OTHELLO ESSAY
Choose one of the essay topics below to write a formal, critical, literary essay on
Othello. You will need to do a close, critical reading of the text, research critical,
credible secondary resources and develop a thesis statement and outline prior to
writing the literary essay.
Requirements:
1. Follow the essay writing process (brainstorm/question, thesis statement, outline,
rough draft revise edit and final draft) as all process work must be handed in.
2. Follow a formal essay structure: introduction (thesis at the end of the first
paragraph), body and conclusion. There is a minimum of three body paragraphs, but
do not stick to a three-paragraph structure. The number of paragraphs should
depend on the number of arguments you have.
3. Each of your paragraphs must have evidence and proof from Othello. You should
have credible, secondary research to support the argument. There is a minimum of
two secondary sources used throughout the essay as support.
NOTE: Plagiarism of any kind will result in a mark of zero. Any information that you
research must be quoted and cited following MLA guidelines.
4. Always remember: STATE—ILLUSTRATE—EXPLAIN: State your point (make sure
it connects to your thesis). Illustrate using an example from the text and or your
research. Explain how that illustration supports your point.
Essay Topics:
1. Consider one of the male-female relationships in Othello (Othello and
Desdemona; Iago and Emilia; or Cassio and Bianca). Do they love or hate one
another, or, is it both? How are the women treated in each relationship? Explain.
2. A tragedy concerns the fall of a great man due to some flaw in his character.
Determine the extent to which Othello is a tragic hero. Use Frye’s note on tragedy
and/or Aristotle’s description of tragedy (noting terms such as hamartia, hubris,
self-recognition, catharsis) along with a minimum of one other secondary source to
support your views.
3. Examine the role of Emilia. In a sense, her honesty is the “undoing” of Iago. Was
she right to betray her husband for her lady? Whom did she serve? Herself?
Desdemona? Her husband?
Does she redeem herself in the end for stealing the handkerchief or did she get what
she deserved for betraying her lady in the first place? Did she betray her lady or
duly serve her husband? Consider one or all of these questions in your essay.
4. Compare and/or contrast Emilia and Desdemona’s love for their husbands with a
focus on the issue of loyalty.
5. Examine the role of women in the play. Are they passive or direct; or obedient or
strong? You should choose one (or two) character(s) for your focus.
6. “Othello is a tragedy of incomprehension, not at the level of intrigue but at the
deepest level of human dealings. No one in Othello comes to understand himself or
anyone else.” (Nick Potter) Agree or disagree. Explain.
7. Prove that Othello and Desdemona’s love was doomed from the start, and that
fate, innocence and evil are conspired in the unification of their love.
8. Examine how, Othello, who is so easily duped by Iago and so violently cruel to
Desdemona, remains for us a sympathetic character.
9. Iago appears to be an interesting rogue at the beginning of the play, but gains
stature as a terrifying villain. Evaluate Iago’s character development in Othello
through careful observation and critical analysis. Is there any compassion to him or
is he pure evil?
10. Review Iago’s statement of women in Act 2 Scene 1. Discuss Iago’s impression of
women by tracing his comments toward or about them in the play.
11. Is Othello’s race relevant to his tragic downfall?
Length approximately 1500 words.
SHAKESPEARE IN
MLA FORMAT
Here are some specific instructions for citing Shakespeare. I am not including
specific instructions for writing in MLA format because you should know this by
now. However, I will direct you to this website to help answer any question you may
have about MLA format. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
You should also look at this sample essay in MLA format:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090701095636_747.pdf
Habitually italicize the names of plays (or underline them -- it means the same
thing). This is especially important with Shakespeare since one usually needs to
distinguish the names of the main characters from the names of the plays to avoid
occasional confusion: Titus Andronicus [or Titus Andronicus?] is concerned with
vengeance.
In writing about Shakespeare, as with any literature or film, use present tense to
convey the ongoing life of the work: Hamlet stabs Polonius (vs. stabbed);
Shakespeare portrays Henry V as a subtle Machiavellian (vs. Shakespeare
portrayed).
When quoting four or more lines from Shakespeare, normally you should use block
quotation: Richard III tells his troops,
Remember whom you are to cope withal:
A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways,
A scum of Britains and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o'ercloyed country vomits forth
To desperate adventures and assur'd destruction.
(V.iii.315-319)
In your manuscript, indent block quotations twice -- they are distinct from normal
paragraph indentations. Also note the manner of citing the source here. The roman
numerals for Act and Scene are standard, although one sees Arabic used by some
critics. In quoting shorter passages in linear form, you still need to indicate line
breaks when Shakespeare is writing in verse: Othello recalls, "Upon this hint I spake:
/ She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, / And I lov'd her that she did pity them"
(I.iii.166-168). Note the withholding of final punctuation in this case until after the
parenthetical citation. The slash marks indicate line breaks in the verse.
Guidelines for Quotation Format:
1. Use a colon—most abrupt transition between the quotation and the rest of the
essay.
2. Use a comma—eases the transition between your introduction of the quotation
and the quotation itself. Usually, a comma is preceded by a transition such as a
dialogue descriptor; example: This confusion occurs when Juliet says, “insert
quotation here.”
3. Paraphrase—expresses the key events, images, characterization, or dialogue of a
passage from the text in your own words. This still needs to be cited, as you are
directly referencing a specific point in the text, although summarizing it in your own
words. This format works well for longer passages, or a series of events in the plot
that are being linked by your argument.
4. Integrate—expresses the key events, images, characterization, or dialogue of a
passage from the text through combining your own words with the text itself. This is
useful when multiple characters are speaking, or to shorten a lengthy passage by
taking the necessary ideas from the beginning of the quotation, paraphrasing the
context of the middle, and the direct text from the end of the quotation.
5. Ellipsis Points—indicate deleted text. They are only used in the middle of the
quotation; never use them at the beginning or end of a quotation. Be careful using
them to modify the quotations in order to change the facts within the text. Take out
what may not be necessary to your argument; to manipulate the core ideas will only
weaken the logic of your argument.
6. Square Brackets—useful when the pronouns within the quotations are affecting
the flow of the sentence, making the transition between what you have written and
the quotation awkward. Change a personal pronoun (I, me, my, etc.) or an unspecific
pronoun (he, she, it) to an impersonal pronoun, or a more specific noun—Example:
a quotation spoken by Juliet may begin with “I”, but this may need to be changed to
[she] or [Juliet] for added clarity within the context of the paragraph.
Sources for Research
Note: It’s okay to use Sparks Notes or Wikipedia as starting places for your
research, but don’t cite these sources in your essay. Use them to help you find good
research sources.
Here are some good sources for research:
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Shakespeare Online: http://www.shakespeareonline.com/topics/othellotopics.html
Online version of Othello: http://www.shakespeareonline.com/plays/othelloscenes.html (easy to search for key words using
digital version. Just type ctrl F to search for words)
CECI databases, specifically Gale. You can access this via the school library
page.