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Othello Study Guide
Welcome!
Dear Teacher,
We are thrilled you are bringing your students to the Hawaii Theatre Student Matinee production
of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Othello, featuring the talented members of this year’s Hawaii
Theatre Young Actors Ensemble.
Because Othello is one of the Shakespeare plays included in standard DOE high school
curriculum, this Guide has been created and compiled to help as a classroom supplement as well,
for those who will teach the play in the future. Please feel free to share this Study Guide with
other teachers.
It will be helpful to cover some of the content before the performance, specifically the synopsis,
the characters, and the concept of this particular production. Some content is more appropriate
for classroom discussion after you and your students have experienced our Othello firsthand.
However you choose to use it, our intention with this Study Guide is to help you and your
students get as much as possible from your upcoming adventure at the Hawaii Theatre.
With aloha,
Eden Lee Murray
Education Director, Hawaii Theatre Center
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Othello Study Guide
Table of Contents:
Welcome! ……………………………………………………………………………………….1
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………….2
About the Hawaii Theatre……………………………………………….…………………..…4
HTC Education Program Theatre Classes…………………………………….…………...…6
Preparing for Your Hawaii Theatre Adventure…………………...…………..……………..7
Pre-Show Classroom Prep
Notes from the Director……….…………………………………………………………9
Key Facts………………………………………………………………………………..10
Historical Context …………………………………………………………...………….12
Who’s Who in Othello: Meet the Characters…..……………….………………….......14
What Happens in Othello? Plot Overview…………........................................................17
Themes, Motifs and Symbols in Othello………………………….……………………..20
Analysis of Famous Quotes from Othello……………………….….………………...…24
Pre-show Discussion Questions……………………….…………………………………29
Some Context for the Plays:
About William Shakespeare…………………...………..………………….……………30
Shakespeare’s Theatre…………...…….……………………………….………………..33
Shakespeare’s Audience………………………..…...……………………………...……36
How to Listen to Shakespeare…………..….…………………………….……………....37
Playing Shakespeare…………..…………………...….………………….………….…..38
Shakespearean Insults…………………………..………………………………………..42
Meet Our Players..………………..…………………………………………………………….44
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Othello Study Guide
The Production Team……………….………………………………………………………...46
Afterglow: Reinforcing the Experience--Post-show Classroom Discussion & Activities
Questions for Discussion
6th – 8th Grade…………………………………………………………………………..47
9th – 12th Grade…………………………………………………………………………48
Writing Activities……………………………………………………………………..49
Visual Arts Activities…………………………………………………………………50
Student Evaluation……………………………………………………………………….…...51
Teacher Evaluation………………………………………………………………………..….52
Credits……………………………………………………………………………………..…. 53
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
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Othello Study Guide
About the Hawaii Theatre:
Entertaining and Educating Hawaii’s Audiences
The Hawaii Theatre Center is dedicated to providing a broad range of entertainment, cultural
and educational experiences to benefit the people and visitors of Hawaii in a facility of
recognized excellence. It is our mission to provide arts education to Hawaii’s youth, promote
the revitalization of downtown Honolulu and stimulate nightlife while enhancing the overall
quality of life in Honolulu.
Coined the Pride of the Pacific
The historic Hawaii Theatre is owned and operated by the Hawaii Theatre Center, a 501(c)3
nonprofit organization, and hosts over 100,000 guests annually. Built in 1922 by Consolidated
Amusement of Honolulu, Hawaii Theatre was established as a venue for theatre, popular
entertainment and film. In the mid-1930s, the theatre became a predominately popular grand
movie palace and remained such until the advent of television in the 1950s.
As television grew popular, Hawaii Theatre slowly debilitated as a movie palace and
Consolidated Amusements announced the theatre closing in 1984. Pending its disposition, the
building was nurtured by the Aloha Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, ATOS.
ATOS interest was anchored by the continued residence of the Robert Morton Unified
Orchestra Theatre Organ -- one of two organs Consolidated had brought to the islands in 1922.
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Othello Study Guide
Protecting the Future of Hawaii Theatre
In 1984, citizens dedicated to protecting the theatre from demolition formed the Hawaii Theatre
Center (HTC). HTC obtained both the theatre itself and sufficient land base to insure future
viability.
In 1986, the Hawaii Theatre and the adjacent Austin, Pantheon and McLean Buildings were
purchased. Hawaii Theatre continued to operate on a limited basis until the fall of 1989, when
it was closed for renovation.
A Long Awaited Transformation
After an award-winning interior renovation led by Malcolm Holzman of Hardy, Holzman,
Pfeiffer Associates (New York), the Hawaii Theatre was rededicated and re-opened on 26 April
1996. Since its dedication, the theatre has once again become a popular venue for national
touring shows, theatre, concerts and film. It has attracted hundreds of thousands of patrons back
through its doors to witness its resurgence as Honolulu’s preeminent venue.
On November 4, 2004, the restoration of the theatre’s exterior was completed. The façade
restoration included the stabilization and repair of spalling plaster, restoration of architectural
details, new paint, a restored flagpole, a newly manufactured replica of the familiar art deco
neon marquee with computerized LED signage and a newly manufactured replica of the
hallmark “HAWAII” vertical neon sign.
The Hawaii Theatre restoration is a tribute to the entire community, and was restored for all to
enjoy, kama`aina (locals) and malihini (visitors) alike.
One of the Outstanding Theatres in America
In 2005, the Hawaii Theatre was recognized as the “Outstanding Historic Theatre in America”
by the League of Historic American Theatres. In 2006 the Hawaii Theatre Center became the
first small non-profit recipient of the Hawaii Better Business Bureau’s “Torch Award for
Business Ethics.”
We thank the many artisans, directors, employees, volunteers, patrons, visitors and community
members who have shared their wealth, work, and wisdom to grace the “Pride of the Pacific,”
the historic Hawaii Theatre.
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Othello Study Guide
HTC Education Program Theatre Classes
Hawaii Theatre Young Actors Ensemble
is a company of high school age students from across O`ahu who meet twice a week after school to learn
acting, voice and movement technique; and to rehearse and perform classical theatre. In the spring,
HTYAE performs Student Matinees and public performances of a full Shakespeare production onstage at
the Hawaii Theatre. Next year’s play will be the delicious romp that ensues when mortals get caught in
the crossfire between the quarreling king and queen of the fairies—Midsummer Night’s Dream.
NOTE: This is a pre-professional training program led by HTC Education Director and Po‘okela Awardwinning actress Eden Lee Murray, with Master Classes from top local theatre professionals. It is NOT a
drama club!
AUDITIONS: Onstage at the Hawaii Theatre. You must call to register—791-1323. Three sets of first
round auditions will be held during the summer: June 20, July 18 and August 15, all Mondays and all
starting at 4:30pm.
Hawaii Theatre Intermediate Ensemble
A program for middle- and high-school students who have had some theatre training and experience, but
are not yet ready for the commitment expected of those in HTYAE. Fall classes involve text analysis,
techniques for character creation and monologue work. Spring classes move into more advanced character
and scene work. The class meets Mondays 4-6pm, September – April. Admission by interview.
Hawaii Theatre Junior Ensemble
A program designed for O`ahu middle schoolers, age 10 – 12. This is an introductory acting program led
by HTC Education Director Eden Lee Murray. Theatre games and exercises focus on improvisation and
basic acting techniques, with an emphasis on creative collaboration as well as performance skills. Classes
Wednesdays, 4-5:30pm, September – April. Admission by interview.
The Junior and Intermediate Ensembles are feeder programs for the Hawaii Theatre Young Actors
Ensemble.
HTYAE Technical Apprenticeship Program
The Apprenticeship Program was created as a way for teens interested in technical theatre to be
individually mentored in those skills, to experience life behind the scenes of a large professional theatre,
and to give high school students marketable skills as electricians, carpenters, set/light/costume designers,
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Othello Study Guide
stage managers, and production assistants. Those who wish to participate must call to register for an
interview. For more information call 791-1323, or email [email protected]
Preparing for Your Hawaii Theatre Adventure
Before
. Read Othello by William Shakespeare with your students, if at all possible. At the very
least, go over the plot summary, character descriptions and section on themes in this
Study Guide—the section on Pre-Show Classroom Prep, beginning on page 9.
. Lead pre-show discussions with your class about the characters and circumstances of
the play
. It would be helpful to speak with your students about how live performance differs
from watching TV or going to the movies. Something for students to keep in mind is that
the Othello performers they are watching are their peers—our Hawaii Young Actors
Ensemble players are all high school age.
The Day of the Play
Please plan on getting to the Theatre at least 30 minutes before the performance. When
you arrive, the ushers will guide you to your places.
Before the show, our ensemble of Elizabethan Players and Roustabouts may be in the
auditorium, mingling and improvising with the audience as they set up for the
performance, offering information about themselves (in character), and the role(s) they
will portray in the play. This kind of preshow exchange offers a special opportunity for
students to connect with those who are about to perform for them.
No food or drink is allowed in the theatre. Lunch bags can be left in the lobby.
Theatre Etiquette
Please insist that your students be respectful of these young players who have worked so
hard (since September!) to bring this play to you. Remind them that during a live
performance, the actors onstage can both see and hear the audience. Talking and making
loud comments will not only distract the performers, but will also compromise the
experience for others in the audience as well.
Students should not leave their seats except to use the restroom. Cell phones must be
silenced; texting and electronic games are not permitted. Photographs may not be taken.
Any students disrupting the performance will be asked to leave the theatre and wait in the
lobby with a teacher or chaperone.
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Restrooms
Restrooms are located at either end of the lobbies on the first and second floors of the
Theatre. It’s a good idea to use the restroom before the performance. If anyone needs to
use the restroom during the performance, they should walk quietly up either aisle and out
into the lobby.
Leaving the Theatre
After the performance, please keep students sitting quietly in their seats. We have a
special “bus game” that insures a safe and orderly exit with the assistance of House
Management and our trained volunteer ushers. NOTE: for the Bus Game to work,
however, students must know their bus numbers, so before getting off your bus, be sure
the kids can call out the number of their bus.
After the Play
Debrief your students and share the post-show activities provided in this Study Guide. Feel free
to create your own post-show questions/activities inspired by the performance.
Feedback
Your feedback is important to us!
In order to improve our programming, we appreciate any feedback you and your students
can provide. Please fill out the teacher evaluation forms and have the students share their
reactions in the student form provided. Then either email them to
[email protected] or fax them to 528-0481.
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Othello Study Guide
Pre-Show Classroom Prep: Notes from the Director
One of the joys of working with Shakespeare is the huge latitude for interpretation and
innovation—as long the text is served and the story told as clearly as possible.
Our production features not only our extraordinarily talented company of high school performers
from all over O`ahu, but also exciting live taiko drum soundscaping by Yee Man Mui, a member
of Kenny Endo's Taiko Drum ensemble. Sensei Endo has also generously granted us the use of
any of his original taiko drum recordings.
Because one of our HTYAE'ers is a gifted aerial artist, we have the opportunity to explore the
concept of Clown as the ultimate Marionettier/Storyteller, and as such, the role of Storyteller
itself.
We’ll be running with a simple set, using basic objects reconfigured by our players to indicate
change of location. When not in a scene, our Players will dress the set, watching from just
beyond the lights as their fellow thespians perform; eagerly waiting for their chance to either
leap up and introduce the next scene, change out the set pieces, or jump into a scene themselves.
In Shakespeare’s time, women were not allowed onstage, so any female roles had to be portrayed
by younger boy actors, those whose voices had yet to change (one reason there are generally so
few female roles in Shakespeare’s plays). To go along with this conceit, each of our HTYAE’ers
has created his or her male Player. In turn, each Elizabethan Player will portray at least one of
the roles in Othello.
This approach has given our young performers opportunities for much creative improvisation in
rehearsals, as the company has had to create a collective past for itself, determine and define the
relationships within the group, and figure out why each player has been assigned his role in the
play. Then, of course, each Elizabethan player has had to create and rehearse that role. Fun!
Each year that we have presented our HTYAE Shakespeare production, we have tried to shed
new light on these iconic works. For example, our Macbeth was presented by the coven of
witches the Ensemble created. Our Much Ado About Nothing was presented from an Oxfordian
orientation, as if written by Edward DeVere, the Seventh Earl of Oxford, and played for the first
time as a carefully coded apology to Queen Elizabeth I. With Romeo and Juliet last year, our
contention was that the play is a comedy until Mercutio and Tybalt bite the dust in Act III.i.
when, at that pivotal point, the world of the play spirals abruptly into tragedy.
With our Othello, we will explore the role of Storyteller as an agent of Fate and/or
predestination, and are hoping to provoke lively post-show discussion in the wake of our
performances. Enjoy!
Eden Lee Murray
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Othello Study Guide
Key Facts
Courtesy of: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello /context.html
FUL L T I T L E · The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
AUT H O R · William Shakespeare
T YPE O F W O RK · Play
GE NRE · Tragedy
L ANGUA GE · English
T I ME AND PL A CE WRI T T E N · Between 1601 and 1604, England
DAT E O F FI RS T PUB L I CAT I O N · 1622
PUB L I S H E R · Thomas Walkley
T O NE · Shakespeare clearly views the events of the play as tragic. He seems to view the
marriage between Desdemona and Othello as noble and heroic, for the most part.
S E T T I NG (T I ME ) · Late sixteenth century, during the wars between Venice and Turkey
S E T T I NG (PL ACE ) · Venice in Act I; the island of Cyprus thereafter
PRO T A GO NI S T · Othello
MAJ O R CO N FL I C T · Othello and Desdemona marry and attempt to build a life together,
despite their differences in age, race, and experience. Their marriage is sabotaged by the envious
Iago, who convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful.
RI S I NG ACT I O N · Iago tells the audience of his scheme, arranges for Cassio to lose his
position as lieutenant, and gradually insinuates to Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful.
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Othello Study Guide
CL I MAX · The climax occurs at the end of Act III, scene iii, when Othello kneels with Iago
and vows not to change course until he has achieved bloody revenge.
FAL L I N G ACT I O N · Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio’s room and later arranges a
conversation with Cassio, which Othello watches and sees as “proof” that Cassio and
Desdemona have slept together. Iago unsuccessfully attempts to kill Cassio, and Othello
smothers Desdemona with a pillow. Emilia exposes Iago’s deceptions, Othello kills himself, and
Iago is taken away to be tortured.
T H E ME S · The incompatibility of military heroism and love; the danger of isolation
MO T I FS · Sight and blindness; plants; animals; hell, demons, and monsters
S YMB O L S · The handkerchief; the song “Willow”
FO RE S H ADO W I N G · Othello and Desdemona’s speeches about love foreshadow the
disaster to come; Othello’s description of his past and of his wooing of Desdemona foreshadow
his suicide speech; Desdemona’s “Willow” song and remarks to Emilia in Act IV, scene iii,
foreshadow her death.
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Othello Study Guide
Historical Context
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/context.html
The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 156 4 to
a successful middle-class glove-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended
grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older
woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family
behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim
quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England
and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–
1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James
granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its
members the title of King’s Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and
died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Shakespeare’s death, literary luminaries such
as Ben Jonson hailed his works as timeless.
Shakespeare’s works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his
death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in
English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a
fierce curiosity about Shakespeare’s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many
details of Shakespeare’s personal history shrouded in mystery. Some people have concluded
from this fact and from Shakespeare’s modest education that Shakespeare’s plays were actually
written by someone else—Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular
candidates—but the support for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is
not taken seriously by many scholars.
In the absence of credible evidence to the contrary, Shakespeare must be viewed as the author of
the thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets that bear his name. The legacy of this body of work is
immense. A number of Shakespeare’s plays seem to have transcended even the category of
brilliance, becoming so influential as to affect profoundly the course of Western literature and
culture ever after.
Othello was first performed by the King’s Men at the court of King James I on November 1,
1604. Written during Shakespeare’s great tragic period, which also included the composition
of Hamlet (1600), King Lear (1604–5), Macbeth (1606), and Antony and Cleopatra (16067), Othello is set against the backdrop of the wars between Venice and Turkey that raged in the
latter part of the sixteenth century. Cyprus, which is the setting for most of the action, was a
Venetian outpost attacked by the Turks in 1570 and conquered the following year. Shakespeare’s
information on the Venetian-Turkish conflict probably derives from The History of the Turks by
Richard Knolles, which was published in England in the autumn of 1603. The story
of Othello is also derived from another source—an Italian prose tale written in 1565 by Giovanni
Battista Giraldi Cinzio (usually referred to as Cinthio). The original story contains the bare bones
of Shakespeare’s plot: a Moorish general is deceived by his ensign into believing his wife is
unfaithful. To Cinthio’s story Shakespeare added supporting characters such as the rich young
dupe Roderigo and the outraged and grief-stricken Brabantio, Desdemona’s father. Shakespeare
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Othello Study Guide
compressed the action into the space of a few days and set it against the backdrop of military
conflict. And, most memorably, he turned the ensign, a minor villain, into the arch-villain Iago.
The question of Othello’s exact race is open to some debate. The word Moor now refers to the
Islamic Arabic inhabitants of North Africa who conquered Spain in the eighth century, but the
term was used rather broadly in the period and was sometimes applied to Africans from other
regions. George Abbott, for example, in his A Brief Description of the Whole World of 1599 ,
made distinctions between “blackish Moors” and “black Negroes”; a 1600translation of John
Leo’s The History and Description of Africa distinguishes “white or tawny Moors” of the
Mediterranean coast of Africa from the “Negroes or black Moors” of the south. Othello’s
darkness or blackness is alluded to many times in the play, but Shakespeare and other
Elizabethans frequently described brunette or darker than average Europeans as black. The
opposition of black and white imagery that runs throughout Othello is certainly a marker of
difference between Othello and his European peers, but the difference is never quite so racially
specific as a modern reader might imagine it to be.
While Moor characters abound on the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage, none are given so major
or heroic a role as Othello. Perhaps the most vividly stereotypical black character of the period is
Aaron, the villain of Shakespeare’s early play Titus Andronicus. The antithesis of Othello, Aaron
is lecherous, cunning, and vicious; his final words are: “If one good deed in all my life I did / I
do repent it to my very soul” (Titus Andronicus, V.iii.188–189). Othello, by contrast, is a noble
figure of great authority, respected and admired by the duke and senate of Venice as well as by
those who serve him, such as Cassio, Montano, and Lodovico. Only Iago voices an explicitly
stereotypical view of Othello, depicting him from the beginning as an animalistic, barbarous,
foolish outsider.
.
Edmund Kean as Othello, courtesy of Boothiebarn.com
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Who’s Who in Othello
Courtesy of: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/characters.html
Character List
Clown - In our production, the Clown functions as far more than the Clown of the “inner” play
as written. Our Clown is the Storyteller that summons the Drummer who then works with her to
call the Players from Beyond, and propel the story forward. Something to think about: when the
play is done and the hero dead, what then becomes of the Storyteller, whose sole purpose was to
deliver the story?
Yee Man Mui as our Drummer, Cassie Caldwell as our Clown
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Othello - The play’s protagonist and hero. A Christian Moor and general of the armies of
Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him.
In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his
life as a soldier, and his race. He possesses a “free and open nature,” which his ensign Iago uses
to twist his love for his wife, Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy (I.iii.381 ).
Desdemona - The daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio. Desdemona and Othello are
secretly married before the play begins. While in many ways stereotypically pure and meek,
Desdemona is also determined and self-possessed. She is equally capable of defending her
marriage, jesting bawdily with Iago, and responding with dignity to Othello’s incomprehensible
jealousy.
Iago - Othello’s ensign (a job also known as an ancient or standard-bearer), and the villain of the
play. While his ostensible reason for desiring Othello’s demise is that he has been passed over
for promotion to lieutenant, Iago’s motivations are never very clearly expressed and seem to
originate in an obsessive, almost aesthetic delight in manipulation and destruction.
Michael Cassio - Othello’s lieutenant. Cassio is a young and inexperienced soldier, whose high
position is much resented by Iago. Truly devoted to Othello, Cassio is aware of his inability to
tolerate alcohol. Their first night on Cyprus, Iago tricks him into drinking more than he should,
and then uses Roderigo to provoke him into a drunken brawl, which costs him Othello’s respect
and his place as lieutenant. Iago uses Cassio’s youth, good looks, and friendship with
Desdemona to play on Othello’s insecurities about Desdemona’s fidelity.
Emilia - Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant. A cynical, worldly woman, she is deeply
attached to her mistress. Emilia and Iago may have once been in love, but she senses that he no
longer cares for her, although she does not understand what she did to fall out of his favor. She is
willing to do anything to win him back, which is why she is willing to filch Desdemona’s
handkerchief for him, even though she has no idea what he might want to do with it. Late in the
play, her discovery of his evil intentions is one of the most moving moments of the tragedy.
Roderigo - A jealous suitor of Desdemona. Young, rich, and foolish, Roderigo is convinced
that if he gives Iago all of his money, Iago will help him win Desdemona’s hand. Repeatedly
frustrated as Othello marries Desdemona and then takes her to Cyprus, Roderigo is ultimately
desperate enough to agree to help Iago kill Cassio after Iago points out that Cassio is another
potential rival for Desdemona. As far as Iago is concerned, Roderigo is a foolish dupe, and he
has no remorse whatsoever about cutting his throat in Act V.
Bianca - A courtesan, or prostitute, in Cyprus. Bianca’s favorite customer is Cassio, who teases
her with promises of marriage.
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Othello Study Guide
Brabantio - Desdemona’s father, a somewhat blustering and self-important Venetian senator.
As a friend of Othello, Brabantio feels betrayed when the general marries his daughter in secret.
Duke of Venice - The official authority in Venice, the duke has great respect for Othello as a
public and military servant. His primary role within the play is to reconcile Othello and
Brabantio in Act I, scene iii, and then to send Othello to Cyprus.
Montano - The governor of Cyprus before Othello. We see him first in Act II, as he recounts
the status of the war and awaits the Venetian ships.
Lodovico - One of Brabantio’s kinsmen, Lodovico acts as a messenger from Venice to
Cyprus. He arrives in Cyprus in Act IV with letters announcing that Othello has been replaced by
Cassio as governor.
Graziano - Brabantio’s kinsman who accompanies Lodovico to Cyprus. Amidst the chaos of
the final scene, Graziano mentions that Desdemona’s father has died.
Frank Coffee as our Othello, Nickolai Browne as Iago, Keaton Gosser as Cassio and Jeni-Marin Ruis as Desdemona
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What Happens in Othello?
Synopsis
Courtesy of: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/context.html
Plot Overview
Othello begins on a street in Venice, in the midst of an argument between Roderigo, a rich man,
and Iago. Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him in his suit to Desdemona. But Roderigo has
just learned that Desdemona has married Othello, a general whom Iago begrudgingly serves as
ensign. Iago says he hates Othello, who recently passed him over for the position of lieutenant in
favor of the inexperienced soldier Michael Cassio.
Unseen, Iago and Roderigo cry out to Brabantio that his daughter Desdemona has been stolen by
and married to Othello, the Moor. Brabantio finds that his daughter is indeed missing, and he
gathers some officers to find Othello. Not wanting his hatred of Othello to be known, Iago leaves
Roderigo and hurries back to Othello before Brabantio sees him. At Othello’s lodgings, Cassio
arrives with an urgent message from the duke: Othello’s help is needed in the matter of the
imminent Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Not long afterward, Brabantio arrives with Roderigo and
others, and accuses Othello of stealing his daughter by witchcraft. When he finds out that Othello
is on his way to speak with the duke, Brabantio decides to go along and accuse Othello before
the assembled senate.
Brabantio’s plan backfires. The duke and senate are very sympathetic toward Othello. Given a
chance to speak for himself, Othello explains that he wooed and won Desdemona not by
witchcraft but with the stories of his adventures in travel and war. The duke finds Othello’s
explanation convincing, and Desdemona herself enters at this point to defend her choice in
marriage and to announce to her father that her allegiance is now to her husband. Brabantio is
frustrated, but acquiesces and allows the senate meeting to resume. The duke says that Othello
must go to Cyprus to aid in the defense against the Turks, who are headed for the island.
Desdemona insists that she accompany her husband on his trip, and preparations are made for
them to depart that night.
In Cyprus the following day, two gentlemen stand on the shore with Montano, the governor of
Cyprus. A third gentleman arrives and reports that the Turkish fleet has been wrecked in a storm
at sea. Cassio, whose ship did not suffer the same fate, arrives soon after, followed by a second
ship carrying Iago, Roderigo, Desdemona, and Emilia, Iago’s wife. Once they have landed,
Othello’s ship is sighted, and the group goes to the harbor. As they wait for Othello, Cassio
greets Desdemona by clasping her hand. Watching them, Iago tells the audience that he will use
“as little a web as this” hand-holding to ensnare Cassio (II.i.169).
Othello arrives, greets his wife, and announces that there will be reveling that evening to
celebrate Cyprus’s safety from the Turks. Once everyone has left, Roderigo complains to Iago
that he has no chance of breaking up Othello’s marriage. Iago assures Roderigo that as soon as
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Desdemona’s “blood is made dull with the act of sport,” she will lose interest in Othello and seek
sexual satisfaction elsewhere (II.i.222). However, Iago warns that “elsewhere” will likely be
with Cassio. Iago counsels Roderigo that he should cast Cassio into disgrace by starting a fight
with Cassio at the evening’s revels. In a soliloquy, Iago explains to the audience that eliminating
Cassio is the first crucial step in his plan to ruin Othello. That night, Iago gets Cassio drunk and
then sends Roderigo to start a fight with him. Apparently provoked by Roderigo, Cassio chases
Roderigo across the stage. Governor Montano attempts to hold Cassio down, and Cassio stabs
him. Iago sends Roderigo to raise alarm in the town.
The alarm is rung, and Othello, who had left earlier with plans to consummate his marriage, soon
arrives to still the commotion. When Othello demands to know who began the fight, Iago feigns
reluctance to implicate his “friend” Cassio, but he ultimately tells the whole story. Othello then
strips Cassio of his rank of lieutenant. Cassio is extremely upset, and he laments to Iago, once
everyone else has gone, that his reputation has been ruined forever. Iago assures Cassio that he
can get back into Othello’s good graces by using Desdemona as an intermediary. In a soliloquy,
Iago tells us that he will frame Cassio and Desdemona as lovers to make Othello jealous.
Desdemona is quite sympathetic to Cassio’s request and promises that she will do everything she
can to make Othello forgive his former lieutenant. As Cassio is about to leave, Othello and Iago
return. Feeling uneasy, Cassio leaves without talking to Othello. Othello inquires whether it was
Cassio who just parted from his wife, and Iago, beginning to kindle Othello’s fire of jealousy,
replies, “No, sure, I cannot think it, / That he would steal away so guilty-like, / Seeing your
coming” (III.iii.37– 39).
Othello becomes upset and moody, and Iago furthers his goal of removing both Cassio and
Othello by suggesting that Cassio and Desdemona are involved in an affair. Desdemona’s
entreaties to Othello to reinstate Cassio as lieutenant add to Othello’s almost immediate
conviction that his wife is unfaithful. After Othello’s conversation with Iago, Desdemona comes
to call Othello to supper and finds him feeling unwell. She offers him her handkerchief to wrap
around his head, but he finds it to be “[t]oo little” and lets it drop to the floor (III.iii.291).
Desdemona and Othello go to dinner, and Emilia picks up the handkerchief, mentioning to the
audience that Iago has always wanted her to steal it for him.
Iago is ecstatic when Emilia gives him the handkerchief, which he plants in Cassio’s room as
“evidence” of his affair with Desdemona. When Othello demands “ocular proof” (III.iii.365 )
that his wife is unfaithful, Iago says that he has seen Cassio “wipe his beard” (III.iii.444) with
Desdemona’s handkerchief—the first gift Othello ever gave her. Othello vows to take vengeance
on his wife and on Cassio, and Iago vows that he will help him. When Othello sees Desdemona
later that evening, he demands the handkerchief of her, but she tells him that she does not have it
with her and attempts to change the subject by continuing her suit on Cassio’s behalf. This drives
Othello into a further rage, and he storms out. Later, Cassio comes onstage, wondering about the
handkerchief he has just found in his chamber. He is greeted by Bianca, a prostitute, whom he
asks to take the handkerchief and copy its embroidery for him.
Through Iago’s machinations, Othello becomes so consumed by jealousy that he falls into a
trance and has a fit of epilepsy. As he writhes on the ground, Cassio comes by, and Iago tells him
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to come back in a few minutes to talk. Once Othello recovers, Iago tells him of the meeting he
has planned with Cassio. He instructs Othello to hide nearby and watch as Iago extracts from
Cassio the story of his affair with Desdemona. While Othello stands out of earshot, Iago pumps
Cassio for information about Bianca, causing Cassio to laugh and confirm Othello’s suspicions.
Bianca herself then enters with Desdemona’s handkerchief, reprimanding Cassio for making her
copy out the embroidery of a love token given to him by another woman. When Desdemona
enters with Lodovico and Lodovico subsequently gives Othello a letter from Venice calling him
home and instating Cassio as his replacement, Othello goes over the edge, striking Desdemona
and then storming out.
That night, Othello accuses Desdemona of being a whore. He ignores her protestations, seconded
by Emilia, that she is innocent. Iago assures Desdemona that Othello is simply upset about
matters of state. Later that night, however, Othello ominously tells Desdemona to wait for him in
bed and to send Emilia away. Meanwhile, Iago assures the still-complaining Roderigo that
everything is going as planned: in order to prevent Desdemona and Othello from leaving,
Roderigo must kill Cassio. Then he will have a clear avenue to his love.
Iago instructs Roderigo to ambush Cassio, but Roderigo misses his mark and Cassio wounds him
instead. Iago wounds Cassio and hides. When Othello hears Cassio’s cry, he assumes that Iago
has killed Cassio as he said he would. Iago reappears and flies into a pretend rage as he
“discovers” Cassio’s assailant Roderigo, whom he murders. Cassio is taken to have his wound
dressed.
Meanwhile, Othello stands over his sleeping wife in their bedchamber, preparing to kill her.
Desdemona wakes and attempts to plead with Othello. She asserts her innocence, but Othello
smothers her. Emilia enters with the news that Roderigo is dead. Othello asks if Cassio is dead
too and is mortified when Emilia says he is not. After crying out that she has been murdered,
Desdemona changes her story before she dies, claiming that she has committed suicide. Emilia
asks Othello what happened, and Othello tells her that he has killed Desdemona for her
infidelity, which Iago brought to his attention.
Montano, Graziano, and Iago come into the room. Iago attempts to silence Emilia, who realizes
what Iago has done. At first, Othello insists that Iago has told the truth, citing the handkerchief as
evidence. Once Emilia tells him how she found the handkerchief and gave it to Iago, Othello is
crushed and begins to weep. He tries to kill Iago but is disarmed. Iago kills Emilia and flees, but
he is caught by Lodovico and Montano, who return holding Iago captive. They also bring Cassio,
limping because of his wound. Othello wounds Iago and is disarmed. Lodovico tells Othello that
he must come with them back to Venice to be tried. Othello makes a speech about how he would
like to be remembered, then kills himself with a sword he had hidden on his person. The play
closes with a speech by Lodovico. He gives Othello’s house and goods to Graziano and orders
that Iago be executed.
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Themes, Motifs and Symbols
Courtesy of: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/context.html
Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Themes:
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
The Incompatibility of Military Heroism & Love
Before and above all else, Othello is a soldier. From the earliest moments in the play, his career
affects his married life. Asking “fit disposition” for his wife after being ordered to Cyprus
(I.iii.2 3 4 ), Othello notes that “the tyrant custom . . . / Hath made the flinty and steel couch of
war / My thrice-driven bed of down” (I.iii.227–229). While Desdemona is used to better
“accommodation,” she nevertheless accompanies her husband to Cyprus (I.iii.236). Moreover,
she is unperturbed by the tempest or Turks that threatened their crossing, and genuinely curious
rather than irate when she is roused from bed by the drunken brawl in Act II, scene iii. She is,
indeed, Othello’s “fair warrior,” and he is happiest when he has her by his side in the midst of
military conflict or business (II.i.179). The military also provides Othello with a means to gain
acceptance in Venetian society. While the Venetians in the play are generally fearful of the
prospect of Othello’s social entrance into white society through his marriage to Desdemona, all
Venetians respect and honor him as a soldier. Mercenary Moors were, in fact, commonplace at
the time.
Othello predicates his success in love on his success as a soldier, wooing Desdemona with tales
of his military travels and battles. Once the Turks are drowned—by natural rather than military
might—Othello is left without anything to do: the last act of military administration we see him
perform is the viewing of fortifications in the extremely short second scene of Act III. No longer
having a means of proving his manhood or honor in a public setting such as the court or the
battlefield, Othello begins to feel uneasy with his footing in a private setting, the bedroom. Iago
capitalizes on this uneasiness, calling Othello’s epileptic fit in Act IV, scene i, “[a] passion most
unsuiting such a man.” In other words, Iago is calling Othello unsoldierly. Iago also takes care to
mention that Cassio, whom Othello believes to be his competitor, saw him in his emasculating
trance (IV.i.75).
Desperate to cling to the security of his former identity as a soldier while his current identity as a
lover crumbles, Othello begins to confuse the one with the other. His expression of his jealousy
quickly devolves from the conventional—“Farewell the tranquil mind”—to the absurd:
Farewell the plum’d troops and the big wars
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell,
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, th’ear piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!”
(III.iii.353– 359 )
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One might well say that Othello is saying farewell to the wrong things—he is entirely
preoccupied with his identity as a soldier. But his way of thinking is somewhat justified by its
seductiveness to the audience as well. Critics and audiences alike find comfort and nobility in
Othello’s final speech and the anecdote of the “malignant and . . . turbaned Turk” (V.ii.362 ),
even though in that speech, as in his speech in Act III, scene iii, Othello depends on his identity
as a soldier to glorify himself in the public’s memory, and to try to make his audience forget his
and Desdemona’s disastrous marital experiment.
The Danger of Isolation
The action of Othello moves from the metropolis of Venice to the island of Cyprus. Protected by
military fortifications as well as by the forces of nature, Cyprus faces little threat from external
forces. Once Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, and Roderigo have come to Cyprus, they have
nothing to do but prey upon one another. Isolation enables many of the play’s most important
effects: Iago frequently speaks in soliloquies; Othello stands apart while Iago talks with Cassio in
Act IV, scene i, and is left alone onstage with the bodies of Emilia and Desdemona for a few
moments in Act V, scene ii; Roderigo seems attached to no one in the play except Iago. And,
most prominently, Othello is visibly isolated from the other characters by his physical stature and
the color of his skin. Iago is an expert at manipulating the distance between characters, isolating
his victims so that they fall prey to their own obsessions. At the same time, Iago, of necessity
always standing apart, falls prey to his own obsession with revenge. The characters cannot be
islands, the play seems to say: self-isolation as an act of self-preservation leads ultimately to selfdestruction. Such self-isolation leads to the deaths of Roderigo, Iago, Othello, and even Emilia.
Motifs:
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop
and inform the text’s major themes.
Sight and Blindness
When Desdemona asks to be allowed to accompany Othello to Cyprus, she says that she “saw
Othello’s visage in his mind, / And to his honours and his valiant parts / Did I my soul and
fortunes consecrate” (I.iii. 250–252). Othello’s blackness, his visible difference from everyone
around him, is of little importance to Desdemona: she has the power to see him for what he is in
a way that even Othello himself cannot. Desdemona’s line is one of many references to different
kinds of sight in the play. Earlier in Act I, scene iii, a senator suggests that the Turkish retreat to
Rhodes is “a pageant / To keep us in false gaze” (I.iii.19– 20). The beginning of Act II consists
entirely of people staring out to sea, waiting to see the arrival of ships, friendly or otherwise.
Othello, though he demands “ocular proof” (III.iii.365), is frequently convinced by things he
does not see: he strips Cassio of his position as lieutenant based on the story Iago tells; he relies
on Iago’s story of seeing Cassio wipe his beard with Desdemona’s handkerchief (III.iii.437 –
4 4 0 ); and he believes Cassio to be dead simply because he hears him scream. After Othello has
killed himself in the final scene, Lodovico says to Iago, “Look on the tragic loading of this bed. /
This is thy work. The object poisons sight. / Let it be hid” (V.ii.373–375). The action of the
play depends heavily on characters not seeing things: Othello accuses his wife although he never
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sees her infidelity, and Emilia, although she watches Othello erupt into a rage about the missing
handkerchief, does not figuratively “see” what her husband has done.
Plants
Iago is strangely preoccupied with plants. His speeches to Roderigo in particular make extensive
and elaborate use of vegetable metaphors and conceits. Some examples are: “Our bodies are our
gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set
hyssop and weed up thyme . . . the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills”
(I.iii.3 1 7 – 322); “Though other things grow fair against the sun, / Yet fruits that blossom first
will first be ripe” (II.iii.349– 350); “And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, / Cry ‘O
sweet creature!’, then kiss me hard, / As if he plucked kisses up by the roots, / That grew upon
my lips” (III.iii.425– 428). The first of these examples best explains Iago’s preoccupation with
the plant metaphor and how it functions within the play. Characters in this play seem to be the
product of certain inevitable, natural forces, which, if left unchecked, will grow wild. Iago
understands these natural forces particularly well: he is, according to his own metaphor, a good
“gardener,” both of himself and of others.
Many of Iago’s botanical references concern poison: “I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear”
(II.iii.3 3 0 ); “The Moor already changes with my poison. / Dangerous conceits are in their
natures poisons, / . . . / . . . Not poppy nor mandragora / Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world /
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep” (III.iii.329–336). Iago cultivates his “conceits” so
that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic
way in which Iago’s plots consume the other characters and determine their behavior makes his
conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the
minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago’s efforts.
Animals
Iago calls Othello a “Barbary horse,” an “old black ram,” and also tells Brabantio that his
daughter and Othello are “making the beast with two backs” (I.i.117– 118 ). In Act I, scene iii,
Iago tells Roderigo, “Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would
change my humanity with a baboon” (I.iii.312–313). He then remarks that drowning is for
“cats and blind puppies” (I.iii.330–331). Cassio laments that, when drunk, he is “by and by a
fool, and presently a beast!” (II.iii.284–285). Othello tells Iago, “Exchange me for a goat /
When I shall turn the business of my soul / To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises”
(III.iii.1 8 4 –186). He later says that “[a] horned man’s a monster and a beast” (IV.i.59). Even
Emilia, in the final scene, says that she will “play the swan, / And die in music” (V.ii.254– 2 5 5 ).
Like the repeated references to plants, these references to animals convey a sense that the laws of
nature, rather than those of society, are the primary forces governing the characters in this play.
When animal references are used with regard to Othello, as they frequently are, they reflect the
racism both of characters in the play and of Shakespeare’s contemporary audience. “Barbary
horse” is a vulgarity particularly appropriate in the mouth of Iago, but even without having seen
Othello, the Jacobean audience would have known from Iago’s metaphor that he meant to
connote a savage Moor.
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Hell, Demons, and Monsters
Iago tells Othello to beware of jealousy, the “green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it
feeds on” (III.iii.170–1 71). Likewise, Emilia describes jealousy as dangerously and uncannily
self-generating, a “monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself” (III.iv.156– 157). Imagery of hell
and damnation also recurs throughout Othello, especially toward the end of the play, when
Othello becomes preoccupied with the religious and moral judgment of Desdemona and himself.
After he has learned the truth about Iago, Othello calls Iago a devil and a demon several times in
Act V, scene ii. Othello’s earlier allusion to “some monster in [his] thought” ironically refers to
Iago (III.iii.111). Likewise, his vision of Desdemona’s betrayal is “monstrous, monstrous!”
(III.iii.4 3 1 ). Shortly before he kills himself, Othello wishes for eternal spiritual and physical
torture in hell, crying out, “Whip me, ye devils, / . . . / . . . roast me in sulphur, / Wash me in
steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!” (V.ii.284–287). The imagery of the monstrous and diabolical
takes over where the imagery of animals can go no further, presenting the jealousy-crazed
characters not simply as brutish, but as grotesque, deformed, and demonic.
Symbols: Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas
or concepts.
The Handkerchief
The handkerchief symbolizes different things to different characters. Since the handkerchief was
the first gift Desdemona received from Othello, she keeps it about her constantly as a symbol of
Othello’s love. Iago manipulates the handkerchief so that Othello comes to see it as a symbol of
Desdemona herself—her faith and chastity. By taking possession of it, he is able to convert it
into evidence of her infidelity. But the handkerchief’s importance to Iago and Desdemona
derives from its importance to Othello himself. He tells Desdemona that it was woven by a 2 0 0 year-old sibyl, or female prophet, using silk from sacred worms and dye extracted from the
hearts of mummified virgins. Othello claims that his mother used it to keep his father faithful to
her, so, to him, the handkerchief represents marital fidelity. The pattern of strawberries (dyed
with virgins’ blood) on a white background strongly suggests the bloodstains left on the sheets
on a virgin’s wedding night, so the handkerchief implicitly suggests a guarantee of virginity as
well as fidelity.
The Song “Willow”
As she prepares for bed in Act V, Desdemona sings a song about a woman who is betrayed by
her lover. She was taught the song by her mother’s maid, Barbary, who suffered a misfortune
similar to that of the woman in the song; she even died singing “Willow.” The song’s lyrics
suggest that both men and women are unfaithful to one another. To Desdemona, the song seems
to represent a melancholy and resigned acceptance of her alienation from Othello’s affections,
and singing it leads her to question Emilia about the nature and practice of infidelity.
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Analysis of Famous Quotes from Othello
Courtesy of: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeoandjuliet/context.html
1.
Were I the Moor I would not be Iago.
In following him I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so for my peculiar end.
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, ’tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at. I am not what I am. (I.i.5 7 – 6 5 )
In this early speech, Iago explains his tactics to Roderigo. He follows Othello not out of “love”
or “duty,” but because he feels he can exploit and dupe his master, thereby revenging himself
upon the man he suspects of having slept with his wife. Iago finds that people who are what they
seem are foolish. The day he decides to demonstrate outwardly what he feels inwardly, Iago
explains, will be the day he makes himself most vulnerable: “I will wear my heart upon my
sleeve / For daws to peck at.” His implication, of course, is that such a day will never come.
This speech exemplifies Iago’s cryptic and elliptical manner of speaking. Phrases such as “Were
I the Moor I would not be Iago” and “I am not what I am” hide as much as, if not more than, they
reveal. Iago is continually playing a game of deception, even with Roderigo and the audience.
The paradox or riddle that the speech creates is emblematic of Iago’s power throughout the play:
his smallest sentences (“Think, my lord?” in III.iii.109) or gestures (beckoning Othello closer in
Act IV, scene i) open up whole worlds of interpretation.
2.
My noble father,
I do perceive here a divided duty.
To you I am bound for life and education.
My life and education both do learn me
How to respect you. You are the lord of my duty,
I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband,
And so much duty as my mother showed
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To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord. (I.iii.1 7 9 – 1 8 8 )
These words, which Desdemona speaks to her father before the Venetian senate, are her first of
the play. Her speech shows her thoughtfulness, as she does not insist on her loyalty to Othello at
the expense of respect for her father, but rather acknowledges that her duty is “divided.” Because
Desdemona is brave enough to stand up to her father and even partially rejects him in public,
these words also establish for the audience her courage and her strength of conviction. Later, this
same ability to separate different degrees and kinds of affection will make Desdemona seek,
without hesitation, to help Cassio, thereby fueling Othello’s jealousy. Again and again,
Desdemona speaks clearly and truthfully, but, tragically, Othello is poisoned by Iago’s constant
manipulation of language and emotions and is therefore blind to Desdemona’s honesty.
3.
Haply for I am black,
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have; or for I am declined
Into the vale of years—yet that’s not much—
She’s gone. I am abused, and my relief
Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage,
That we can call these delicate creatures ours
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad
And live upon the vapor of a dungeon
Than keep a corner in the thing I love
For others’ uses. Yet ’tis the plague of great ones;
Prerogatived are they less than the base.
’Tis destiny unshunnable, like death. (III.iii.2 6 7 – 2 7 9 )
When, in Act I, scene iii, Othello says that he is “rude” in speech, he shows that he does not
really believe his own claim by going on to deliver a lengthy and very convincing speech about
how he won Desdemona over with his wonderful storytelling (I.iii.81). However, after Iago has
raised Othello’s suspicions about his wife’s fidelity, Othello seems to have at least partly begun
to believe that he is inarticulate and barbaric, lacking “those soft parts of conversation / That
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chamberers [those who avoid practical labor and confine their activities to the ‘chambers’ of
ladies] have.” This is also the first time that Othello himself, and not Iago, calls negative
attention to either his race or his age. His conclusion that Desdemona is “gone” shows how far
Iago’s insinuations about Cassio and Desdemona have taken Othello: in a matter of a
mere 1 0 0 lines or so, he has progressed from belief in his conjugal happiness to belief in his
abandonment.
The ugly imagery that follows this declaration of abandonment—Othello finds Desdemona to be
a mere “creature” of “appetite” and imagines himself as a “toad” in a “dungeon”—anticipates his
later speech in Act IV, scene ii, in which he compares Desdemona to a “cistern for foul toads /
To knot and gender in,” and says that she is as honest “as summer flies are in the shambles
[slaughterhouses], / That quicken even with blowing” (IV.ii.63–64, 68– 69). Othello’s
comment, “’tis the plague of great ones,” shows that the only potential comfort Othello finds in
his moment of hopelessness is his success as a soldier, which proves that he is not “base.” He
attempts to consider his wife’s purported infidelity as an inevitable part of his being a great man,
but his comfort is halfhearted and unconvincing, and he concludes by resigning himself to
cuckoldry as though it were “death.”
4.
I am glad I have found this napkin.
This was her first remembrance from the Moor,
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Wooed me to steal it, but she so loves the token—
For he conjured her she should ever keep it—
That she reserves it evermore about her
To kiss and talk to. I’ll ha’ the work ta’en out,
And give’t Iago. What he will do with it,
Heaven knows, not I.
I nothing, but to please his fantasy. (III.iii.2 9 4 – 3 0 3 )
This speech of Emilia’s announces the beginning of Othello’s “handkerchief plot,” a seemingly
insignificant event—the dropping of a handkerchief—that becomes the means by which Othello,
Desdemona, Cassio, Roderigo, Emilia, and even Iago himself are completely undone. Before
Othello lets the handkerchief fall from his brow, we have neither heard of nor seen it. The
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primary function of Emilia’s speech is to explain the prop’s importance: as the first gift Othello
gave Desdemona, it represents their oldest and purest feelings for one another.
While the fact that Iago “hath a hundred times / Wooed me to steal it” immediately tips off the
audience to the handkerchief’s imminently prominent place in the tragic sequence of events,
Emilia seems entirely unsuspicious. To her, the handkerchief is literally a trifle, “light as air,”
and this is perhaps why she remains silent about the handkerchief’s whereabouts even when
Desdemona begins to suffer for its absence. It is as though Emilia cannot, or refuses to, imagine
that her husband would want the handkerchief for any devious reason. Many critics have found
Emilia’s silence about the handkerchief—and in fact the entire handkerchief plot—a great
implausibility, and it is hard to disagree with this up to a point. At the same time, however, it
serves as yet another instance in which Iago has the extraordinary power to make those around
him see only what they want to see, and thereby not suspect what is obviously suspicious.
5.
Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well,
Of one not easily jealous but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicinable gum. Set you down this,
And say besides that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk
Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,
I took by th’ throat the circumcised dog
And smote him thus. (V.ii.3 4 1 - 3 5 4 )
With these final words, Othello stabs himself in the chest. In this farewell speech, Othello
reaffirms his position as a figure who is simultaneously a part of and excluded from Venetian
society. The smooth eloquence of the speech and its references to “Arabian trees,” “Aleppo,” and
a “malignant and a turbaned Turk” remind us of Othello’s long speech in Act I, scene iii,
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lines 1 2 7 –1 68, and of the tales of adventure and war with which he wooed Desdemona. No
longer inarticulate with grief as he was when he cried, “O fool! fool! fool!,” Othello seems to
have calmed himself and regained his dignity and, consequently, our respect (V.ii.332). He
reminds us once again of his martial prowess, the quality that made him famous in Venice. At
the same time, however, by killing himself as he is describing the killing of a Turk, Othello
identifies himself with those who pose a military—and, according to some, a psychological—
threat to Venice, acknowledging in the most powerful and awful way the fact that he is and will
remain very much an outsider. His suicide is a kind of martyrdom, a last act of service to the
state, as he kills the only foe he has left to conquer: himself.
Put out the light, and then put out the Light… Act V.ii.
Frank Coffee as Othello, Jeni-Marin Ruis as the sleeping Desdemona
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Pre-Show Discussion Questions
6th – 8th grade
1. Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play before? Where? Which play, and what did you
think of it?
2. What are some of the challenges of watching a Shakespeare play?
3. How do you think actors and directors can meet those challenges and help an audience
out?
4. Given what you’ve heard about the story and the characters so far, what would you say
were some of the challenges that the characters in the story face?
5. What would you imagine are some of the challenges the actors playing these roles must
face?
9th – 12th grade (although they might have fun with the questions above, as well)
(Based on the National Players As You Like It Study Guide from the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD)
1. Discuss your previous experiences with Shakespeare and his plays. Did you find them
difficult to understand, or tedious to read? Could you understand what the actors were
saying?
2. Do you find the language in Shakespeare beautiful and poetic, or does the archaic
language just frustrate you and hinder understanding?
3. Have you seen any of the recent modern versions of Shakespeare plays? Did updating
them make them feel more relevant to your own life? Why or why not?
4. Having read the synopsis of Othello, what scene(s) and/or relationship(s) are you most
excited to watch?
5. Knowing the story and the characters in the play, which role might you be interested in
playing? Which do you think might prove the most difficult? Why?
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Othello Study Guide
Some Context for the Plays
About William Shakespeare
(This history is largely from The English Theatre Frankfurt)
Fast Facts
Born:
Education:
Marriage:
Children:
1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Left school at 14 because of his family’s financial problems
Wed Anne Hathaway when he was 18 (shotgun wedding!)
Three: one daughter, Susanna, and a sickly set of twins. Hamnet
and Judith
First job:
Actor
Mystery:
Disappeared between 1585-1592, no record of his whereabouts
Theatre co: The King’s Men
Most famous play: Romeo & Juliet
A Very Bad Beginning:
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in a half-timbered house in Henley Street, Stratfordupon-Avon. His father was John Shakespeare, a glove maker and wool-dealer. His mother was
Mary Arden, daughter of a farmer from Wilmcote. Young William attended the Stratford
Grammar School form the age of 7 until he was 14. The grammar school was held on the upper
floor of the old Guildhall, and here the classes were held in Latin, concentrating on Grammar and
the ancient classics of Greece and Rome. Shakespeare was withdrawn from school due to his
family’s financial difficulties, and never completed his education, which makes his subsequent
accomplishments all the more remarkable.
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True love?
At the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, daughter of a yeoman farmer from
Shottery, close to Stratford. The marriage may have been forced, as Anne was already 3 months
pregnant with a daughter, Susanna. This first child was followed by sickly twins – Hamnet and
Judith – in 1585.
Disappearance!
The next 7 years of Shakespeare’s life are a mystery, though he is rumored to have worked as a
schoolteacher. Sometime before 1592 Shakespeare fled his home and family to follow the life of
an actor in London.
The Black Plague hits England
London’s theatres were closed in January 1593 due to an outbreak of the plague, and many
players left the capital to tour the provinces. Shakespeare preferred to stay in London, and it was
during this time of plague that he began to gain recognition as a writer, notably of long poems,
such as Venus and Adonis, and Rape of Lucrece.
The Tide Turns
Shakespeare was fortunate to find a patron, Henry Wriothsley, Earl of Southampton, to support
him in his writing. Venus and Adonis was wildly successful, and it was this work that first
brought the young writer widespread recognition. Apart from his longer poetry, Shakespeare also
began writing his sonnets during this period, perhaps at the behest of Southampton’s mother,
who hoped to induce her son to marry.
All the King’s Men
When the theatres reopened in late 1594, Shakespeare was no longer a simple actor, but a
playwright as well, writing and performing for the theatre company called “Lord Chamberlain’s
Men,” which later became “The King’s Men.”
Shakespeare Gets Rich
Shakespeare became an investor in the company, perhaps with money granted him by his patron,
Southampton. It was this financial stake in his theatre company that made Shakespeare’s fortune.
For the next 17 years he produced an average of 2 plays a year for The King’s Men.
But It’s Never Easy in the Arts!
The early plays were held at The Theatre, to the north of the city. In 1597 the company’s lease
on The Theatre expired, and negotiations with the landlord proved fruitless. Taking advantage of
a clause in the lease that allowed them to dismantle the building, the company took apart the
place board by board and transported the material across the Thames River to Bankside.
The Globe Is Built
There they constructed a new circular theatre, the grandest yet seen, called The Globe. The
Globe remained London’s premier theatre until it burned down in 1613 during a performance of
Shakespeare’s Henry VIII.
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Othello Study Guide
Shakespeare Goes Home
Shakespeare held a share in the profits from The Globe, which netted him a princely annual
income of £200-£250. His financial success enabled Shakespeare to purchase New Place, the
second largest house in Stratford. It was here that he retired around 1611.
Sorry, Anne
When he died 1616, William Shakespeare divided up his considerable property amongst his
daughters (his son, Hamnet had died in childhood), but left only his second best bed to his wife
Anne. Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
FUN FACT:
No one really knows when Shakespeare was born. Tradition holds that his birthday is April
23, 1564. However, all we know for sure is that he was baptized three days later at Holy Trinity
Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. April 23 became popularly established as his birthday after
he died on the same day in 1616.
(From the National Players As You Like It Study Guide from the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD)
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Shakespeare’s Theatre
(From the National Players As You Like It Study Guide from the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD)
The theatre scene that Shakespeare found in London in the late 1580s was very different from
anything existing today. Because he was directly affected by and wrote specifically for this
world, it is very important to understand how it worked.
The Performance Space
The Globe Theatre was a circular wooden structure constructed of three stories of galleries
(seats) surrounding an open courtyard. It was an open-air building (no roof), and a rectangular
platform projected into the middle of the courtyard to serve as a stage. The performance space
had no front curtain, but was backed by a large wall with three doors out of which actors entered
and exited. In front of the wall stood a roofed house-like structure supported by two large pillars,
designed to provide a place for actors to “hide” when not in a scene. The roof of this structure
was referred to as the “Heavens.” The theatre itself housed up to 3,000 spectators, mainly
because not all were seated. The seats in the galleries were reserved for people from the upper
classes who came to the theatre primarily to “be seen.” These wealthy patrons were also
sometimes allowed to sit on or above the stage itself as a sign of their prominence. These seats,
known as the “Lord’s Rooms,” were considered the best in the house despite the poor view of the
back of the actors. The lower-class spectators, however, stood in the open courtyard and
watched the play on their feet. These audience members became known as “groundlings” and
gained admission to the playhouse for as low as one penny. The groundlings were often very
loud and rambunctious during the performances and would eat (usually hazelnuts), drink,
socialize as the play was going on, and shout directly to the actors on stage. Playwrights at
this time were therefore forced to incorporate lots of action and bawdy humor in their plays in
order to keep the attention of their audience.
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Othello Study Guide
The Performance
During Shakespeare’s day, new plays were being written and performed continuously. A
company of actors might receive a new play, prepare it, and perform it every week. Because of
this, each actor in the company had a specific type of role that he normally played and could
perform with little rehearsal. One possible role for a male company member, for example, would
be the female ingénue. Because women were not allowed to perform on the stage at the time,
young boys whose voices had yet to change generally played the female characters in the shows.
Each company (composed of 10 – 20 members) would have one or two young men to play the
female roles, one man who specialized in playing a fool or clown, one or two men who played
the romantic male characters, and one or two who played the mature, tragic characters.
Along with the “stock” characters of an acting company, there was also a set of stock scenery.
Specific backdrops, such as forest scenes or palace scenes, were re-used in every play. Other
than that, however, very minimal set pieces were present on the stage.
There was no artificial lighting to convey time and place, so it was very much up to audience to
imagine what the full scene would look like. Because of this, the playwright was forced to
describe the setting in greater detail than would normally be heard today. For example, in Act
III.iii, when Iago swears to help Othello avenge Cassio and Desdemona’s “betrayal,” he says the
following:
Witness, you ever-burning lights above,
You elements that clip us round about…
Immediately the listener knows it’s nighttime, and the stars are twinkling above.
Unlike the natural lighting, the costumes of this period were far from minimalist. These were
generally rich and luxurious, as they were a source of great pride for the performers who
personally provided them. However, these were rarely historically accurate and again forced the
audience to use their imaginations to envision the play’s time and place. In our production,
because we are telling the story using the conceit of our vagabond troupe of Elizabethan players,
(a company that is not all that affluent), we have imagined that each of the actors has spent most
of his salary on the one costume element that will most clearly define his role. From our research
into the players of Shakespeare’s time, we learned that in many cases, an actor would
have obtained his “signature” costume piece from a deceased nobleman’s servant. Say the lord
had willed the piece to a loyal servant, who, perhaps even before the corpse had cooled, would
head off to find a troupe of players and see who might be interested in buying whatever had been
gifted.
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Cutaway drawing of The Globe Theatre
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Shakespeare’s Audience
It is very helpful to have an idea about who Shakespeare was writing for, back in the 16th
century. His audience was very different from theatre goers today. In the first place, it was a
much more articulate age. People were in love with language, and took great pride in finding
exactly the right words or phrases to describe how they felt or thought. Today, if someone asks
“How are you feeling?” we tend to reply simply “fine” or “junk,” or some other monosyllabic
answer, depending on the kind of day we’re having. This tendency toward verbal shorthand is
encouraged by the use of texting, tweeting, Facebook messaging, etc., all of which demand the
briefest of short-speak. In Shakespeare’s day, however, people could go on at great lengths to
answer a simple question, to describe something they’d seen, or to philosophize about life in
general. Consider this: In Act III.scene iii of Othello, when Iago is planting the poisonous
rumor about Desdemona’s infidelity with Cassio, Shakespeare gives Iago a beautiful speech
about the evil of gossip:
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing;
‘Twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
Listen for this speech in our production. Today, Iago might have simply said “Hey, I don’t talk
stink.” But instead, we have this beautiful passage.
Shakespeare himself had a vocabulary of over 30,000 words (today, an average person’s
vocabulary is between 8,000 – 10,000 words), and if he couldn’t find exactly the word or phrase
he wanted, he’d make something up! His articulate audiences loved this about his writing, and
went to hear his plays more than to see them. Shakespeare created characters that take delight
finding the perfect words to express an emotion, or describe a scene. Actors who are able to
discover and convey this delight with the language are by far the most exciting to watch as well
as listen to. They are also the easiest to understand. As you watch our Othello, see who you
think is really getting the most out of the words.
FUN FACT:
In Elizabethan times many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed at The Globe Theatre in
London. To get in, you put one penny in a box by the door. Then you could stand on the
ground in front of the stage. To sit on the first balcony, you put another penny in the box
held by a man in front of the stairs. To sit on the second balcony, you put another penny in
the box held by the man by the second flight of stairs. Then when the show started, the men
went and put the boxes in a room backstage—hence the “box office.”
--BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/shakespeare/shakespeare-fun-facts.shtml
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Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre courtesy of www.videojug.com
How to Listen to Shakespeare
(From the National Players As You Like It Study Guide from the Olney Theatre Center in Olney, MD)
When watching a Shakespearean play, there are many things to keep in mind. Sometimes the
language in which Shakespeare writes can be difficult to understand, but once you do, it's really
great fun.
First and foremost, you don’t have to understand every word that’s being said in order to
understand the play. Don’t get too hung up on deciphering each word; instead, just try to grasp
the gist of what each character is saying. After a while, you won’t even have to think about it—it
will seem as if you’ve been listening to Shakespeare all your life!
Watch body language, gestures, and facial expressions. Good Shakespearean actors
communicate what they are saying through their body. In theory, you should be able to
understand much of the play without hearing a word.
There is a rhythm to each line, almost like a piece of music. Shakespeare wrote in a form called
iambic pentameter. Each line is made up of five feet (each foot is two syllables) with the
emphasis on the second syllable. You can hear the pattern of unstressed/stressed syllables in the
line,
What PA /
ssion HANGS/ these WEIGHTS / up ON/
my TONGUE?
Listen for this pattern in the play as it adds a lyrical quality to the words.
Read a synopsis or play summary ahead of time. Shakespeare’s plays involve many characters in
complex, intertwining plots. It always helps to have a basic idea of what’s going on beforehand
so you can enjoy the play without trying to figure out every relationship and plot twist.
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Playing Shakespeare: Grappling with the Language as an Actor
Rule #1 in performing Shakespeare: KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!
Bit of trivia: when William Shakespeare was writing plays, the English language was growing
by leaps and bounds, and the playwrights of the day were adding to it with every play they wrote.
Playwrights back then were very much like rap and hip-hop artists today, stretching and playing
with language; in fact, if Shakespeare were alive today, he’d most likely be a slam poet!
FUN FACT from the BBC:
Shakespeare invented words and phrases that we use all the time without even knowing where
they come from. Shakespeare was the first to use words like critic, majestic, hurry, lonely,
reliance, and exposure. He also created hundreds of common phrases like break the ice, hotblooded, elbow room, love letters, puppy dog, and wild goose chase.
BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/shakespeare/shakespeare-fun-facts,shtml
Another bit of trivia: Pay attention to Shakespeare’s “O’s!” An “O” at the start of a line was
Shakespeare’s gift to his favorite actors. Just think of it, “O…!” is a kind of emotional blank
check for an actor, to be spent however he chooses. That open and most versatile vowel gives an
actor the chance to vocalize the pure emotion underneath his line, even before he starts to say the
words. Listen for the “O’s” in Othello, there are a lot of them!
Tools for the Text 1: Paraphrase
Reading a Shakespeare play can be a daunting task. Whether it is a class requirement, or a
personal project, Shakespeare’s language can make it difficult to lose yourself within its pages.
However, there are a few tools you can use to help break down the text into something both
understandable and enjoyable.
The first tool is called Paraphrasing. This is when you take the text and put it into your own
words. This is not only a useful tool for reading the language, but it is the primary method of
deconstructing the text used by actors rehearsing for Shakespeare’s plays. Although the words
used 400 years ago are similar, their meaning was quite different, in some cases. Let’s take a
look at Iago’s speech about gossip again. Here’s how the good folks at Spark Notes
translate/paraphrase the passage in No Fear Shakespeare OTHELLO:
A good reputation is the most valuable thing we have—men and women alike.
If you steal my money, you’re just stealing trash. It’s something, it’s nothing;
It’s yours, it’s mine, and it’ll belong to thousands more. But if you steal my
Reputation, you’re robbing me of something than doesn’t make you richer,
But makes me much poorer.
It may be clear, but it certainly sounds flat and clunky when compared with the original!
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Tools for the Text 2: Imagery
Another great tool to further and deepen your understanding of Shakespeare is imagery. These
are the pictures that Shakespeare paints with specific words. Just as pictures go through your
mind when you read a book, Shakespeare used even more profound words to create very
powerful images.
Here’s a portion of a speech of Iago’s at the end of Act II.iii, spoken as he makes it clear to the
audience just how he’s going to take down Othello, Desdemona and Cassio. It’s immediately
after the scene where Iago tells Cassio that the best way for him to get back into Othello’s good
graces is to ask Desdemona to advocate for him—which Iago knows will play into making
Desdemona look guilty in Othello’s eyes. Iago addresses the audience directly:
When devils will the blackest sins put on,
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,
As I do now: for whiles this honest fool
Plies Desdemona to repair his fortunes
And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor,
I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear,
That she repeals him for her body’s lust;
And by how much she strives to do him good,
She shall undo her credit with the Moor.
So will I turn her virtue into pitch
And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all.
Now take a look at the words and phrases below. Step one is to write down the first few images
that come into your mind.
Devils_____________________________________________________________
Blackest sins_________________________________________________________
Plies Desdemona______________________________________________________
Pour this pestilence into her ear___________________________________________
Repeals him for her body’s lust____________________________________________
Turn her virtue into pitch_________________________________________________
The net that shall enmesh them all__________________________________________
Ask yourself what those images mean to you. How do they make you feel? What kind of actions
do they make you want to do? What words affect you most? Once you’ve found some personal
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connection to these words, say the monologue out loud and allow those images to fill your mind.
Allow them to affect you and your audience as you speak.
Tools for the Text 3: Working With Iambic Pentameter
Take a look at the monologue in the previous two examples. Do you notice a rhythm to the lines
when you say them? This is because Shakespeare chose to write much of his text in Iambic
Pentameter. You’ll find many explanations for what this means, but one simple way is to say that
each line has 10 syllables – 5 stressed and 5 unstressed. Here is an example from Hamlet, the
opening lines of the famous “Hecuba” speech after the Players have come to Elsinore Castle, and
one of the players, while reciting a powerful speech, has been carried away by the emotion of the
fictional character he enacts. Hamlet is angry with himself, because with all of the very real
reasons he has to be overcome with emotion, he is incapable of expressing his passion as the
actor has done while simply pretending.
O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage waned,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing!
Count the syllables. You can see that each line has 10 syllables. Now we will break the line up
into smaller sections that have two syllables. These sections are called feet.
O, what a rogue and peas
ant slave am I!
Watch out when breaking a line into feet. You’ll notice that sometimes a word can be broken up
(like peas-ant). Now, within each foot there is usually one stressed and one unstressed syllable.
In Iambic Pentameter, the second syllable in a foot usually gets the strong stress. You’ll notice,
though, that at the end of the third line of the speech, there’s an extra, unstressed beat in the final
foot (pas sion), this is known as a feminine ending to the line.
One easy way to remember how the stresses work in Iambic Pentameter is that it sounds like you
were to say “eye-am” five times with the heavier beat on the second half of the foot. Try it:
I am
I am
I am
I am
I am
There are several reasons why Shakespeare used this form for his writing. One was because of its
beautiful sound and the strong rhythm which is similar to the beating of the human heart.
Another was that Iambic Pentameter is very close to the normal rhythm of every day
conversation in the English language. This helped the actors memorize their lines since, 400
years ago, they only had a few days of rehearsal before performing a play. Another was that it
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gives the actor the choice as to which words are more important. When an actor goes through
his/her script to mark the feet and decide what syllables get the stresses it is called scanning the
script. Try it:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
O, what a rogue and peas ant slave am I!
Is it
not mon strous that this play er here,
But in a fict ion, in a dream of pass ion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her work ing all his vis age wanned,
Tears in his eyes, distract ion in his as pect,
A bro ken voice, and his whole func tion suiting
With forms
to his conceit? And all
for no thing!
(Note that lines 3, 6, 7 and 8 all have feminine endings.)
Did you make every other syllable strong? Or did you decide that some syllables were more
important than others whether or not the iambic pentameter stressed them? This is one thing that
makes acting Shakespeare so much fun! Actors get to choose what words and phrases they feel
are important, given their interpretation of the character. The thing that makes iambic
pentamenter so helpful is that if there is a question about which word(s) Shakespeare considered
important, you can be sure that they will always be the ones in the stressed portion of a foot,
when working with the standard iambic pentameter stress pattern.
Tools of the Text 1, 2, and 3 are based on the Orlando – UCF Shakespeare Festival Twelfth Night Study
Guide, adapted to suit Hamlet.
Title page of the first Edition
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Othello Study Guide
Just for Fun: Shakespearean Insults
You’ve read how “serious” actors approach playing Shakespeare, now let’s have some fun.
Shakespeare gives his characters terrific verbal fodder for some of the most creative insults ever
slung. What does Hamlet say when he discovers he’s killed Polonius, eavesdropping behind the
arras? He lets fly a series of colorful adjectives that let his audience know exactly how he feels
about Polonius: Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell/I took thee for thy better…
Below are three lists of words. Columns 1 and 2 are highly descriptive adjectives from
Elizabethan English (a number of them, no doubt, made up by Shakespeare himself). Column 3
consists of equally colorful nouns. Start with the word “thou” (a very familiar way to address
someone—a term of endearment if used with a loved one, an insult if used to address either a
stranger or an adversary). Then pick one word from each column, creating your very own
customized insult. It’s lots of fun for students to stand on opposite sides of a room and hurl their
insults across the room at each other. Be sure to savor the taste and feel of the words in your
mouth, and get as much value out of the vowels and consonants as possible! Encourage students
to sustain and build the energy all the way to the end of the phrase—a kind of spiraling energy.
Example: Thou reeky, rump-fed
pumpion!
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Artless
Bawdy
Beslubbering
Bootless
Churlish
Cockered
Clouted
Craven
Currish
Dankish
Dissembling
Droning
Errant
Fawning
Fobbing
Forward
Frothy
Gleeking
Goatish
Gorbellied
Impertinent
Infectious
Jarring
base-court
bat-fowling
beef-witted
beetle-headed
boil-brained
clapper-clawed
clay-brained
common-kissing
crook-pated
dismal-dreaming
dizzy-eyed
doghearted
dread-bolted
earth-vexing
elf-skinned
fat-kidneyed
fen-sucked
flap-mouthed
fly-bitten
folly-fallen
fool-born
full-gorged
guts-griping
apple-john
baggage
barnacle
bladder
boar-pig
bugbear
bum-bailey
canker-blossom
clack-dish
clotpole
coxcomb
codpiece
death-token
dewberry
flap-dragon
flax-wench
flirt-gill
foot-licker
fustilarian
giglet
gudgeon
haggard
harpy
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Othello Study Guide
(Shakespearean Insults, cont.)
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Loggerheaded
Lumpish
Mammering
Mangled
Mewling
Paunchy
Pribbling
Puking
Puny
Qualling
Rank
Reeky
Roguish
Ruttish
Saucy
Spleeny
Spongy
Surly
Tottering
Unmuzzled
Vain
Venomed
Villainous
Wayward
Yeasty
half-faced
hasty-witted
hedge-born
hell-hated
idle-headed
ill-breeding
ill-nurtured
knotty-pated
milk-livered
motley-minded
onion-eyed
plume-plucked
pottle-deep
pox-marked
reeling ripe
rough-hewn
rude-growing
rump-fed
shard-borne
sheep-biting
spur-galled
swag-bellied
tardy-gaited
toad-spotted
weather-bitten
hedge-pig
horn-beast
hugger-mugger
joithead
lewdster
lout
maggot-pie
malt-worm
mammet
measle
minnow
miscreant
moldwarp
mumble-news
nut-hook
pigeon-egg
pignut
puttock
pumpion
ratsbane
scut
skainsmate
strumpet
vassal
wagtail
Shakespearean insult image courtesy of www.michaelcoady.com
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Meet Our Players
Here are the talented and hard-working members of this year’s Hawaii Young Actors
Ensemble. For this production, each has created his/her male Elizabethan Player.
The Cast
Actor
Elizabethan Player
Role(s) in Othello
Justin Alo-ma`ae
Hobbie Descow
First Senator/Player
*Elettra Bresolin
Oliver “Ollie”
Emilia/Player
*Nickolai Browne
Nigel Freelove
Iago
Cassie Caldwell
THE CLOWNE
***Frank Coffee
Laurent du Jacques
Othello
**Brenton Cooke
The Excellent Xavier
Roderigo
**Dylan Cooke
Isaac Burgess
Montano
**Makena Duffy
Acquilla Ridgers
Gratiano
Jacob Eberle
Dr. William Faulkner
Brabantio/Player
**Keaton Gosser
Richard Munchenswallaw
Cassio
***Crystal Hughes
Ellis Lupton (and Peder the Puppet)
Duke of Venice/Player
***Brianne Johnson
Jeremy Johnston
Emilia/Player
Catie Lee
Phillip Frog-in-Hall
Cypriot whore/Player
*Henry Lonborg
Charlemagne
Sailor/Player
Brenden McNally
Björn Skaavgard
Cypriot Gent/Player
**Ginger Morris
Humphrey Phittengabe
Bianca/Player
Destyn O’Brien
Jonathon Pennywat
Messenger/Player
*Jeni-Marin Ruis
Isca Burgess
Desdemona
Emma Weinkauf
Lawrence Smythe
First Officer/Player
Jasmine Wild
Aaron
Player
*JudithAnne Young
Geoffrey Beauchamp
Lodovico/Player
_________________________________________________________
***Malia Wessel (A.D.)
Toby Mulligan, Esq.
Player Ringmaster
________________________________________________________________________________
* Second year HTYAE member
** Third year HTYAE member
***Fourth year HTYAE member
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Our intrepid Hawaii Theatre Young Actors Ensemble company…
...and our band of Storytellers within the Ensemble!
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Our Production Team
Director/Producer…………………..…….Eden Lee Murray
Assistant Director…………………..………..Malia Wessel
Production Stage Manager…………..…..…Calli Brennan
Set Designer………….…..…..Margaret Hanna Tominaga
Lighting Designer…………………….……..Janine Myers
Taiko Drum Soundscape Artist………….....Yee Man Mui
Light Board Operator………….
Sound Engineer/Op…………….
Costume Designer…………………...Hannah Schaller Galli
Costume Assistant………………….………..….Stephanie
Fight Choreographer….………………….…..Tony Pisculli
Choreographer………………..…….………Deanna Luster
Technical Directors….……..Angie, Greg and Rick McCall
HTC Publicity……………...………..…...Mele Pochereva
Production Photographer……………..….….Joe Marquez
Archival Videographer…………….……….…Richard Ma
Flyer/Program Designer………..……..Donna Ching-Foster
Title page of the first Edition
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Othello Study Guide
Afterglow
Post-show Discussions & Activities
Follow-up Questions:
6th – 8th Grade
1. What parts of the show did you like best? Why?
2. How was seeing the play different from reading it? Was it easier to understand the
language by watching it acted out?
3. What is the main story in Othello? Can you tell it in sequence?
4. Given that they come from such wildly different backgrounds, what do you think
attracted Othello and Desdemona to each other in the first place?
5. If things had worked out differently, do you think Othello and Desdemona’s marriage
would have lasted? If so, why? If not, why not?
6. The character of Iago has puzzled critics and audiences alike. Why do you think he is
so determined to ruin the lives of Othello, Desdemona and Cassio? Is he simply bad
to the bone, and looking to do as much harm as possible? Or can you find any
believable motivation for his treachery?
7. Why do you think Othello is so quick to believe the rumor that Iago feeds him about
Desdemona and Cassio? Doesn’t that say something about the Othello/Desdemona
relationship?
8. Have you ever been in a situation where someone spreads gossip about someone you
know? What is your reaction—to believe it, or to hold your judgement before you
can get the facts?
9. What do you think about the fact that Iago, the source of all the dangerous gossip in
the play, is given the eloquent speech about how important someone’s reputation is,
and how terrible it is to lose one’s good name?
10. Given what Iago says about the importance of “good name,” what do you think of the
advice he gives Cassio in Act II.iii, when he says
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition: oft got without merit, and lost
without deserving: you have lost no reputation at all, unless you repute yourself such
a loser.
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Othello Study Guide
9th – 12th Grade (the older students could have fun with the questions above as well)
1. Othello is regarded as a classic tragedy, one of the top five tragedies in the Canon
(the other four being Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear). What do
you think makes the play tragic? Were you moved by the story and what happened to
the characters?
2. Given that tragic heroes are undone by a “tragic flaw,” what do you believe Othello’s
tragic flaw was? Do you think he was aware of it himself when he refers to himself
as “one who loved not wisely, but too well…”?
3. Which of the major characters changed during the course of the play? Which, if any,
remained constant? Which of them do you think suffered most?
4. How are the ones who changed different from who they were at the start? (aside from
those who die, of course). What are the changes you were able to observe as the play
progressed?
5. Gossip plays a critical role in Othello. In this play expertly-manipulated gossip
produces fatal consequences. How many examples of gossip can you remember in the
play?
6. Gossip is unfortunately prevalent in many social circumstances today. Gossip and
bullying flourish on social media. Think of times in your life when you have been
tempted to either start a bit of malicious gossip (talking stink about someone) or at the
very least pass it along? What were the consequences? If you had the chance to live
the moment over again, might you have behaved differently?
7. Are you familiar with the term “benefit of the doubt?” Discuss what that means, and
then consider how the play might have ended differently had characters brought that
value into play.
8. Discuss the role of the Clown as Uber-Storyteller. To what extent does the existence
of a Storyteller influence the concept of “free will” and choice of action for the
characters? Were the Clown and the Drummer not propelling the story forward,
might an audience be able to believe the characters are responsible for their own
actions?
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Othello Study Guide
Writing Activities
Expressing an Opinion:
1. Describe your favorite part of the play, and explain why you liked it.
2. Was there anything that didn’t work for you? It’s as important to understand why you
don’t like something. What did you not like, and how might you have changed it?
3. Much has been written about what motivates Iago to deliberately destroy Othello in
the cruelest possible way—by sabotaging the relationship the Moor treasured most in
the world. Some believe that Iago represents a category of antagonists that do evil
purely for the sake of evil itself. Others find a way to empathize with Iago, citing
Othello’s having passed him up for promotion, despite an unblemished military career
and record of courage and superb military tactics. Some have argued that Othello’s
precipitous marriage to Desdemona may have made Iago feel as if he had been
knocked out of #1 BFF position, thus destroying whatever one-sided “bromance” had
been evolving, at least on Iago’s side. What is your assessment of Iago and the
motives for his actions?
4. As much as Othello says he loves and treasures Desdemona, it takes very little time
for Iago’s gossip to turn Othello against her. What do you think this indicates about
the relationship between Othello and Desdemona?
Descriptive Writing:
1. Describe your theatre adventure: the bus ride, the Hawaii Theatre, the play—the
whole experience. Use as many descriptive words as you can.
2. If one of our Elizabethan players visited with you before the play, describe the
conversation you had—what did you learn from him? Did they help prepare you for
the play?
3. Based on your experience watching the play, write a one-sentence description for
each major character: Othello, Iago, Cassio, Roderigo, Desdemona, Emilia,.
4. “There are no small roles, only small actors.” Some of our HTYAE actors played
smaller roles, and yet still managed to make an impression. Who, of the group
playing the Ensemble roles, stood out for you? Why?
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Othello Study Guide
Critical Analysis:
If you were a theatre reviewer, how would you evaluate this production? Consider first
the central concept of this production—the Clown/Storyteller as the instigator of all the
action onstage; then the members of the Hawaii Theatre Young Actors Ensemble
assuming the roles of the band of Elizabethan players who bring the characters in Othello
to life. Assess the various specific elements involved: the acting, the taiko drumming
soundscape, the set, the costumes and the added element of the aerial acrobatics to help
propel the story forward.
Visual Arts Activities:
Set Design
A set designer must select elements that reflect the world(s) of the characters in the play.
Think like a set designer: pick one of the following characters and try to design a room
that might best represent them.
Othello
Iago
Desdemona
Emila
Cassio
Roderigo
The Clown
What do you think the Elizabethan Players’ camp might look like as they stopped along
the road on their tour?
Costume Design
Our costume designer had to pick one costume element per character in Othello for each
Elizabethan player to wear as he played his role within the story. If you were to costume
one of the main characters in Othello completely, how would you want them to look?
If you were to set the play in modern dress, what kind of clothing would you imagine the
military personnel would wear? The senators? Sailors, Cypriots? The Duke? Desdemona,
Emilia and Bianca? How would you indicate wealth and power with a contemporary
wardrobe?
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Othello Study Guide
Please return this form to: [email protected]
How did you like
Being able to interact with
the Players during the
Preshow?
The concept of the Clown as
Storyteller?
The play itself?
The Shakespearean
language?
The added theatrical element
of silk aerial work?
The taiko drum
soundscaping
The look of the show:
sets/lights/costumes?
The acting?
Please tell us about your favorite part of the show.
Is there anything you would have changed?
Further comments?
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Othello Study Guide
Please take the time to fill out and send in this evaluation. Your comments help us improve our
programming every year. Please return this form to: [email protected].
Please rate
GREAT
GOOD
FAIR
POOR
The quality of your
students' experience.
The quality of the
show.
Our communication
with you.
The Study Guide.
The logistics of the
show (date and time).
Further comments:
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Othello Study Guide
References used in compiling this Study Guide:
SparkNotes Editors NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE, OTHELLO, Spark Publishing, a
division of Barnes and Noble, Inc.
The National Players As You Like It Study Guide from the Olney Theatre Center in
Olney, MD
BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/shakespeare/shakespeare-fun-facts,shtml
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