistic
• Insecure, naive, foolish, tragic
• Arrogant, self-obsessed, egotistical