Love Through the Ages: Othello.
WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
What is a tragedy in drama?
What did you learn about the source material?
Stretch: What can you say about the title ‘Othello’?
How might it connect to the titles of other
Shakespearean plays?
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Love Through the Ages: Othello.
Read the quotations on the next slide.
WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Can you see any connections between the quotations; either parallels or oppositions?
1. What expectations do the quotations raise about the play?
i.
themes?
ii. lots of action / lots of talk?
iii. passionate or low key?
Wednesday, 15 April 2020 2

Love Through the Ages: Othello.
WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
“Reputation, reputation, I ha’ lost my reputation!”
“She is a most exquisite lady”
“Even so my bloody thoughts with violent pace / Shall ne’er look back, ne’er ebb to humble love, / Till that a capable and wide revenge / Swallow them up.”
“Put thy money in thy purse.”
“O curse of marriage / That we call these delicate creatures ours / And not their appetites!”
“Now by my heaven / My blood begins my safer guides to rule, / And passion having my best judgement collied / Assays to lead the way.”
“I ha’t, it is engender’d; Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.”
“I am not what I am.”
“O thou black weed, why art thou so lovely fair? / I took you for that cunning whore of Venice.”
“This is only witchcraft I have us’d: / Here comes the lady, let her witness it.”
“She lov’d me for dangers I had pass’d, / And I lov’d her that she did pity them.”
Wednesday, 15 April 2020 3

Love Through the Ages: Othello.
WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Look at the images of Venice and its inhabitants on the following three slides.
In pairs/ a triad, discuss the paintings and the impressions they create of Venice.
Wednesday, 15 April 2020 4

WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Love Through the Ages: Othello.
5

WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Love Through the Ages: Othello.
Le Due Dame Veneziane
(Two Venetian
Courtesans/ Ladies)
Vittore Carpaccio (1465
– 1525)
Several objects - the white kerchief, the pearls and the animals
(the doves, Venus's bird) are symbols of chastity.
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WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Love Through the Ages: Othello.
Vittore Carpaccio – The Healing of the
Possessed Man at the Rialto (c. 1496)
This painting of everyday life in 15th century Venice reveals how mental illness was understood and treated in the middle ages. It is sometimes called “The Healing of the Madman”, but “possessed” is closer to contemporary ideas about the mind. For the man being miraculously healed by a priest amidst the human drama of the
Rialto bridge has been taken over by a demon, his suffering is neither a medical nor social problem, but a religious experience.
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WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Love Through the Ages: Othello.
Watch this video summary of the plot of ‘Othello’ and craft a summary of the events.
It is important that you understand the basic outline of the plot – it is quite complex!
8

Love Through the Ages: Othello.
WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
9

Love Through the Ages: Othello.
WALT:
• Explore the themes of ‘Othello’ and begin to explore social context
WILF:
• Annotated quotations (building awareness of theme)
• Prediction of the thematic content of
‘Othello’ and how this presents aspects of love
Independent Learning.
Research and notes:
1. When was Othello written?
2. What is generally believed to have been Shakespeare’s source material for ‘Othello’?
3. What are some of the features of classical tragedies as outlined in Aristotle’s ‘Poetics’?
4. How was Venice viewed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
5. How were black people viewed in Britain at the time when
Othello was written?
Pre-reading: Act 1 Scenes I-III
Wednesday, 15 April 2020 10