“‘Not a Moor Exactly’: Shakespeare, Serial, and Modern Constructions of Race.”

Corredera, Vanessa. “‘Not a Moor Exactly’: Shakespeare, Serial, and Modern Constructions of Race.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 67, no. 1, Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 30–50, http://doi.org/10.1353/shq.2016.0009. Accessed 21 July 2021.

Corredera argues that when teaching Shakespeare’s plays, specifically Othello, educators should use the term race when discussing early modern conceptions of Otherness. Although scientific understanding of race did not emerge until the 17th century, Elizabethans established Otherness through markers such as religion, skin color, locale, and exoticism. Corredera cites the work of other early modern scholars who agree that constructions of race today are no more stable than they were during the Renaissance, and not necessarily grounded in biology: factors such as language, culture, religion, appearance, and ethnicity still influence contemporary ideas of race (Corredera 30-32). To illustrate, Corredera points to the podcast Serial: This American Crime, which followed the trial of Pakistani American teenager Adnan Syed, convicted of murdering his Korean girlfriend. Journalist and host Sarah Koenig confused religion with race when she said authorities were not motivated by “anti-Muslim feeling, by racism” (Corredera 38). Jury members struggled to define Syed’s Otherness, mistakenly referring to his “Arabic” culture (Pakistanis are not Arabs), and associating him with stereotypes of “how they treat their women” “over there” – even though defendant and jurors all lived in Baltimore, sharing the same culture (Corredera 39-40). Even for informed and educated people, facets of identity outside of biology such as religion and ethnicity still inform conceptions of the Other, making it vital to recognize race in Shakespeare’s works (Corredera 41-45).

--Jess Fraser

"Performing to Learn: Rethinking Theater Techniques to Interpret, Explore, and Write About Shakespeare’s Plays"

 Esposito, Lauren. “Performing to Learn: Rethinking Theater Techniques to Interpret, Explore, and Write About Shakespeare’s Plays.” CEA Critic, vol. 78, no. 2, 2016, pp. 183-198.

Summary:

In this article, Esposito argues that using drama as an approach to literary analysis is beneficial in helping students interact with and interpret Shakespeare’s works in ways that isolated reading cannot. She discusses the values of performance-based learning, emphasizing that it allows students to directly engage with a text more deeply, as they need to make decisions about positioning, body language, tone, and other performative elements. This pulls them into the text and engages them with inquiry-based learning; they must ask questions about character’s motivations, how they might deliver their lines, and how different forms of delivery change the interpretation of a particular scene. She uses Desdemona’s death as an example. Does Desdemona die submissively, or does she die fighting for her life? How students interpret and “perform” this scene changes how they interpret Desdemona’s character. Esposito breaks down methods she uses in performance-based lessons to build these kinds of discussions: 1) the Boal method, in which students work as spectators and actors (spect-actors) to collaborate on how scenes might be performed, and 2) Process Drama, which focuses not on the final product or performance, but on the process of discovering the themes of the text by working/performing through it together. She also shares three example exercises that apply these methods. The first is Silent Switch, where students stand in a circle with one student in the middle. Students on the outside nonverbally communicate with others to switch places, and the person in the middle tries to communicate nonverbally to get someone to let them into the outer circle. This has direct connections to Othello, as it can help students begin a conversation on Othello as an outsider in his society, just as the person in the center of the circle is an “outsider.” The second exercise is Composing and Revising Tableaux, where students “freeze” key scenes of a text to highlight and alternate interpretations of body language and positioning. The third exercise is Performing Scenes as Process Work where students perform and deliver lines for specific scenes, using Shakespeare’s dialogue and taking on the full persona of the character they are portraying. Each method, Esposito argues, allows for student engagement and a deeper level of comprehension of the text, as students are able to work directly with the language and the characters themselves.

Jenny Jadin

Shame in 'Othello'

Fernie, Ewan. "Shame in 'Othello.'" The Cambridge Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 1, 1999, pp. 19-45, www.jstor.org/stable/42967948. Accessed 22 July 2021.

The author asserts that the primary motivation in Othello is not what most critics believe is jealousy, but instead shame. All acts were committed or result from acts of shame. Othello believed himself to be a cuckold and out of shame, killed Desdemona. Brabantio, ashamed that his daughter, Desdemona ran off and married a Moor, died of shame. Iago, whether being passed up for promotion or believing to be cuckolded by Othello operates from a position of shame. In fact, argues the author, Iago is the central agent of shame in the play; he uses shame to manipulate others and is motivated by a perception of shame. "Iago's project is to shame his shamer and payback with shame" (25). 

The author offers other examples of individuals being shamed throughout the play; Brabantio (shamed that his daughter married a Moor), Cassio (shamed for dishonoring his position as lieutenant to Othello), Othello (shamed at being "cuckolded" by his supposedly "adulterous" wife, Desdemona), and finally Desdemona (for being accused of adultery by Othello). All of this shaming is intertwined and orchestrated by Iago whose shame originates out of being passed over for promotion by Othello and believing that Othello had cuckolded him with his wife, Emilia.

--David Kase

“‘Fluster’d with Flowing Cups’: Alcoholism, Humoralism, and the Prosthetic Narrative in Othello.”

Wood, David Houston. “‘Fluster’d with Flowing Cups’: Alcoholism, Humoralism, and the Prosthetic Narrative in Othello.” Disability Studies Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 4, 2009, doi:10.18061/dsq.v29i4.998.

Wood argues that Shakespeare utilizes disability as the plot driving force in within his play. Modern readers will recognize and identify Cassio’s relationship with alcohol and the effects of alcoholism. Cassio’s reaction to alcohol consumption is explicitly referred to as an “infirmity” in the play--which is on par with modern thinking of alcoholism as a disease. Furthermore, Cassio struggles remembering the details of his actions while drinking and feeling shame while dealing with the ramifications. Wood argues that Cassio’s alcohol abuse is essential to moving the plot, specifically Iago’s plot within the play. Wood writes that alcohol can manipulate emotions and this, in effect, is used by Iago to manipulate Othello’s “heroics and jealousy” (37). 

--Lauren Olson 

Vanita, Ruth. “Men Beware Men: Shakespeare's Warnings for Unfair Husbands.” Comparative Drama, vol. 28, no. 2, 1994, pp. 201–220. JSTOR, 
www.jstor.org/stable/41153689. Accessed 21 July 2021.

Vanita situates her argument against Nancy Cotton Pearse’s definition of a “chastity play” and also the domestic tragedy plays of Othello’s time period, specifically A Woman Killed with Kindness by Thomas Heyward. Vanita argues that Othello goes against type in two regards:  the chastity play where the innocent woman survives and the domestic tragedy where the husband kills the guilty wife. A Woman Killed with Kindness was performed in 1603, and Vanita suggests the Othello was a direct reply to that performance. Whereas in A Woman Killed with Kindness focuses on the woman’s chastity (or lack thereof) and a husband’s cuckoldry, Othello focuses on the men’s reaction to a woman unchasteness. In both plays, the wives die, but in Othello the question is about the permanence of death rather than death as evidence of a woman’s chastity. In most chastity plays, a woman’s innocence was determined by her ability to evade death. If a woman survived an attempt on her life than she was considered innocent, but if she died then was considered guilty of adultery. Vanita suggests that Othello is really a warning to husbands because they hold all the power in the relationship rather than a play warning wives on the dangers of infidelity. 

- Tracie Yule

"Psychoanalysis and the Problem of Evil: Debating Othello in the Classroom."

 Schapiro, Barbara A. "Psychoanalysis and the Problem of Evil: Debating Othello in the

Classroom." American Imago, vol. 60 no. 4, 2003, p. 481-499. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/aim.2004.0010.

In her article, Barbara Schapiro addresses the psychoanalytical elements of evil at play in Othello and how they framed certain debates and writing prompts in her classroom. Schapiro opens the article with a series of questions all dealing with how we understand evil and destructiveness in the play and in society. She then moves into her discussion of evil by providing context to inform us that Shakespeare, in making the play his own, removed the motive that Iago (or the Ensign in the original) holds for his actions. This creates a discussion and debate in the classroom about motiveless malignity and whether it exists in Iago’s case or not. This then further leads to the ongoing issue Schapiro wishes to confront: Is Iago’s evilness innate or responsive? She continues to examine this by demonstrating that Iago’s actions “would have no power over Othello were Othello not in love” (484). The connectedness of the two men then sways the debate to the side of destructive responsiveness, as opposed to innate evil. Schapiro also analyzes Iago by saying that he suffers from traumatized rejection, which in turn leads to his evilness. After exploring these topics, Schapiro also references debates she included in her classroom and the various and differing responses she received from students. Finally, she concludes with the claim that by viewing Iago’s evilness as responsive, we can turn our attention to the causes.

--Michelle Vucsko

“Jewel, Purse, Trash: Reckoning and Reputation in Othello''

Kolb, Laura. “Jewel, Purse, Trash: Reckoning and Reputation in Othello.”

    Shakespeare Studies, vol. 44, 2016, pp. 230–262.  

    In “Jewel, Purse, Trash: Reckoning and Reputation in Othello'' Laura Kolb says “In a mocking list of moral lessons to be drawn from Othello, Thomas Rymer writes, ‘Thirdly, this may be a lesson to Husbands, that before their Jealousie be Tragical, the proofs may be Mathemat-ical.’ The double-meaning of ‘proofs’ - both the demonstration of truth and the derivation of a mathematical theorem - underscores what will become Rymer's major critique of Shakespeare's play, A Short View of Tragedy,” (Kolb 1). Or in other words, when someone becomes jealous of their significant other, they should get proof of what they are jealous of. In this article, Kolb focuses on this idea of demonstrating Othello’s jealousy, and Iago’s ability to change people's minds, mathematically. Kolb first focuses on Othello as a partnership problem, before going into the economic language in Othello, and then it reflects on the story inlight if the possibility of romance. Kolb acknowledges jealousy as a normal human emotion and then breaks it down into its fundamentals. They think about the situation in a mathematical sense and logically. 

• Priscilla Adams