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From the film with Laurence Fishburne, Irene Jacob, and Kenneth Branagh |
1. What is the basis of Othello and Desdemona's falling in love with each other? Given that their relationship is vulnerable to outside accusations of infidelity, can you see anything about the relationship that might render it a bit shaky from the start?
2. Desdemona begins the play as an assertive character who elopes with a foreigner and then stands up to her father in front of the entire (male) Senate; she ends the play unable to defend herself effectively from false charges, and seems to crumble when her husband assails her. She seems very naïve when declaring that she can't believe any woman would ever cheat on her husband. With her dying breath, she lies to protect the husband who has murdered her. Is she a consistent character?
3. Are Iago's lies believable? If so, what accounts for their believability? Does everyone trust and believe in Iago, or is Othello unusual in doing so? Is there any evidence to suggest one way or the other whether Iago has always been such a villain, or whether this is something new in his behavior?
4. What difference does it make to Othello's behavior that he is a career military man? What difference does it make that he is black? That he is an older man ("declined into the vale of years," as he puts it)? That he is a foreigner in Venice? That he has the habit of command (he is a general)?
5. Othello is known for extremely eloquent speech -- he is one of the most sonorous and beautiful speakers in Shakespeare. Why do you suppose he denies this? ("Rude am I in my speech," he claims.) What does his eloquence contribute to his character and to the plot?
6. Quite near the end of the play -- an emphatic position -- Emilia calls into question the very premises on which the play is built by suggesting that marital infidelity is no big deal. What is the effect of this on the play? How do you regard Emilia's protest against the double standard that makes marital infidelity less acceptable for women than for men? Is she meant to be a voice of sanity, or of depravity? Are there any class issues here?
Some on-line criticism of the play:
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/playcriticism.htm#Othello
Penguin Books' play summary and study questions:
http://cn.penguinclassics.com/shared/SharedFrame/0,1148,,00.html?id=49844_0