Thinking about 'Othello'

 

Here are 10 exercises on quotations in Othello. They are designed for pair-work 15-minute sessions in class, but work perfectly well for individuals. You need to know the play well, so these are for revision at a late stage of study. The purpose is to make your mind work hard: retrieving factual details, certainly, about the sequence of the play, individual quotations and so on, but more importantly know making you think and create connections, and have a debate with a partner.

You don’t need to write on the original sheet itself: just take a piece of paper and jot down your responses. When finished find the quotation in context from the text itself, and then fill in any gaps.

Othello - full play quotation revision

A revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act, is here. 

On this post you can see all 67 quotations together from all five Acts, below.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

Othello, Act 5 - quotation revision

The fifth in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

 

Othello, Act 4 - quotation revision

The fourth in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

 

Othello, Act 3 - quotation revision

The third in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

Othello, Act 2 - quotation revision

The second in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play. 

Othello, Act 1: quotation revision

 The first in a revision series using quotations from Othello, by Act.

Set the Quizlet in flashcard study mode, and click top right to ‘answer with definition’, and then try to recall the missing word. Click to find the answer and for some notes on the significance of the quotation.

Most importantly, think about how the quotation can be used, what it tells us about a character/theme, in what way it resonates elsewhere in the play.

 

  

 

 

Resources for 'Othello'

 Here are some resources for teachers and pupils of Othello:

• The Othello 2020 project from Red Bull Theater in New York was ‘a multi-part initiative of Red Bull Theater to provide an engaging and educational experience for all who are interested in Shakespeare’s Othello and and its relationship to the world in which we live today … [and] is seeking to deepen our exploration and understanding of the intersection of race and classical theater.’ Particularly recommended is a detailed exploration of Iago’s psychopathy by the actor Patrick Page.
• Patrick Huff has a fine Twitter thread here, drawing together some resources, and a YouTube playlist.
• INOTE has started English podcasts, including two on Othello (so far) here.
• An excellent talk by Arielle Battice-Wedderburn at the 2020 Team English conference: ‘Othello & historical ideas of blackness’ (her slides are here).
• The first podcast in Emma Smith’s Oxford University lecture series is on Othello, and of course the chapter on her book This is Shakespeare is essential reading (my notes on the Othello chapter).
• As usual, the British Library resources are worth looking at: articles, items from the collection (including the Cinthio source).
• The BBC’s Shakespeare Sessions has a full-length audio version, and discussions by Islam Issa (‘What it means to be a Moor’) and Hugh Quarshie (‘Looking for the Moor’: is the play racist?).
• A Folger Shakespeare discussion on ‘Othello and blackface’: there’s also a transcript.
• Ayanna Thompson in a Bloomsbury podcast on the play: she wrote the introduction for the revised Arden3 edition. This discussion has a particularly strong focus on race.

Wolfram/Alpha on Shakespeare

The Wolfram Alpha 'computational knowledge engine' has just taken on the complete works of Shakespeare, and here are some results from queries on the four great tragedies:

Hamlet: 

• 32 characters
• most words spoken: Hamlet (11,631 words, 39.1%), Claudius (4097, 13.8%), Polonius (2668, 9%)
• 20 scenes
• 29,700 words
• 15.32 words - average sentence length
• longest words: transformation, unproportion'd
• most frequent two-word phrase: my Lord

Macbeth:

• 29 characters
• most words spoken: Macbeth (5494 words, 31.8%), Lady Macbeth (1942, 11.3%), Malcolm (1530, 8.9%)
• 27 scenes
• 17,260 words
• 13.1 words - average sentence length
• longest word:voluptuousness
• most frequent two-word phrase: I have

Othello:

• 25 characters
• most words spoken: Iago (8445 words, 32.4%),  Othello (6256, 24%), Desdemona (2757, 10.6%)
• 15 scenes
• 26,078 words
• 13.18 words - average sentence length
• longest words: notwithstanding, disproportion'd, circumscription
• most frequent two-word phrase: I am

King Lear:

• 26 characters
• most words spoken:  King Lear (5625 words, 21.9%), Edgar (2875, 11.2%), Kent (2611, 10.2%) [the first woman to appear is Regan at 8th].
• 20 scenes
• 29,700 words
• 12.55 words - average sentence length
• longest word: superserviceable
• most frequent two-word phrase: my lord.