02 Thursday March 24

Jeffrey Burns 3/24/11 In today’s class we started Othello by William Shakespeare. Professor Maythur gave a brief overview of Shakespeare’s literary career. We learned that Shakespeare attained an education equivalent to a high school degree, and that over his lifetime he wrote 38 plays. Shakespeare organized all of his play’s dialogue into prose and poetry; we then discussed how the manner in which a character spoke often indicated social standing. For example, in Othello Iago speaks mostly in prose, while more high ranking characters like the Duke spoke in verse. Othello was the second play written by Shakespeare that took place in Venice. Shakespeare mostly wrote plays that took place in farther away lands, and rarely in England. The definition of Moor refers to an inhabitant of north Africa, and in Shakespearean society a Moor was on equal footing of the Turks, who are criticized throughout the play. Professor Maythur explained how Iago’s name is originally derived from a patron saint of Spain who was known as, “the great moor-killer,” and how this gives depth to Iago’s character. The first question asked the class to compare Iago’s description of Othello in Act 1 scene 1to Othello’s self-description in Act 1 Scene 3. Iago described Othello as a Barbary, a black ram, lascivious, a devil, and an extravagant and wheeling stranger. Overall we felt that Iago portrayed Othello as a Barbarian, a Sorcerer, bestial, lusty, and as an other. When looking at Othello’s self-description we were asked if Othello confirms any of what Iago claimed and if Othello revealed any flaws in his relationship with Desdemona. We claimed it reinforced the ideas of him being a barbarian as well as a sorcerer when Othello talks about his encounters with cannibals and men whose heads grow beneath their shoulders (A1S3L166-168). In relation to Desdemona and Othello’s relationship the class felt it to be weak, in that Desdemona loved Othello for what he gone through in his life, and maybe even pity, instead of personality traits (A1S3L193-194). We then discussed the differences between Othello and Desdemona that may cause flaws in their relationship. It included: age (experience), race, education, social standing, and profession. We then discussed the reasons Iago has for hating Othello. The first was that he was bitter that Othello placed Cassio a less experienced officer as his superior. Another was a suspicion Iago has that Othello is sleeping with his wife. The final reason was that Iago is racist and is bitter that a black man is his superior. We then discussed whether Iago was justified in his actions or is just pure evil. Some claimed that he was justified to a certain point, but lost his sense of self in his drive for revenge, evident through his destruction of not only Othello’s life, but many others. Others stated that Iago has an inferiority complex resultant from a traumatic childhood experience and that this is to blame for Iago’s loss of self-control. Another psychoanalytical approach people took was Iago has an Oedipus-complex, Othello being his, “father,” through his authority as his general, and that Iago wished to kill Othello and take his bed with Desdemona. Professor Maythur ended class by telling us to take notice of Iago in how he debases all of the other characters, as well as how he sexualizes them.

Class summary Essay: Thursday, March 24, 2011
Megan Honour We began today’s class talking about William Shakespeare and Othello. Shakespeare was born in 1564 and worked as a famous playwright until his death in 1616. Shakespeare’s plays were divided into Acts and Scenes that were designated by line numbers. Dialogue between characters in the play is either poetry or prose; typically the nobles speak through poetry and the commoners speak in prose. His plays are written in iambic pentameter with blank verse instead of rhyming verse. Othello is a play written by Shakespeare that takes place in Venice, Turkey, and Cyprus. Othello is considered a Moor, which is a term applied to any inhabitant of Northern Africa. Moors are considered barbaric and violent. In class we came up with a list of terms that Iago and Roderigo refer to Othello as and some of them were… -Barbary horse -Old black ram -Lascivious -Devil -Extravagant and wheeling stranger -Thief We also looked at the historical context of Iago’s and Roderigo’s names. Iago’s name is associated with the patron saint of Spain (Santiago “Matamoros”) or Moor killer, which also represents Christian resistance to Islam. Roderigo’s name is associated with Don Roderigo “El Cid” or “The Challenger”, who was a legendary fighter against the Moors. These names provide interesting context because of Iago’s and Roderigo’s motives in the book. They seem to be on Othello’s side since they are under his control but really they have ulterior motives. We were asked in class to write about whether or not we Othello and Desdemona confirmed or denied the stereotypes they were portrayed as - Othello as bestial, sexualized, magician, and Desdemona as chaste and obedient. We came to the conclusion that they defied these stereotypes. Othello claims that he did not have bad intentions about his relationship with Desdemona and that she showed an interest in him first. This also defies the stereotype held about Desdemona, because she was going after Othello on her own behind her family’s back. The second question we were asked was what potential problems we could spot in their relationship and whether we thought their relationship was good or bad. We agreed that there were potential problems in their relationship because of the differences in class and race. They love each other passionately, but society and its views would eventually tear them apart, especially because they are both in such high positions. Othello and Desdemona are divided by…. -Age experience -Race -Education -Social Status -Profession We had a class discussion about whether or not Iago was justified in his plotting against Othello or if he is just pure evil; and also does he have any ulterior motives for his resentment of Cassio, Othello, and Desdemona? We also had to state what a psychoanalytic critic might say about Iago’s behavior. Iago believes Othello slept with his wife and therefore is not justified in his actions because he doesn’t know for sure. He is also bitter because Othello has a higher rank and is a Moor. Iago is just looking for a reason to act on his anger. Iago causes drama and is then able to sit back and watch without being in the middle of it. He appears to be the good guy, but he is really the instigator. A psychoanalytic critic might say he has an inferiority complex.