Othello

Decoding the Language

1. If you are comfortable reading Shakespeare orally, read sections of each act to the class. Or if you have a student who reads/acts well, have her/him do so.

2. In a variation on the previous suggestion, ask for volunteers or choose several students from the class who read well. Have the class select a scene they find difficult to understand. Allow this group of volunteers some time to prepare the scene in reader's theater style under your direction or the direction of some of the students in the group. After their performance, have the class and the actors discuss the ways in which the actors made the language more understandable.

3. Choose several key scenes. Sample ones might include:

• Act I, scene iii, the scene in front of the senators in which Othello tells how he wooed Desdemona and she declares she loves him freely.

• Act II, scene iii, the scene in which Cassio is drawn by Iago first into drinking then brawling. Othello relieves Cassio of his duties after hearing Iago's "reluctant" testimony.

• Act III, scene iii, the second part of the scene in which Iago begins to poison Othello's view of Desdemona.

• Act IV, scene i, the scene in which Othello is hidden listening to Cassio talk to Iago about Bank, but Othello thinks he is talking about Desdemona.

• Act IV, scene iii, the part of the scene between Emilia and Desdemona, in which the two women discuss their different responses to the temptations to betray their marriage vows.

• Act V, scene ii, the scene in which Othello murders Desdemona.

Divide the class into groups; assign scenes and have them "update" the scene. Demonstrate using the Twisted Tales From Shakespeare by Richard Amour. Allow the students latitude to make the scenes funny or serious as long as the update adheres to some ground rules such as the following:

• The update must convey the major plot points of the scene and maintain Shakespeare's "take" on the characters.

• It must have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

• The story of that scene must be conveyed in the updated
dialogue.

Complete the translation circle by having students take everyday situations and create Shakespearean dialogue to communicate them.

Focusing on Reading

A useful activity in studying literature is the dialogue journal. By tracking individual responses students develop the ability to make independent interpretations.

1. Have individual students take notes about their reading on the right-hand page of a notebook, especially noting when their understanding changes or they encounter problems. Then on the facing page of the notebook, have them reread their entries and look for patterns in their own reading. For example, ask and have them respond to these questions:

• Are you more attentive to character or plot?

• Do you bog down whenever background information is being supplied?

2. Allow students to periodically and selectively share their entries with classmates and with you. Instead of having students look for patterns in their own entries, have them share journals with a partner who writes questions and makes responses on the left-hand page to what they have written on the right-hand page. Listening to and/or reading the responses of their partners provides students with multiple interpretations.

3. After students have shared a few of their written responses, have them write about how their own ideas are affected by hearing and reading their classmates' responses. (For more ideas and more detail about how to creatively use journals with literary works see Tabby Fuller's The Journal Book.)

Literary Analysis

Character

Students should examine Shakespeare's careful crafting of his characters. One way in which Shakespeare develops characters is through their speech - not only what they say, but how they say it.

1. Have students look at forms of dramatic speech (i.e., dialogue and monologue) and discuss the differing purposes and functions of each.
For example, have them brainstorm monologues from other plays they have read. Discuss:

• Which character recites the monologues?

• When?

• Why?

• What does the monologue reveal about that character? Then have them choose one from Othello to compare and contrast to the monologues the class has discussed.

2. Focus the students' attention on the construction and content of several individual speeches in Othello. Help them understand how what is said and how it is said develops character. For example, Othello's final speech is an important index of his character. It is an address to the political leaders who commissioned him, rather than a diatribe against Iago - a public speech, rather than an anguished private monologue. It tells us about who he was and who he has become through his unchecked passion. It reveals what he feels in the aftermath of slaying Desdemona. Iago's speeches, on the other hand, are most often in the form of monologues; he talks to himself about his plans and his evaluation of the other characters. This tendency to talk to himself may be an indication of both his madness and his malevolence. Read this example to the students:

I have rubbed this young quat (Roderigo) almost to the sense,
And he grows angry. Now whether he kill Cassio,
Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,
Every way makes my gain. Live Roderigo,
He calls me to a restitution large
Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him
As gifts to Desdemona.
It must not be. If Cassio do remain,
He hath a daily beauty in his life
That makes me ugly; and besides, the Moor
May unfold me to him; there I stand in much peril.
No he must die. But so, I hear him coming.
(V, i, 11-21)

Desdemona, on the other hand, is only heard talking naturally with other people. Yet, she too is developed through both the content and form of her speech. For example, Desdemona's conversations with Emilia, particularly at the end of the play (IV, iii), reveal aspects of her character as well as Emilia's character. Have students look at these and discuss what they reveal about each of the characters.

3. Once students are aware of how speech reveals character, divide the class into small groups. Have each group draw the name of one of the major characters and an act number. From this act the group should select one speech and discuss what its content and form reveals about the character. Then the group should dramatically read or recite the speech to the class and discuss with the class how the character is developed through the speech.

4. Through each character's speech and actions, we learn about the character's desires, intentions, motivations, and dreams. Divide the class into groups and assign each group an act. Allow the group to select one major character who appears frequently in that act. Have them analyze the speech and actions of the character and list on chart paper what each speech and/or action tells us about the character's motivation and desires. They should divide the chart paper in half and list in the left column the lines in the act or behavior that reveals the character's desires. In the right hand column, they should list what this tells us about the character's desires. After each group has completed this exercise, have them create an internal monologue based on one or more of the speeches of the character in the act they have selected. In this internal monologue the character speaks directly to the audience about her/his desires and motivations. The group should present this internal monologue to the class either as a dramatic reading or recitation.

5. Understanding the "minor" characters and the roles they play leads students to a clearer sense of how to analyze characters in general. The following exercise helps students think about the minor characters and what they add to the understanding of the play.

Instructions:

• Choose one of the secondary characters - not Desdemona, Othello, or Iago.

• Write a diary entry in the voice of the minor character after s/he encounters one of the three main characters.

• Explain what happened in the encounter and how you, the character, feel about it. This should be based on what you know about that character from the play. For example, choose the scene in which Emilia finds the handkerchief and gives it to Iago. As Emilia, write about that encounter in your diary.

• Ask and try to answer in the entry questions such as: Why don't you (Emilia) stand up to Iago? Why don't you just tell Desdemona? Use only information from earlier in the play in your diary entry. Now select a scene from later in the play to contrast or compare with the earlier one. For example, write from Emilia's perspective about her confrontation with Iago at the end of the play. Has your behavior toward him changed? Have you changed or grown? If so, how and why?

• Quote Emilia's lines from the play in the entry to support her belief.

Theme

Many of the play's themes can be used as a foundation for reading and analysis. The difference between appearance and reality is frequently explored by Shakespeare and easily understood by adolescents. Students can relate to discussions about how friendship can ultimately be destructive. Likewise, the play gives students the opportunity to examine other themes that relate to their contemporary world: loyalty vs. treachery; truth vs. falsehood; parental love vs. parental control.

Another equally accessible theme is Othello's cultural and gender confusion. He is a military man who understands soldiering and politics, but is easily confused in his dealings with Desdemona and Iago. He is uncertain about interpreting the actions and words of women and of all people from different cultures. Cassio has acted as a cultural interpreter as he has helped Othello woo Desdemona. Iago, whom he understands even less than he understands Desdemona, usurps the interpreter's role from Cassio, taking full advantage of Othello's confusion:

Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio;...
I know our country disposition well:
In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks
They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience
Is not to leave't undone, but kept unknown.
(III, iii, 197, 201-204)

Othello accepts Iago's interpretations as "insider" knowledge of the culture.

1. Students can trace Othello's growing dependence on Iago's cultural interpretations as the play unfolds.

2. Students can explore the following theme-related questions orally or in writing:

• What does the play say about friendship and loyalty? Who remains loyal? How is friendship shown?

• What types of betrayal occur in the play? What is the penalty for betrayal?

• What definitions of honor do you find in the play, and why is honor so important? Are there modern equivalents of honor? What equivalents are there among you and your friends?

• Peer pressure occurs when Cassio gives in to drinking because Iago persuades him it is the right thing to do. What other forms of peer pressure are presented in the play? How does Shakespeare's portrayal compare with situations where you or your friends feel pressured by peers?

Conflict

Understanding conflict is central to understanding the plot.

1. Have students answer these questions orally in small groups at various points during the reading of the play:

• What are the central conflicts at this point in the play?

• How do these conflicts compare with those you have identified earlier in the play? Has anything changed about them? Why?

• What are Othello's internal conflicts? What are his external conflicts?

• What are Roderigo's internal and external conflicts? Do they change as the play progresses?

• Do the minor characters have both internal and external conflicts? If they do, identify some of them. If not, identify the characters without conflicts.

2. After students have addressed the above questions orally, have them respond to one or more of them individually in their dialogue journals. Using the dialogue journal techniques discussed previously, a partner can then comment on each student's written response. In this way several interpretations to a single question can be revealed to the students.

Literary Devices

The following activities are designed to help students become literary device detectives and develop literary analysis skills they can employ when attacking other works. Provide students with one good example of symbol, foreshadowing, and irony from the play. Have the students explain why it is an example of the device and search for and find other examples from the play. Award "prizes" to the students or groups who find the best examples. Have them share the examples with the class.

Symbol

Provide students with this example: Desdemona's handkerchief, given to her as a wedding present, is a symbol of something precious between Desdemona and Othello. It is carelessly mislaid and then used by Iago for his own evil purposes.

1. Have students identify other symbols they find in the play. They can list these in their dialogue journals or they can be brainstormed, placed on chart paper, and shared with the class.

2. Students can design a prop or some piece of furniture or stage business that has a symbolic relationship to the play.

Foreshadowing

Help students understand foreshadowing by giving them this
example:

Othello:
...If it were now to die,
Twere now to be most happy; for I fear
My soul hath her content so absolute
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate.
(II, i, 187-191)

1. Have students search for other examples of foreshadowing and note them in their dialogue journals or list them, as a class, on chart paper or the chalk board.

2. Discuss how we can recognize foreshadowing even before we know the climax of the play.

Irony

Read this to students and have them explain why it is ironic:

Iago:
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.
(III, iii, 165-167)

1. After providing definitions for verbal irony and dramatic or tragic irony, the two most common types, have students identify where the example above fits. Remind them that verbal irony occurs when the attitude of the writer or speaker is opposite what is literally stated (i.e., when Hamlet suggests to Horatio that the reason for his mother's hasty marriage to his uncle was economy. Hamlet: "Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats/ Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."). Dramatic or tragic irony, on the other hand, occurs when the reader or audience understands that a character's words have a double meaning. Likewise, dramatic irony may arise from the structure of the play (i.e., In Oedipus Rex Oedipus's ironic search for his father is actually the plot of the play). Have the students search for other examples of irony including examples of all the types you have defined.

2. Have students search for and share irony they find in contemporary television programs, videos, or movies.

3. Divide students into groups. Have them script an ironic scene from real life or from the play and present it to the class.