Othello Literary Analysis Take Home Essay

Mrs. Opaleski- DiMeo – English IV Honors

Othello Literary Analysis Take Home Essay

Choose one of the following essays topics and write a complete thematic analysis using textual evidence to support your thesis; meaning, it should have two quotes per body paragraph. Avoid summarizing; review the notes on analysis writing from the beginning of the year. Use may use your book, study guides, close readings and your motif analyses – no other outside sources allowed. This analysis must be three-five FULL pages and demonstrate your skill in creating theme through characterization and motifs.

1. Motif Study of Jealousy: Iago offers many motives for his trickery, and others can be inferred from the text. A few of them are his suspicions about Emilia and Othello, Othello’s promotion of Cassio instead of Iago , a possible desire for Desdemona, a possible desire for Othello; or what Coleridge calls “motiveless malignity,” which suggests the previous motives are merely rationalizations for manipulating power and creating havoc for sport. Which of these possibilities seems most likely? Each possibility seems to evoke a specific societal critique (as Marjorie Garber puts it, "sexual jealousy, political/class envy, and reputation") —so how do these different critiques of the motifs we studied create the major themes of the play?

1. Motif study of Manipulation of Language: Compare and contrast Iago’s and Othello’s language throughout the play. How does each character’s language illustrate his character? At what point do the characters begin to speak alike? What is the implication in that change? What themes are being developed through the motif of language?

1. Motif of Identity and Gender: Many academics consider Shakespeare ahead of his time because of the deeply psychological approach he used when penning his characters. Consider the characters of Desdemona and Emilia; in what way does Shakespeare show complex aspects of these women and avoid making them mere stereotypes?

1. Motif Study of Identity and Reputation: Many readers and critics center on the leading character---Othello, and try to interpret his motivations and reasons of his killing of his wife, Desdemona. Coleridge thinks that “Othello does not kill Desdemona in jealousy, but in conviction forced upon him by the almost superhuman art of Iago”(Coleridge, 247). Siegel says that “when Othello comes to kill Desdemona, he does so in the exalted mood of being about to render divine justice, not to perform revenge” (Siegel, 1957: 128). Others emphasize Othello’s disadvantages in his nature. F.R. Leavis believes that “Othello’s noble lack of self knowledge is shown as humiliating and disastrous”. Is Othello's downfall a consequence of his own weakness or circumstances beyond his control? How responsible is Othello for the play’s tragic outcome?

1. Motif Study of Race and identity: Othello is presented as both exotic and domestic, enlightened and threateningly savage. Epithets like Valiant Moor, or adjectives like black Othello are commonly used throughout the play. How does society’s treatment of an outsider influence the choices that he makes and that members of the society make about how to treat him? Is Othello a study of human nature that is essentially dark and pessimistic or redemptive and hopeful?