Othello Act 1-3

Honors English 10

Shakespearean Tragedy

a story of exceptional calamity, leading to the death of a man of high estate.

Tragic Dilema

Often included in shakespearean tragideies; when those with good intentions who deceive themselves into believing that noble ideals justify any means used no matter how violent.

Tragic Hero

A tragic hero has the potential for greatness, but is doomed to fail. He is trapped in a situation where he cannot win.

He possesses a tragic flaw and this causes his fall from greatness. Even though he is a fallen hero, he still wins a moral victory, and his spirit lives on.

Notes:

• posses tragic flaw, leading to his fall

• still wins a moral victory with his spirt living on

Characteristics of a Shakespearean Tragedy

• death of the hero

• expectational calamity and suffering

• always unexpected tragedies unexpected

• contrasted with previous happiness and/or glory

• Includes a catastrophe of monumental proportions

• calamities of tragedy proceed mainly from actions

• the tragic heros are responsible for their own falls

• Invokes pity or fear within the audience

Tragic Heros Are…

• Born into nobility; men of rank

• Are exceptional human beings – NOT ordinary

• Responsible for their own fate

• Endowed with a tragic flaw

• Doomed to make a serious error in judgment

Drama

A story written to be performed by actors; script is made up of dialogue and stage directions.

Exposition

Introduction that sets the tone; introduces the characters, setting, and main conflict

Rising Action

Complication of the conflict building to the climax

Climax

Moment when the fortunes of the main characters peak

Falling Action

shows forces acting against the main characters

Resolution/ Catastrophe

Where the deaths of the main characters occur and loose ends are tied up

Soliloquy

A speech in which a character speaks thoughts aloud, alone on stage

Monologue

A long, uninterrupted speech given by one character in the presence of others

Aside

A whisper made by one character that only the audience or another character is supposed to hear

Dramatic Foil

A character whose qualities contrast with another characters to highlight the difference in their personalities

Comic Relief

The inclusion of humorous scenes in a serious drama to relieve emotional intensity

Simile

A comparison between two things using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two things

Dramatic Irony

When words or actions of the character(s) of a work of literature have a different meaning for the reader than they do for the other characters. This is the result of the reader having knowledge or information that the other characters do not have.

Situational Irony

The contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens

Verbal Irony

is the use of language to express opposite of its literal meaning

Paradox

A contradictory statement that appears to be true

Personification

Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects

Pun

a play on words based on different meanings of words that sound alike

Foreshadowing

when an author gives hints of clues of what is to come

Allusion

a reference to a well- known piece of art, literature, music, mythology etc. (something the author expects the reader to recognize.)

Machiavellian Morality

What Iago represents in the play;

It comes from Renaissance philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli, whose writings sometimes advocated amoral methods of statesmanship.

The Machiavel is a character who practices evil for its own sake as for any apparent motive. “The end justifies the means.”

Moor

what Othello is in the play;

born of royal blood, who has converted to Christianity and entered the services of the free city of Venice.

The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of Morocco, western Algeria, Western Sahara, Mauritania, the Iberian Peninsula, Septimania, Sicily and Malta.

Other terms to know for the play:

Venice and its dependent territories were famed throughout Europe as a “free state,” where men could profess what beliefs they wished in safety from persecution.

For Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Venice epitomized the dangers of Italy. It was thought to be exotic, corrupt, and dangerous, as well as beautiful and cultured.

By Shakespeare’s day, the Italian Renaissance had been flourishing for two centuries. Italy’s independent city- states not only housed treasures or art, but also ruling families whose rise to power was strewn with tales of violence, intrigue, and murder.