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othello: A05 - Coggle Diagram
othello: A05
women
women are viewed as either 'saints' or 'sinners'. As saints women were elevated to a quasi-divine status of spirituality as seen through courtly love in Renaissance England. Desdemona changes from 'dear love' to 'that cunning whore of Venice'
the three women are united in the fact they all hold the handkerchief, symbolising the flimsiness of what Othello takes to be 'ocular proof' of Desdemona's infidelity. Also functions as a symbol of women's failure to recognise what they have in common is greater than what divides them. They all allow the priority of the marital bond to distract them from what they have in common with another.
is Shakespeare taking a progressive stance? includes women of all different character, with prior point is he stating that women should be liberated to speak their minds, it would prevent tragedy. or is he conforming to the norms of the temporal period by making powerful women die? Not only in Othello but Macbeth- Lady Macbeth
women serve as barometers of order and emotion. when women are treated with respect order and calm prevails. when women are mistreated, degraded or ignored there is a descent into chaos
Cassio and his double standards of women, he treats Desdemona with upmost respect however he views and treats Bianca in contradiction to his courtly values. 'courtly flatterer and callous womaniser'. While being viewed as a 'sinner' in the temporal period, Shakespeare grants her sympathetic treatment. She displays same qualities as the other girls: devotion, loyalty and frankness.
language
Othello's idioms are another way of differentiating him, 'rude am i in my speech'
language is used to belittle Othello racially, viewing him as a product of his ethnicity rather than human. Emilia uses the singular form of pronoun 'thou' 'thee' which is sued when addressing children or people of lower class- 'thou dull moor, she loved thee cruel moor'. iago consistently refers to othello as 'the moor' during the rapid sequence of events in first scene, never once referring to his name.
Iago and 'locker room talk'- he speaks of women in a sexualised, demeaning and graphic manner. 'a black ram tupping your white ewe'
jealousy and xenophobia
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Brabantio is jealous towards Othello and his relationship with Desdemona, jealous that he has lost Desdemona's image of him as the man in her life
discrimination and racism has a significant effect on Othello's self image, creates a deep insecurity harmful to his relationship with Desdemona
religion
iago= bad angel. desdemona= good angel. both iago and desdemona portray the two consciousnesses, devil and angel, which control othello's actions. 'the white devil'. love for desdemona vs loyalty to iago
othello as adam and iago as satan. othello was tempted by evil due to satan/iago. 'arise black vengeance'.
psychoanalytical
othello's ego is defeated by his id- his jealousy and passion. in marxist terms, othello is a victim of false consciousness
Iago stresses the need for 'proof'. Freud suggests that the instinct for knowledge and drive for seeing are not necessarily separate. 'ocular proof' laments his 'knowledge'. arguably knowledge and seeing are different and simply what you make of what you see