Othello

the green-eyed monster . . . motiveless malignity . . . the sibyl's curse . . .the Turkish fleet . . . a secret marriage . . . angry father . . . put out the light . . . to die upon a kiss

• If you need help following the play, try reading this summary of Othello and see if it helps you understand Shakespeare's text.
  
• For some critical commentary on the play, click here.
  
• For information about film versions, check out the Internet Movie Data Base. The bottom of that page should link to such related titles as All Night Long; another analogue is Zefferelli's film of Verdi's Otello.
  
• There is a set of electronic exercise below; another set is on Christy Desmet's website.

To open an excellent search engine, press here.

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This set of exercises, by Fran Teague, is intended for teachers.

Who's the Spider? This one is an easy beginning. Ask students to type the word "web" and enter it. They'll find it's used twice in Othello. Ask them to read enough of both the passages in the play that they're sure they understand how the word's being used in both cases. Then ask them why "web" means both a spider's web (metaphor for Iago's entrapment of other characters) and a handkerchief (the way he entraps Othello and Desdemona).

Other Animals: Ask them to find all references to goats, rams, and monkeys. Who begins talking about such animals? Does any character seem to echo or repeat what another says? What does the animal imagery refer to? Is it appropriate?

Ask student to find every place "black" and "moor" occur (easiest to do when your search engine includes wildcards: e.g., black* moor* in WordCruncher) As the students look at the passages, ask them to consider not simply what the passages mean, but how the term is used (matter of fact? insulting? praising?) to characterize Othello. If they have WordCruncher, they are next to press the F4 key and choose number 1. That will show them a list of frequencies. If they use the shift key and the cursor keys, they can move the light bar in the middle column down to Othello and see where the words occur in that play. Ask them to account for the distribution of the terms, i.e., where do most of the references to Othello's race occur? Why might they occur in one part of the play (e.g., exposition) and not in another (the point's been made).

Status of Women in Othello: The process is much the same as in the previous question; it's easier to carry out this exercise with a wild card feature and easiest of all with access to WordCruncher. Ask students to find all variants of the words "whore" and "strumpet." If possible, they should note where the words occur in the play. Ask them to account for the distribution of the terms (i.e., why isn't any woman called a whore or a strumpet until after 3.3? what happens in the play that radically alters attitudes toward women?). Next ask them to look at individual uses of the word. Specifically, which women are called whore and strumpet? Which women are not?

Magic and Monsters: Begin with the grotesque. Ask students to locate all uses of the following: monster, monstrous, beast (monsters, montrously, beasts) and to tell you (1) who uses such terms to describe human love, and (2) what related emotion is said to be a monster. Next move to the supernatural. Have them enter these terms: magic conjure (and its variations). What characters associate love with enchantment? Is it a positive or negative association, or does it alter during the play? (This topic is worth an entire class period, if you have the patience to work through the shifts in meaning with the class.)

Devil or Vice: Some Shakespeareans argue that Iago is the Devil--and others argue that he's a Vice figure. If you're interested in the distinction, check the introduction to a good edition (like the Arden) for more information. In any case, having students looks up forms of devil and vice that are used as epithets or names is interesting. Ask the students to enter devil, vice, and their variants. Ask students to explain which character is talking about the devil or vice and what or who is associated with the devil or vice. When they put all their information together, some useful patterns should emerge. If the search engine you're using will allow you to search the entire body of Shakespeare's works, you might extend this search profitably to other plays.

The Handkerchief. Ask students to find everyplace in the play where the handkerchief (sometimes called a napkin) is mentioned. Then ask them to look for inconsistencies. For example, who gave the handkerchief to Othello's mother: a sibyl or his father? Who loses the handkerchief: Othello or Desdemona? Who, besides Othello, becomes "jealious" because of the handkerchief? Finally, ask students to explain what the handkerchief symbolizes to Desdemona, to Othello, to Bianca, and so on. Is there any way to reconcile these various meanings? Is the handkerchief truly magic?

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