Be sure to read Act 1 of Othello for Monday's class, and as always, answer TWO of the following questions, or offer a much fuller reading of ONE.
Q1: Iago is the consummate actor, always playing different roles for different people. This is most visible in his language, since he switches from poetry to prose several times in the act (though he mostly speaks verse). When does he switch into prose and why? How might it help him act a specific role?
Q2: In Act 1, scene 3, Brabantio (Desdemona's father) accuses Othello of using witchcraft and pagan charms to make his daughter fall in love with him. This plays into racial stereotypes of moors and Muslims at the time, as many theatrical Africans or moors were indeed witches and conjurers. How does he refute these charges to the court (and Shakespeare's audience)? In what language?
Q3: Though Iago delights in playing people against each other for the sheer joy of doing it (or so it seems), does he ever give the audience an explanation for why he betrays Othello? Are these reasons plausible, or do you feel he might be lying to us and he's lying to Roderigo and Othello?
Q4: How might the language of Othello and much of its imagery, metaphors, etc., conjure up memories of the later Sonnets? How could we argue that Othello is a play that he wrote as he wrote Sonnets such as 130, 138, 144, and many others?
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