OTHELLO

OTHELLO

1. "Let him do his spite."

   • Othello is a controlled and relaxed character who is polite and has a false sense of modesty.
     • Contrasts with the description given of him in the first scene.

2. "Most potent, grave and reverend signiors, my very noble and approved good masters"

   • During this speech Othello speaks in blank verse.
     • We are unable to see his poetic speech which won over Desdemona
     • This makes him more relatable to an audience, because his language reflects that of regular speech.

3. "Barbary horse", "jennets", "ram"

   • Iago uses animalistic imagery to describe Othello.
     • This gives us the impression that Othello is uneducated and uncultured.
     • This could be used to show that as a black man Othello would have been seen as less human than the other characters.

4. "An old black ram is tupping your white ewe!"

   • Othello is trashed by Iago, Roderigo and Brabantio in Act 1, Scene 1.
     • This allows the audience to see that Othello is not what the other character make him out to be.
     • Allows an Elizabethan audience who would have initially been skeptical of a black character to connect with him.
     • Gives an impression of him before he even enters.
   • Contrasts between black and white.
     • White suggest purity, innocence and hope.
     • Black suggests darkness and the devil.