Othello Act 4 Lesson one – 4.1

Starter activity 1. You art false as hell 2. Look grim as hell 3. O thou weed 4. Was this fair paper ….Made to write “whore” upon 5. O thou public commoner 6. Impudent strumpet! 7. Are you not a strumpet 8. What not a whore? 9. I took you for that cunning whore of Venice 10. We have done our course.

Structure of a tragedy : Act 4 – falling action Othello made the pact with Iago at the end of Act 3; in Act 4 Othello’s harmartia (jealousy) becomes increasingly evident. Verbal violence turns physical ‘[He strikes her]’ 4.1 231 in front of Lodovico (‘My lord this this would not be believed in Venice’) Sense of claustrophobia is heightened by setting . 4.1 is the eavesdropping scene; 4.2 where Emilia and Desdemona confide in each other, takes place in ‘a separate room in the castle’; 4.3 is in Desdemona’s bed chamber where Othello has sent her. Feminist reading of the play – scene 3 historically is often cut (including first performance) . This is the scene where Shakespeare gives both women a voice to present marriage through female eyes. Can be considered progressive and atypical of contemporary drama (marriage seen from male perspective)

Activity 1 – 4.1 Othello’s seizure/breakdown Read Othello and Iago’s parts lines 35- 45. He is responding to the news that Cassio has been bragging about sleeping with Desdemona. After your performance, discuss: How Would a contemporary audience view Othello’s ‘trance’? Would a modern audience respond in the same way? What metaphor is used by Iago and what does it tell us about him?

Activity 2 Act 4.1 ‘Othello’s reaction to Cassio’s ‘confession’ Read Othello and Iago’s parts lines 188- 200. Othello thinks he has just heard Cassio admitting his affair with Desdemona. After your performance, discuss: How will he murder Desdemona? Significance? Why does he think he is justified? Most frightening line of speech from Othello?

Activity 3 Act 4 Scene 1 : Othello’s public attack Read 228-239 – Othello strikes Desdemona. How is this significant in the play? Think about how it contrasts earlier acts and prepares us for Act 5.

SQI practice – how does Shakespeare present Othello’s jealousy in 4. 1 SQI practice – how does Shakespeare present Othello’s jealousy in 4.1 ? Statement + Quote + inference + cross-reference + critical quote 1. Shakespeare presents Othello’s jealousy as largely the product of Iago’s villainy shown through Iago’s imagery in Act 4 scene 1 … + medicine imagery and aside to audience/dramatic irony (42/3) (echoes Iago’s earlier poison imagery ‘I’ll pour this pestilence in his ear’ (2.3.323) poison is his cure / Iago’s perverse morality) . Villainy is also shown through Iago’s stage craft as stage manager directing Othello (lines 72/ 90) (Bradley, characters are ‘mere puppets in his hands’) 2. Shakespeare presents Othello’s jealousy in Act 4 as fulfilling contemporary racial expectations (irrational/ bloodthirsty/bestial) He falls in a trance (42) + he foams at mouth (52) + I’ll chop her into messes’(188) ( in contrast to Act 1 where he was shown as composed and rationale ‘Keep up your bright swords’; a post-colonial reading of the play would find this character development disappointing) (Belsey Othello’s characterisation is a ‘product of a society already fascinated by travellers' tales of distant cultures’

Homework: (60 minutes due next lesson) Finish your SQI from the lesson. Make notes on the three extracts we performed in the lesson – key quotes/inference. Both SQIs on slide 6 show a more sympathetic reading of Othello’s jealousy in Act 4. Write an SQI showing a feminist reading of Othello’s jealousy in Act 4 that attacks him for his behaviour - choose quotes which you think reveal his cruelty/ violence. Try to include a range of A02 ( how does his language alter? What stage directions reveal this? Imagery? Repetition? Or – how does Desdemona / Lodovico respond – how is our pity evoked for her?). Try to cross-reference and also assimilate a critical viewpoint. Possible critical quotes – or find your own (more fun/independent!): Jardine: “All three are wrongfully accused of sexual misdemeanour in the course of the play” Accusations about sexual promiscuity were the “Most readily available form of assault on a woman’s reputation” Cox: “A man’s honour was inseparable from his wife’s behaviour”

Looking ahead: Next lesson: 4.2/3 What is the function of Emilia? What do these scenes teach us about what it is to be a wife? Next lesson’s homework: Read Act 5 and makes notes on key quotes in 5.2 for each of the following characters: Desdemona / Emilia / Othello / Iago. For the rest of this term, each week: one lesson poetry / one lesson Othello. Essays: we will write an essay on jealousy in Othello plus an essay on one of the poems we are yet to study. ( Poetry mock DIT work to be handed in – week one). Easter & Term 5 : Finish any remaining poems and revision.