How to Read Shakespeare: Othello

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In this lesson, I'm going to give you some background on Shakespeare and why his writing is the way it is. Then, we'll look at how to read Shakespeare more independently in a high school or college class. Finally, we'll go through the major characters and plot of Othello.

Below is the outline of the slides used in the lesson:


There are three major modes in creative writing
Prose
Poetry
Drama


Shakespeare wrote his plays in poetry because that was the style of the day
But poetry is meant to be heard, so someone should still read it to you, or you should read it out loud
Why Is Reading Shakespeare So Difficult?
Either way, Shakespeare is meant to be heard and watched and enjoyed
Drama and poetry are also a lot of fun because they are social forms of literature from a time when people didn't read much, and literature was a community activity
Why Is Reading Shakespeare So Difficult?
Part of it also has to do with how we have the plays themselves
Shakespeare didn't write to sell plays or books of plays
He wrote to sell tickets
Why Is Reading Shakespeare So Difficult?
Shakespeare never sold a single play in his lifetime
(He sold books of his poems)
(He sold a lot of tickets)
Our versions of Shakespeare's plays are all bootlegs!
Why Is Reading Shakespeare So Difficult?
That's right: 15th century file-sharing—Elizabethan style
Groups of people would go to his plays and write down everything they heard
Then, they would compile them and sell them as cheap "quarto" books
After his death, a group of his fellow actors and writer-friends produced an actual book of his plays in a "folio" edition
Why Is Reading Shakespeare So Difficult?
How does that affect our reading experience?
Shakespeare's plays don't have any:
Stage direction
Narrators
Characterization description
And very little obvious setting details outside of the dialogue
That's why we have to SEE the plays
So How Do We Read Shakespeare Then?
Get a good online plot summary—I like Sparknotes.com—just so you know who the characters are and what the setting is
Get a good film version of the play (better yet, go see it in person!)
Read the play out loud (because it's poetry!)
Most of All: Enjoy Yourself
Little kids can enjoy Shakespeare (they have no clue what is being said, but neither did a lot of his audience!)
He was the Quentin Tarantino (Tragedies) and the Seth Rogan (Comedies) of his day, so have fun
Othello
Dramatis Personae
Othello: the Moor
In Elizabethan England, "Moor" meant either a black person or a Muslim and often, both
Shakespeare is unclear about Othello's background
I think he's deliberately vague
Othello is Venice's greatest general and hero
Dramatis Personae
Desdemona is the daughter of Brabantio, a powerful Venetian noble who has befriended Othello
Desdemona has fallen in love with and married Othello without her father's knowledge and permission
Dramatis Personae
Michael Cassio: Othello's newly appointed lieutenant
Cassio is young, handsome, and well-connected
Othello selects Cassio as his lieutenant
Dramatis Personae
Iago is Othello's right-hand man, best friend, and "ancient," meaning a position just below lieutenant
When Othello selects Cassio as his lieutenant, Iago is secretly enraged