Reading Questions for Othello: The conflict in this play is primarily between Iago (the villain) and Othello (the hero), although through most of it, Othello thinks Iago is on his side. What happens, then, is that in a way the conflict translates into Othello's better nature against the worse nature that Iago brings out in him. The play tells us something about ourselves: ways we can be manipulated, ways we are vulnerable, causes for misunderstanding/violence and the destruction of what we highly value.

Journals- To get full credit, a journal must answer the questions below and include evidence.

Act 1 (all of these concern "exposition"):

Tuesday (Sept. 23)--Scene 1. Journal due on these three questions (listed also on the "Test Study Sheet")

1. What of importance has happened shortly before the play opens (the inciting incident)?

2. What is the relationship between Othello and Iago?

3. What significant things do we find out from Iago about his character and intentions?

Tuesday (Sept. 30)-- Finish Act I: no journal due

4. In Scene 2, does what Iago says and does support what we found out about his character and intentions in Scene 1 (and if so, how?)

5. What lines explain why Othello married Desdemona (and what do they mean)?

6. What evidence is there as to whether this society is or is not racist (Brabantio, the senators, and the Duke may be taken as the upper class of the society).

Act 2- Journal due (answer #1, including the lines/pages where you find evidence for the second motive; explain what the evidence is for the second motive and why you interpret it as you do) (One motive is found in Act I, the other in Act II.)

1. Iago gives two different motives for his actions against Othello. What are they?

2. What support is there for either of these motives?

3. Iago does two things to manipulate Cassio into trouble-- what are they? (and why they would be hard for Cassio to see as trouble-making?)

4. Find the speech where Iago gives his view of women and his view of human nature. Relate these views to what he says in the joking scene (waiting for the arrival of the ships).

Act 3- Journal due (answer #1 OR #2)

1. What does Iago do at first to stimulate Othello's jealousy (and why it is so clever)? Give three examples of phrasing or words and then explain why they are so clever.

2. There's a speech on reputation in 2.3 and another in 3.3 (Iago speaking both times). What point is made about reputation in each speech? Explain why these points are not consistent.

3. Even the way Othello talks changes as Iago's poison operates on him. What lines show this and how?

4. In what sense are Othello and Desdemona at cross-purposes about the handkerchief? -- get at why she lies vs. why he thinks she lies.

Act 4- Whether or not there is a journal due will be announced in class

1.How does Othello's language (his characteristic way of speaking) change in Act 4? (Look at the speech ll.34-45, p. 291, for instance). Or consider how Othello's speech in the first column, p. 293, reflects his state of mind.

2. In Scene 2, Othello treats Desdemona as if she is a prostitute (and Emilia is the madam). In the next scene, find a passage comparing Emilia's view of men with Desdemona's. What are the two contrasting views and how do they fit the two characters? (Look, also, at p. 289.) How do these two views "make sense"?

3. How does Shakespeare encourage the audience to continue caring about and respecting Othello while he is acting so badly and so foolishly? Does he succeed with you?

4. Iago's plans threaten to unravel toward the end of Act IV. What is going on that threatens his plans? How does he capitalize on this?

Act 5 (journal due answering the following 3 questions):

1. Look closely at the soliloquy on p. 300 (ll. 9-22). Why does Iago not care whether Roderigo kills Cassio or vice versa? What line says why he hates Cassio and possibly why he hates Othello- and what does it mean?

2. What lines show that Emilia has never suspected her husband- and why hasn't she?

3. Examine Othello's last speech to see what it indicates about the way he sees himself and how he wants to be remembered. What would he be doing during this speech?

Paraphrase of 1.1.39-51

Don't worry about that! I follow Othello to accomplish my own ends.

We cannot all give the orders, and all people who give

orders don't receive true service.

Many dutiful followers who bow and say yes

all the time and seem to enjoy being "slaves"

live out their service getting nothing but

bare necessities in return for all their work

and at the end, when they're old, are thrown

out to die (tossed on the ash heap).

Such honest fools should be whipped.

Others just look like true servants. They keep

to their own self-interests while looking like

they serve their superiors, and therefore

do well for themselves. In lining their own pockets,

they pay their respects where they belong--to themselves.

These self-interested types are the ones with "soul",

not the honest idiots.

["knaves" and "asses," when "translated," don't mean as much!

Possible Group Work on Othello: Each group would prepare one question from Act III and one from Act IV.) Other possibilities would be to prepare a dramatic reading (with stage actions) of pp. 282-3 or the handkerchief scene in Act IV (where Iago questions Cassio while Othello looks on from hiding).

1. Compare the reputation speech in this act (p.283) with that in the preceding act. Are they both true? Both false? Explain. How do they both relate to Iago?

3. What points does Iago insert in the conversation as seeds (reasons) that fight with Othello's instinct to trust Desdemona? Which ones take hold, judging by the kind of things Othello says a little later (reasons that have sunk in as possible if not probable)?

4. Find the lines concerning the handkerchief: what it means to Desdemona, what it means to Othello, and how it will be used by Iago to achieve his purpose. What is Othello's purpose in the long handkerchief speech on p. 288? What effect does it have on Desdemona (the effect he wants or an effect that is more toward Iago's purpose)? How is the handkerchief an appropriate symbol?