AO3 - Othello 2023 with complete solution questions and answers

Othello stereotype Lustful, murderous black man. Iago creates. 'devil' Shakespeare context - characters Othello is first black tragic hero Black men Condemned slaves Unusual to have high rank Setting context Renaisance Early 16th centurary Women subordinate to men possessions - legally assertive women were a threat to social order. religion The preoccupation with good and evil underlines the play's religious context. Desdemona is linked to good through the use of references to heaven. Iago is linked to evil through references to hell and the devil. Othello has converted to Christianity and subscribes to Christian values. He knows he is damned in the final moments of the play. playwright's intention challenge stereotypes - evaluate extent to which achieves this. setting Venice was associated with power, romance and high culture. Italy was associated with villainy, decadence and corruption, and frequently used as a setting for plays on such themes. Iago personifies these stereotypical Italian vices. The isolation of and threats to the Cyprus setting symbolise the isolation of and threats to Desdemona and Othello. The use of a military setting for a play about marriage underlines the conflict Othello faces when trying to combine love and work. Shakespeare's intentions: women Use of Emilia shows that not all assertive women are a threat. themes (7) honor relationship women jealousy deterioration loyalty Iago's duplicity/scheming recurring motif handkerchief