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Othello 50:50 TasksRemember:Create a quote bank for each of the following themes: love, hatred, jealousy, appearance Vs reality and prejudice.Create a quote bank for each of the following characters: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, Cassio, Roderigo, Brabantio.Create a bank of key quotes for each Act.Create a timeline of events and key quotations.Understand:Select a critic’s opinion on a character of your choice, explain their statement and discuss whether you agree or disagree, elaborating on your opinion using evidence from the text.Iago often ‘opens-up’ to the audience during his many soliloquys, however, the audience doesn’t get as regular an insight into Othello’s mind. Choose a key scene and create a soliloquy for Othello, explaining his thoughts, feelings, and the motivation for his actions. Explain how Shakespeare’s presentation of women could be seen as ‘progressive.’ Discuss how Shakespeare both supports and challenges Elizabethan stereotypes of race.Apply:Demonstrate how Venice and Cyprus are appropriate settings of a play about violent sexual jealousy. In the Anatomy of Melancholy (1616) Robert Burton claimed: ‘wives are slippery, often unfaithful to their husbands but to old men most treacherous.’ Demonstrate how this stereotype is evidenced in the play. In ‘Othello’ New Critical Essays (2002) Phillip C Kolin claimed that: ‘Desdemona’s fractious naysayers have assailed her for a host of wrongdoings, including disobeying her father; backchatting with Iago in act 2.1; lying to Othello about the handkerchief; pressing Cassio’s suit with unflattering ardour; admiring Lodovico as a ‘proper man’ in act 4.1 and absolving Othello of her death in act 5.2. Several critics cite Desdemona for violating Elizabethan/Jacobean law and propriety by denying her father and running off with the Moor.’ Collate evidence which demonstrates that Desdemona isn’t perhaps as innocent as she first seems. List the 4 traits Aristotle believed a tragic hero should possess and demonstrate whether Othello displays these qualities. Analyse:Choose a key quote from each of the 3 central characters (Othello, Iago and Desdemona) to ‘explode’, using single-word analysis and multiple interpretations to expand on your AO2 analysis. Create an analysis chart which compares the differences between Othello’s eloquence at the start of the play and crude, ugly language leading up to Desdemona’s death. Your chart could look something like this:Acts 1-2Acts 3-5QuoteAO2 AnalysisQuoteAO2 AnalysisAnalyse the use of sexualised language by Iago and explore how this ‘infects’ Othello’s speech. Analyse Emilia’s speech at the end of Act 4, Scene 3. What does it imply about the patriarchal society in which the play was set? Evaluate:In Anatomy of Melancholy (1616) Robert Burton claimed: ‘southern men are more hot, lascivious and jealous, than such as live in the North: they can hardly contain themselves in those hotter climes, but are the most subject to prodigious lusts.’ Evaluate how far this statement is supported in ‘Othello.’Evaluate the following statement: ‘Shakespeare’s presentation of Desdemona is weak; the change she undergoes during the play is unrealistic and disappointing.’Some critics claim that the play should be called ‘Iago’ rather than ‘Othello.’ How far do you agree?Evaluate the following statement by Caryl Phillips: Othello’s love of Desdemona ‘is the love of possession. She is a prize. The spoil of war.’Create:Create a review of the play. (If you are unsure of the format/tone of a review, have a look at The Guardian website as they produce regular reviews of Literature.)Imagine the government are going to ban ‘Othello’ from the A Level syllabus as they deem it to be encouraging racial stereotypes. Write a letter arguing against this ban.Create an article arguing for or against the following statement: ‘Shakespeare is outdated and irrelevant in today’s society.’Imagine Iago did confess his motives at the end of the play; rewrite the ending of Act 5, Scene 2 with Iago’s confession and the other characters’ reactions. ................
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