Othello Thematic Presentation Using Primary and Secondary Sources

Othello Thematic Presentation Using Primary and Secondary Sources

Read “Assignment: Othello Presentation” below and consult the rubric I posted beneath it. I have posted FIVE university-level readings for you to consult while putting together your presentation. Per the assignment instructions, you must USE and QUOTE at least one of these five journal articles in your presentation, so you’ll need to read them carefully and look for ways in which they support your analysis of major thematic topics in Othello.

Instructions:

As a summative assignment for our study of the play, you will become an expert on a particular topic and will craft an individual presentation on that topic. You will explore topics present in the play and how characters act and react in certain situations. In addition, you will discuss how these same themes are evident in today’s society. Please read through the attached rubric carefully. 

Prepare for the discussion by:

1. Choose a topic from the list below and prepare an independent answer/verbal presentation for that topic. NOTE: You are not working with other students to prepare a presentation; each student will have an individual, unique response, so do not collaborate. Your answer must be AT MAXIMUM 8 minutes in length but it CANNOT be under 5 minutes. 
2. Taking notes from the play about these topics as we watch/read.
3. Thinking about and jotting down notes about the presence of your topic beyond the scope of the text. Where have you seen this issue arise in other works of literature? In classes you’ve taken? In the news?
4. Being thoroughly familiar with the text’s characters, conflict, language, and other elements.
5. Thinking about and researching people, events, or studies (historical or contemporary), which remind you of these characters and making connections between them.
6. Read the provided academic journals and, with reference to at least one chosen article, incorporate an argument presented in the journal in your presentation. Steps 6 and 7 are considered your secondary source research.
7. Submit your file to the Dropbox AND POST YOUR FILE TO THE DISCUSSION BOARD. You are required to listen to AT LEAST one presentation and write a written response to the presenter’s ideas as well as ask them a question about anything they’ve said in their presentation for clarity or to move the arguments along. Feel free to listen to any student’s presentation – not just someone who presented on the same topic. 

Othello Panel Discussion Topics

Apply each topic to the characters, plot, conflict, and/or language in Othello and to life in general (history, contemporary culture, psychology, literature, etc) as per the instructions and the rubric. Beside the topics, there are thesis statements and questions you may consider to launch your investigation. 

1. Morality: There is a fine line between good and evil, and morality is a rather grey area. Is Iago solely evil? Is Othello wholly a victim? Is Desdemona the epitome of goodness? How does one assess Bianca’s conduct or even Emilia’s? Does Shakespeare suggest that good is rewarded and evil is punished? Far from being an ambiguously motivated, Shakespeare’s consummate villain, Iago, bears affinities to the Christian dark angel, a merciless seducer of souls driven by a cosmological desire for revenge for being cast out of heaven. If so, then how do we read the other characters in terms of biblical allegory? 
2. Race: Othello is one of the first black heroes in English literature. A military general, he has risen to a position of power and influence. At the same time, however, his status as a black-skinned foreigner in Venice marks him as an outsider and exposes him to overt racism. In Othello, Shakespeare creates a hero who is not a racist stereotype. Despite this, Shakespeare ultimately allows Othello to succumb to the subtle racism that surrounds him. Are we to read Othello as a victimized black man? Are we to read him as a black man who inevitably succumbs to violence and aggression? Consider: Othello views his own racial identity as undesirable, and it is this lack of confidence in himself that allows Iago to persuade him that Desdemona is cheating on him. 

• Representations of Women: Consider the importance of the three female characters in the play, and explore the way societal limitations are imposed on their freedom to act. Consider the following: The real tragedy for Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca is that their marital and emotional bonds to their male partners take precedence over their common cause as women. That said, marriage is a bleak endeavour and is tantamount to death. They obey their spouses rather than act with agency to support and protect one another. To what degree do the women in this text conform to the seventeenth-century European notion that women should be ‘silent, chaste, and obedient’? What might their behaviour suggest about Shakespeare’s attitude towards women? To what extent do the women in the play exercise power? 

• Identity: In Othello, Shakespeare explores factors that play an important role in the formations of one’s identity – race, gender, social status, family relationships, military service, etc. Othello is also concerned with how an individual’s sense of identity (which can break down and be manipulated by others) shapes one’s actions. Othello’s rage at Desdemona’s infidelity has nothing to do with his love for her; rather, for him, it signals the destruction of his own identity as a successful and loved man. In Othello, a man’s reputation seems to hinge on military duty and public behaviour, while a woman’s identity often hinges on her sexual reputation. Iago’s true identity is ultimately unknowable – for the play’s characters as well as the audience. Identity is a performance and is mutable depending on one’s audience. To what extent does one of the play’s most famous lines, “I am not what I am” apply to other characters in the play besides Iago, and what is Shakespeare saying about identity then? 

• Masculinity and Power: Since the play’s protagonist is a military general, war is always hovering in the background in Othello. But the real battleground of the play, it turns out, is the mind. Many critics read Othelloas an extended war allegory; it is possible to see Iago’s machinations as the strategic planning of a General, individual victories as minor battles, and the three resulting deaths the casualties of psychological combat. The play also dwells on the relationship between masculine identity, war, and sexuality. Othello is uncomfortable with being a lover, and this makes it easier for Iago to sway him from being gentle and loving to being a furious killer. 

• Emotions: Othello is the most famous literary work that focuses on the dangers of “the green-eyed monster,” jealousy. The play is a study of how jealousy can be fueled by mere circumstantial evidence and can destroy lives. Some may suggest that jealousy is inherently unreasonable, as it is founded on the psychological issues of the jealous person, not on the behaviour of the one who prompts the jealous feelings. Is jealousy portrayed as intrinsically unreasonable? Is there a kind of jealousy that is reasonable, or does the play suggest that all jealousy tends to “mock” the person who is jealous? Iago is supposed to have a cause, some concrete event or insult that inspires a lasting rage. But in Othello, the play’s villain is motivated by a hatred that seems to elude any reasonable definition. Iago may be jealous, but does jealousy equal hatred? What does Iago have against Desdemona when she has nothing to do with his military success and his “need” for revenge? What kind of relationship might this depict between love and hate? Are they polar opposites, or two shades of the same color? 

Secondary Source, University-level Readings: Use these to support your arguments!

Comedy article

Homosexuality article

Music article

Race article

“Made to Write ‘Whore’ Upon” article