... he is a cheating husband. This could be the reason Bianca is viewed as a prostitute, a home wrecker. This would also explain why they have an uncommitted relationship. The three women of "Othello" are similar to other female characters in Shakespeare's plays. They seek (or strive for) respect and equality between both sexes, and fall short in a male-dominated society. Again ... testament to his genius and talent as a playwright. Shakespeare's Othello has been studied exhaustively, yet most character analyses focus on the two male figures, Othello and Iago. The two main female characters,...

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KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING Othello is not confined to a single place. Act I of the play takes place in Venice. Act II moves on to Cyprus, where the rest of the action takes place. There is also a violation of the unity of atmosphere because Venice symbolizes civilized behavior, law and order, while Cyprus symbolizes the reverse. CONFLICT Protagonist Othello is the protagonist of the play. His fatal flaw is his ... chapter takes place in Venice, the real setting for the drama is Cyprus, and all the action of the play takes place on that small island within a few locations. The play is also ...

• Word Count: 4125
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

... hero. Whether it is in classic Elizabethan works or in modern twentieth century works, the traits of the tragic hero abound. How did this role become a force in literature? The credit goes to none other than Shakespeare and his classic work Othello. Othello embodies the very essence of what has come to be known as the tragic hero. To often is the tragic hero looked ... despicable, but they are also bigoted. Since Othello is black, he is the subject of much racism. The terms directed toward him include "Moor" (I.i.57), "thick-lips" (I.i.66), "an old black ram" (I.i.88), and "a Barbary ho...

• Word Count: 2635
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago is the antagonist. That is, he is the villain in the play Othello. He is the person who causes an action to occur which affects the other characters in the play. This action may not necessarily be a good thing. Iago is the catalyst for Othello's change. He is the reason behind Othello's changing views of his wife Desdemona, ... plot into motion. Iago successfully manipulates the characters involved to further his evil plans. He does this in such a way that the majority of the characters" perceptions of each other change dramatically. Thus leading to Othello...

• Word Count: 2824
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

In Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago is the antagonist. That is, he is the villain in the play Othello. He is the person who causes an action to occur which affects the other characters in the play. This action may not necessarily be a good thing. Iago is the catalyst for Othello's change. He is the reason behind Othello's changing views of his wife Desdemona, ... devious plot into motion. Iago successfully manipulates the characters involved to further his evil plans. He does this in such a way that the majority of the characters" perceptions of each other change dramatically. Thus leading to...

• Word Count: 2824
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• Grade Level: High School

... Duke, knows that he and Desdemona have married and because he is furious he will try to annul the marriage and inflict laws punishment on Othello; however Othello is calm in this situation knowing that he has some influential power says "My services which I have done to the signiory shall out-tongue ... mother did to you. "To you I am bound for life and education...I am hitherto your daughter. But here's my husband." Line 200 Brabantio gives Othello and Desdemona says that he is forced to give them his blessing and to that the Duke states "To mourn a mischief that is past and gone ... ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... , the jealousy and mistrust between Desdemona and Othello was still there, and the dangerous background of Desdemona and Roderigo was in the works long before Iago was on the scene. Othello, Desdemona, Brabantio and Cassio were the gunpowder, Roderigo was the fuse, Iago was just the match that made it all explode. The Meaning of Othello Shakespeare has been a part of everyone's life. There is not one ... person who hasn't heard of him. There are some plays that are more well known than others ... . All of his plays have been studied with a fine tooth comb, and there is probably no secret...

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• Grade Level: High School

... climax that serves to solidify and give direction towards the eventual outcome. Act IV is a sort of transition and prelude to Act V in which the final crisis occurs and the play is resolved. Two of Shakespeare's most widely recognized tragedies are Hamlet and Othello. Both of these plays have in common the same general Shakespearean format described above. As we will see, ... along with motives and feelings. The hero, who was previously known as simply "the Moor" becomes Othello. Othello, much more than most of Shakespeare's tragedies, embodies the true spirit of Aristotle's view of the ...

• Word Count: 3419
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... die, passing through nature to eternity." (Hamlet) So began the third stage of Shakespeare's writings, the period of tragedies. During the third stage, Shakespeare produced eternal works such as 'Hamlet,' (1601) 'Macbeth.' (Macbeth) 'Othello,' (1604) and 'King Lear.' (1605) During the third stage, Shakespeare touched base with the essence of human feeling and misery. This achievement shows itself in the characters. "In ... consciences. Characters don't behave according to the play; they behave according to their own individual personalities. It was once said of Shakespeare's characters,...

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... analyses original perspectives on Shakespeare's Othello through a variety of frameworks - historical, Marxist, reader-response, feminist, psychoanalytical and postcolonial. In this introduction, I will discuss the Marxist/post-colonialist as well as the feminist view on Othello as an entrée to an intriguing meal of critiques to one of Shakespeare's most captivating tragedies. During one performance of Othello, in Stendhal, 1822, ... a soldier on guard duty "seeing Othello about to kill Desdemona, shouted: It will never be said that in my prescence ... audience would interpret. Thus De...

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• Grade Level: High School

... break the code and cause disruption by going against the grain usually suffer. This idea of social order and its importance runs throughout Shakespeare's work. The contrasting images of Desdemona have a secondary purpose; they make it hard for the audience to form a clear interpretation of her. Her father and Othello commend her for being sweet, gentle and mild yet her actions convey the opposite. ... work out. This may lead to her seeming insensitive to Othello's feelings and persisting to talk about Cassio. She is young and playful and bound to be less mature then Othello, after all sh...

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• Grade Level: High School

... were mother and son as well as husband and wife. The pride of Oedipus brought his downfall. Shakespeare, on the other hand, uses jealousy as the tragic flaw of Othello. Othello's tragic flaw comes out first when the evil antagonist Iago says he will frame as lovers Othello's wife and Cassius, whom Othello has just stripped of lieutenant. In this soliloquy, Iago states that he will try to ... make Othello jealous and suspect a relationship between his wife and Cassius. Ironically, around Othello, Iago seems ... king, he will "fight for him as if he were my father-- the audience knowing,...

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... must understand the Elizabethan concept of honour in order to understand the behaviour of the characters. Othello, being a tragedy, involves real human feelings such as love and jealousy, and thus transcends these conventions. This may be why it is easier for us to understand the characters and their actions in Othello. In conclusion, it is difficult to evaluate whether Shakespeare's characters have acted honourably or ... must understand the Elizabethan concept of honour in order to understand the behaviour of the characters. Othello, being a tragedy, involves real human feelings such ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... the audience as an ambitious but deeply bitter character who is eager to prey upon the good nature of others in order to advance his own social status. The image of him that Shakespeare portrays through lines such as "I am not what I am- is one of pure duplicity and malevolence, enabling him to be used as a dramatic device to highlight the flaws and potential ... epic hero and the glorious conquest, instead favouring a more practical approach, but the fact that he favours traditional views of progression rather than Othello's practical promotion of Cassio as the most appropriate person ...

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• Grade Level: Graduate

... have a wealth of adaptations that can be found on YouTube. Video is something that can be and should be utilised to offer inspiration for students when focussing on key scenes and it also appeals to the visual learners in the class. Even if pupils use the same setting and style that Luhrmann ... uses for his 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet, when it comes to pupils considering their own adaptation they must be guided to justify their own ... guarantee. So perhaps teaching from the "inside-out" can be reserved for A-Level students as they should have already experienced the life and time...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... again, seduces both his onstage and offstage audiences with his words. The speech that precedes his suicide is a tale that could woo almost anyone. It is the tension between Othello's victimization at the hands of a foreign culture and his own willingness to torment himself that makes him a tragic figure rather than simply Iago's ridiculous puppet. Iago Possibly the most heinous villain in ... Shakespeare, Iago is fascinating for his most terrible characteristic: his utter lack of convincing motivation for his actions. In the first scene, he claims to be angry at Othello for having pass...

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• Grade Level: High School

... threatens him. He accuses Othello of enchanting Desdemona with magic and drugs and orders his arrest. Othello resists and reacts calmly, stating he is wanted urgently by the Duke on state business. Brabantio decides to go along to present his case against Othello, certain that the Duke will rule in his favor. It is important to notice how cleverly Shakespeare weaves public and private business ... in this play. Cassio, on official business from the Duke, does not know about the private life, the marriage, of Othello, his boss. It is Iago who informs him of the elopement. The Duke is inv...

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• Grade Level: High School

... this same scene, for example, they find themselves in a dark cave around a boiling cauldron. Along with this eerie setting comes the constant rhymes. Indeed, from the beginning, the witches" speeches all rhyme unlike other characters": "The weird sisters, hand in hand,/ Posters of the sea and land,/ Thus do go about, about:/ Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine,/ And thrice again ... them on their humanity: "What are these,/ So withered and so wild in their atire/ That look not like th" inhabitants o" this earth/ And yet are on "t? (I.iii.39-42). His description of them is important in s...

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• Grade Level: High School

... from being a major Hollywood player. Check out just a couple of movies based on Shakespeare's plays: * Romeo and Juliet, starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes. * Ten Things I Hate About You (based on the Taming of The Shrew), starring Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. * Macbeth, starring Mel Gibson. * O (based on Othello), starring Josh Hartnett. William Shakespeare - Did U know? * William Shakespeare invented the word assassination. * No one knows William ... Shakespeare's real birthday, for sure. There are records that show he was baptized on April 26, 1564 ... ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... Lancelot (Tennyson, Selected Poems in the Norton Anthology of English Literature 23). Although Tennyson places the setting of the poem in a feudal system, it still possesses the values, norms, and the principle of the Victorian age. The lady in the tower gets the portrayal of the ideal Victorian woman with an untainted, appropriate and ... total world for him to control. Here he could create and run everything according to his rules." (Hartley 39) The fallen woman shows defiance by making the transition from the private and feminine space to the public and masculine space. The punishment...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... King John, The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the flower. In 1597 first and second parts of Henry IV and Henry V. In 1599 wrote the merry-Widsor, much ado about nothing. In 1600 he wrote twelfth night as you please. In 1602 he wrote a good beginning Ends Well, Troilus and grown and Hamlet. In 1604 he wrote Othello and Measure for measure ... . In 1605 King Lear. In 1606 wrote Macbeth. In 1607 Antony and Cleopatra in 1608 and Cariolano. Undoubtedly the highlight was William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, this play is about two young men who fall in love but it has ... by German sc...

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... , Latin and Greek. This is a valid point because almost all of the Shakespearean plays are based upon or stemmed from another author's work, many of which were not translated to English yet (Bethel 50). Some examples of this are Hamlet, which was taken from the French Histoires Tragiques; the French dialogue contained in Henry V; Othello, which was based on the 3 Italian Hecatommithi; and both ... The Rape of Lucrece and The Comedy of Errors had not been translated into English at this point in time (50). The works also depict an author who was knowledgeable in both Latin and Greek (50)....

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... that Macbeth is a tragic hero. Macbeth is very ambitious, courageous, and a moral coward: all these things lead to his tragic death at the end of the play. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare defines Macbeth as a hero very clearly. From the courages in defense of Scotland is significant in the opening scene. However, he is very ambitious to be king. At the beginning ... has a complex plot and many themes that the people in the Elizabethan period would enjoy. The character Macbeth has many traits that Shakespeare used to develop Macbeth throughout the play and even how the characte...

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• Grade Level: High School

... nothing happens. Iago then remarks that if he were to give his wife a handkerchief, it would be hers to do as she wished with it. These persistent implications of Desdemona's unfaithfulness work Othello into an incoherent frenzy. He focuses obsessively on the handkerchief and keeps pumping Iago for information about Cassio's comments to Iago. Finally, Iago says that Cassio has told him ... promises to arrange Cassio's death. Desdemona enters with Lodovico, who has come from Venice with a message from the duke. Lodovico irritates Othello by inquiring about Cassio, and Desdemona irritates...

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• Grade Level: High School

... a patriarchal ideology. They were naturally subservient, domestic creatures, seen as objects of desire or a medium of exchange. Shakespeare accepts these medieval ideals of a hierarchy of nature in which woman is second to man. In his comedies, however, he is allowed to write with a more detached view of society and a lighter tone (Swisher 39). The role of women in Shakespeare's own life was also a great influence in his writings. His ... relationship with his wife and even his mother prejudiced his opinion of women, and we can see this in his comedies. Katharina in The Taming ... of t...

• Word Count: 2533
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School