Othello

The climax of Othello occurs in Act 5, Scene 2, when Othello kills Desdemona after believing Iago’s lies. Moments later, […]

Every year, when I begin teaching the genre of Othello, I watch my students expect a simple love story. I

One afternoon in class, while we were reading Othello, a student paused and asked, “Sir, why does Shakespeare suddenly talk

The power of Othello’s imagery comes from repetition. An image appears, returns, and changes meaning as Othello’s judgment deteriorates. Animals

The audience knows that Iago is deceptive, while Othello trusts him as an “honest” man. This gap between what the

A comparison can shape judgment before evidence appears in Othello. Iago turns marriage into an animal image, describes jealousy as

Othello is not destroyed by jealousy alone. Shakespeare gives jealousy objects, images, colors, songs, and settings through which it can

The most important monologues in Othello include major speeches by Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emilia that reveal identity, jealousy, deception,

Imagine watching a villain destroy a marriage while knowing every plan before the victims do. That is the uncomfortable power

When I teach Othello, I always pause and ask my students a simple question: What if we watched this tragedy