Consider these....
Othello Critical Analysis: Ideas and Contemplations
GENRE
Why is it necessary for the play Othello to be a tragedy? In what ways does imaginery sympathy for the protagonist convey our own trepidation about human life and trevails?
THEMES
If you were to create a mind map of the themes within Othello, what would you choose as the most important?
MOTIFS
Cannibalism
Othello, in his moment of triumph in which he professes that he has married Desdemona, has a dim intimation of his fate: a half-dozen lines after he has recalled “the Cannibals, that each other eat,” he remarks that Desdemona would come “and with a greedy ear/ Devour up my discourse”(1.3.149-50). Why is it fitting even this early in the play for Othello to describe “Cannibals,” “greedy,” “devour,” and “discourse” as interconnected constructs?
Power and Pitfalls of Pride
Why doesn’t Othello believe Emilia or Desdemona’s defense against his accusations? Why can’t Othello accept the fact of Desdemona’s love? Are his own lack of confidence and all too full sense of pride a barrier to his ability to accept her?
Universality
If Othello is an “Everyman” who fights an internal battle between good and evil, what other Christian motifs and allusions can we draw upon to analyze this play? For example, if honesty, loyalty, reverence, and fidelity are the highest and holiest of human traits, then, to what degree it Iago an antithetical, almost anti-human Satan?
CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Masculinity
To what degree is Othello’s background as a warrior indicative of a barbaric nature? What is it about a soldier’s life that promotes Othello to ask for “ocular proof” (act, scene, line)? To what degree is the embodiment of a soldier a larger motif for masculinity? For a patriarchal world? What is the significance when Desdemona describes Lodovico as a “proper man” (4.3.34)? Is Othello’s masculine sense of self an obstacle to his acceptance of Desdemona’s fidelity to him?
The “Other”
From the beginning of the play, Othello is plagued by a strong sense of distance and ostracism. His shadowy presence in Act One foreshadows the shadow of a human he becomes when he falls into the darkness of Iago’s traps. To what extent is the distance Othello falls representative of his role as a governmental figure, and to what extent is it an extension of his own self-pity and suspicions of Others?
“The term “moor” was derived from the name of the country Mauritania but was used to refer to North Africans, West Africans or, even more loosely, for non-whites or Muslims of any origin. North and West Africans living in Elizabethan England were frequently singled out for their unusual dress, behavior, and customs and were commonly referred to as “devils” or “villains.” Moors were commonly stereotyped as sexually overactive, prone to jealousy, and generally wicked. The public associated “blackness” with moral corruption, citing examples from Christian theology to support the view that whiteness was the sign of purity, just as blackness indicated sin.”[1] As a Christian, Othello certainly had knowledge of the racial attitudes of Elizabethans toward Africans. How did this knowledge of stereotyping by race affect the decisions that Othello made in the play?
Since Shakespeare's Venetians reflect the mores of English society, it follows that Venetian society would admire Othello for his valor and leadership but still recoil at the notion of his marrying into its families. Shakespeare chose the city for a portrait of Otherness. How does Shakespeare set up familiar stereotypes to explode them and to teach his audiences compassion for those whom society uses but never fully embraces as countrymen?
The Feminine
Describe Desdemona’s (de)evolution from beginning to end of the play? What non-traditional traits of the “feminine” has she displayed? What is the function of the “Willow” song? At the play rises toward climax, does Desdemona know her fate? If so, why doesn’t she flee?
Justice in society
How are justice and revenge one and the same in the play? To what degree is Desdemona --- characterized as innocent and pure --- a metaphor for idealism inherent within all justice systems?
Social constructions of “evil”
Is every character in the play somehow deceitful? To what degree is this Shakespeare’s commentary on the social world?
Iago’s easily manipulates collegial and marital trust. Are Iago’s actions truly evil? Is Iago evil? Are evil people necessarily unstable?
When in life does lust for physical pleasure and lust for evil become one and the same? When do any of us find space to deny our own consciences?
Voice and resistance as oppression
Several of the characters in the play experience voicelessness, or resistance to speaking their inner thoughts and points of view. For example, Rodrigo knows much about Iago’s subterfuge. Emilia doesn’t immediately speak up about the handkerchief. Cassio is so consumed by his lost reputation that he doesn’t act in a way that reinforces his inner integrity. Desdemona acquiesces to her fate. What is the function of “voice” and “silence” in the play?
Playing It Forward
Is love an obstacle to communication or a window to it?
Does the concept of the “Other” overshadow innate human jealousy and its resulting drive for revenge?
Can honesty and lack of cultural capital be reconciled in a prejudiced world?
How does oppression influence voice and resistance to power?
Why have so many people been taught to discuss Othello and other Shakespearean plays as manifestations of human and national values, of all men and all countries in conjunction of human passion and excesses, and to disregard the social and historical factors that affect humans like Othello?
How can readings of Othello as a school text generate emancipatory outcomes rather than
reproducing oppressor-oppressed relationships?
[1] http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/plays/articles.aspx?&id=83