Blog 05: Othello

In today’s blog, the focus will be the first A Level text for this week: Shakespeare’s Othello.

With all of these blog posts, I’ll be highlighting three important things to consider to elevate your exam responses.

Key Character

Iago. His manipulations — of Othello, of Rodrigo, of Desdemona, of Cassio, of Emilia: essentially, of everyone! — are central to the plot. And engaging with Coleridge’s idea about ‘motiveless malignity’ is a great way to not only access marks for critical engagement but also address questions about why Iago acts as he does: what is his motive?

Key Theme

Othello’s jealousy dominates his manipulation at the hands of Iago, in terms of sexual jealousy about Desdemona. I would argue, though, that his jealousy is more extensive than this, stemming from his fundamental insecurities about how he is viewed by the Venetian establishment, as a black man who is seen as an outsider in spite of his military prowess.

Key Quotation

Following on from the last point, I would say that Othello’s final speech is pivotal: ‘I have done the state some service, and they know’t’. Heartbreakingly, when he acts out the punishment that he inflicted on an enemy of Venice — one who ‘traduc’d the state’ — he is in fact bringing on himself the same othering process: he is placing himself as an other, and showing that, actually, he was never truly a part of the Venetian establishment.

📌 If you want more of this focus on character, theme, language, and context to prepare you for your exams, get in touch.