Course: Othello: In Performance

Before the audience meets Desdemona, it learns a few key things about her: she spends her time doing household chores, she pities and loves Othello for his bravery and for …

Below are two extracts that present different views on the representation and meaning of Othello as a Moor. The first is taken from Jonathan Bate’s introduction to the RSC edition …

The figure of the jealous husband was a common one in Early Modern drama, particularly in comedies. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (1598), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597) and …

Othello takes the audiences from a public into a private world, making the tragedy centre on domestic rather than state affairs. Ultimately, we could argue that a handkerchief makes Othello …

The main source for Othello is a short story, ‘the seventh novella in the third decade’, of Giraldi Cinthio’s Hecatommithi of 1565/6. Explore this translation of Cinthio’s Hecatommithi. You can …

In the last video you heard from the actors playing Desdemona and Emilia in the RSC’s 2015 production of the play. You might want to extend your research by looking …

When writing about ‘race’ in Othello, academics will often talk about a number of documents from Shakespeare’s period, which are thought to offer insights into the views of the time. …

If the way in which Othello is spoken about before his first appearance on stage is important, then the same is true for Desdemona. Shakespeare chooses his characters’ words carefully …

In Shakespeare’s time Londoners would have discovered that a new play was going to be performed by reading a playbill attached to a post in the district near to the …

In this video you will see the RSC 2015 acting company working on Act 5 Scene 2 with director Iqbal Khan, discussing the scene. As you watch consider: What the …

In this video you will see the RSC 2015 acting company performing part of Act 5 Scene 2 on stage. As you watch consider: How these final, domestic, moments are …

Over time, reception of Othello, as well as the aspects of the play that directors and actors have chosen to emphasise, has varied extremely. This divided opinion and spectrum of …

In this video Anjna looks at Othello as unique among Shakespeare’s tragedies because it focuses on domestic settings and consequences rather than men of ‘high estate’ with far reaching consequences. …

In this video Anjna focuses on the language of tragedy, considering how the language throughout the play leads to the ending looking particularly at Iago. As you watch consider: How …