List of essay plans, including points, analysis and context. Produced by a student who achieved an A* in the Pearson Edexcel English Literature A-level.
OTHELLO- CHARACTER ESSAY
PLANS
ESSAY: PORTRAYAL OF OTHELLO
POINTS
Othello suffers at the racial prejudice of others
Othello’s misogyny towards Desdemona
Othello’s selfish prioritization of pride
CRITICAL QUOTES
Leavis- ‘no tragic self-discovery
‘grandeur for the sake of it’
Loomba- ‘a victim of racist views so becomes an agent of misogynistic ones’
‘a nightmare of racial hatred’
Katsan- ‘A fall from prosperity to wretchedness
QUOTES
‘A black ram is topping your white yew’/ ‘lascivious moor’ AO2: Use of animalistic,
bestial imagery and sibilance shows prejudice towards black people, assuming
them to be violent and base
‘practiced on her with charms-/ abused her youth with drugs or minerals’ AO2: Use of
verbs ‘practiced’ and ‘abused’ forces determined opinion onto Othello.
AO3: Fear of the ‘other’ within Jacobian society, prevalent beliefs in witchcraft and
sorcery
‘Haply, for I am black’ AO2:Adverb ‘haply’ shows how Othello blames
Desdemona’s apparent betrayal on his skin colour- shows how he is effected by
prejudice
‘chuck’/ ‘Venetian whore that married with Othello’ AO2: Shift from pleasant
vocatives to expletive insult, with use of the third person removal
‘He strikes her’ AO2: Stage direction is shocking
‘Thou young and rose lipped Cherubin! Ay- there look as grim as hell’- AO2: Contrast of
heavenly imagery of cherubin and simile ‘grim as hell’ which links Desdemona
to the devil
AO3: Consideration of Venetian women as being sexual; Othello diminishes Desdemona
from a woman of noble background to a simple courtesan. Angel of the house’
‘My parts, my title and my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly’AO2: Accumulation of
personal pronoun- self assured
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