Agent of change ‐A person or spirit that produces a significant change in a situation. Iago is the main agent of change in Othello. Without him the plot would not proceed to its tragic conclusion.
Alliteration‐ A poetic technique often used by Shakespeare where two or more words beginning with the same consonant sound appear close to each other within a line or series of lines. It is used to make the poetry sound more impressive or beautiful, or to emphasise a particular feeling or idea.
Antihero‐A character who dominates the play because of his evil actions rather than the noble qualities which are usually associated with a hero. Shakespeare created some wonderful antiheroes; in Othello, Iago could be seen as one. He is given many of the play’s most impressive soliloquies and the question of why he behaves as he does is often seen as the most interesting aspect of the play.
Assonance ‐A literary technique in which words containing the same or very similar vowel sounds are placed close together. This can produce a strong, musical effect and is one of the ways in which the sound of Shakespeare’s poetry helps to convey particular ideas or feelings.
Catastrophe‐ A term for the final scene in a classic tragedy in which, either as a result of the workings of fate or as a consequence of a flaw in the hero’s or heroine’s personality, terrible disasters occur. Usually, this involves the deaths of all or nearly all the main characters. In Othello, Cassio and Iago are the only survivors out of the major characters.
Climax‐ A key moment in the plot, when the tensions which have been set up and developed throughout the middle part of the play are resolved. In a tragedy, the climax is also known as the ‘Catastrophe’.
Comedy‐A light, amusing style of drama that usually has a happy ending. Shakespeare usually added some comic scenes and characters to his tragedies in order to provide some ‘light relief’ and to vary the tone. Othello is unusual because there are very few comic moments. The most famous comic scene in the play occurs at the beginning of Act 3, Scene 1, where the Clown makes fun of a band of musicians who are playing outside tragedy Othello’s lodgings.
Contrast‐ Shakespeare often used contrasts to draw the audience’s attention to particular ideas or qualities within his characters. For example, in tragedy, there are many contrasting images of black and white, heaven and hell, light and darkness, and so on. Characters are also contrasted with each other; as an example, Desdemona and Iago represent opposing good and evil influences on Othello.
Dramatic irony ‐ A dramatic technique where the audience possesses important information which is not known by the characters on stage. This often creates humour or powerful tension, as we see the characters acting in a way which we know is unwise, or saying things which we know to be mistaken. Othello is full of dramatic irony, often caused by Iago’s ability to deceive the other characters.
Dramatic tension‐ A important feature of a dramatic plot. In the first act, problems or questions are introduced, setting up suspense. This is then developed during the central acts of the play, and eventually resolved at the play’s climax. The plot tension keeps the audience interested and intrigued as they wonder what will happen next and how exactly the various tensions will be resolved.
Iambic pentameter‐This is the type of unrhymed verse that Shakespeare generally wrote in. It was an extremely popular form of verse in Elizabethan England. It consists of five metrical 'feet' .These are arranged in the following pattern of syllables: either, short/ long/ short/ long/ short; or unstressed/ stressed/ unstressed/ stressed/ unstressed.
Irony ‐ A kind of humour resulting from the fact that the reader or audience knows that the ‘real’ meaning of a statement may not be the same as its literal meaning. In Othello, it is ironic that almost all the other characters call Iago ‘honest Iago’, when the audience knows from the very first scene that he is dishonest and proud of it!
Machiavelli ‐ An Italian statesman and political theorist who wrote about statecraft during Shakespeare’s lifetime. His ideas were widely discussed throughout Europe, and often appear in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. He was interested in the idea that ‘the end justifies the means’. In other words, the effective use of power may have to involve unethical behaviour in order to achieve a desired result. In Othello, Iago is an example of a Machiavellian antihero. He will do anything in order to achieve his ends.
Metaphor‐ A comparison which is implicit or indirect rather than explicit. Two ideas or images are compared by using language appropriate to both of them within the same statement or line(s) of poetry. The effect is often complex and thought‐provoking.
Oxymoron‐A figure of speech in which contradictory terms are brought together in what is at first sight an impossible combination — such as ‘living death’.
Plot ‐The order in which a play’s storyline unfolds. Shakespeare often used existing stories for his plays, but he made his own decisions about the order in which the story would be revealed and sometimes changed the events in the story, too.
For instance, in Othello, he used a basic storyline written by an Italian writer, Cinthio, but he made many alterations to the plot and completely changed both the beginning and the ending, making the story much more powerful and dramatic.
Protagonist‐ A character (usually the hero or heroine) who is important as an agent of change, influencing the events through which the plot unfolds.
Pun ‐ A kind of joke which relies on a double meaning. A word or phrase has one obvious meaning, but the reader or audience is also aware of a second meaning, which is often rude or funny. We see examples when reading extract from the Tame of The Shrew.
Reliable and unreliable witnesses ‐ A playwright often presents a character through the words and opinions of others. This is made more complex and interesting because of the fact that the audience will also have to work out whether these
‘witnesses’ are reliable or unreliable — in other words, can we trust what they have to say, or should we immediately suspect that the opposite is true? Shakespeare often used this technique to introduce major characters. In Othello, both Othello himself and Desdemona are introduced in this way. This creates intense curiosity as to their ‘real’ characteristics and encourages the audience to focus carefully on their first appearances on the stage.
Representation ‐ The way in which an idea or a particular group of people are presented. For instance, in Othello
Shakespeare offers interesting representations of women through the range of female characters. Attitudes towards race in Shakespeare’s time are also explored through the representation of a black hero and the ways in which he is perceived and treated by the Venetians.
Rhyming couplet ‐Two consecutive lines which rhyme. These are often used at the end of a speech to sum up an idea or series of ideas. Rhyming couplets can also suggest witty humour or a trivial attitude.
Simile‐A comparison between two ideas or images which is made explicit, often by using the words ‘like’ or ‘as ’.
Soliloquy ‐ A speech in which a character shares his or her inner thoughts with the audience, as if thinking aloud. Even if there are other characters on the stage, the audience is encouraged to believe that they cannot hear what is being said in the soliloquy.
Tragedy‐ A drama in which the protagonist is in conflict with fate or a superior force, leading to an unhappy or disastrous conclusion. Often, a flaw in the protagonist’s character brings about his or her downfall. In Othello, his tendency to experience jealousy makes the hero vulnerable to the forces of disorder represented by Iago .
Tragic flaw‐A weakness within the character of the hero or heroine of a tragedy, which eventually leads to his or her downfall. In Greek tragedy, fate played the biggest part in bringing tragedy upon the characters. Shakespeare developed a more psychological version, in which the characters’ actions and personalities interacted with aspects of earthly reality.
Othello’s tragic flaw could be said to be his jealousy.
Tragic hero ‐The main protagonist in a tragedy. Othello is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragic heroes.
Unities‐ In Greek tragedy, the intensity of the drama was heightened through observing the ‘unities’ of time and place.
This meant that the action had to occur within one location or setting, and within a short space of time, often one day.
Although Shakespeare did not observe the unities strictly, he often confined the action of his tragedies to quite a considerable extent in order to create a feeling of claustrophobia and inevitability. In Othello, most of the action takes place in Cyprus and the final scenes are focused around Othello’s lodgings in the citadel. This helps to create a
claustrophobic atmosphere in which tragedy seems more and more inevitable. Shakespeare also contracts time during the play’s middle section, making the rise of Othello’s jealousy seem to occur at a terrifying pace.
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