Othello Act 2 Scene 3 questions

Iago switches from verse to prose when he speaks with Cassio, and Cassio follows. What does this indicate about the exchange? What might it indicate about Cassio? AO2 LFS

Iago speaks in verse when he is speaking normally as everyone else, yet he switches to prose as he puts the next stage of his plan into action. Iago speaks in prose as he begins to manipulate and persuade Cassio into becoming close with Desdemona. Iago manipulates Cassio into thinking that if he is to "confess.. freely" to Desdemona, she will sway Othello's mind and Cassio will regain his position. This indicates that Cassio is naïve because he doesn't believe that Iago would be giving him this advice for any underlying reason, he is similar to Othello in this way as he doesn't believe that a loyal friend would ever lie to or betray him. 


What language does Cassio use when speaking about Desdemona? How does it compare to the language Iago uses to sexualise her? Why do you think Iago is speaking about Desdemona in this way to Cassio? (lines 15-25) AO2 LF  

Iago changes the topic straight to that of Desdemona, (when Othello and Desdemona leave to consummate their marriage) in order to manipulate Cassio into viewing her in a sexual way, which would then make Cassio a prime target for the person who had the alleged affair with Desdemona. When Cassio speaks of Desdemona, he uses flattering vocabulary such as "exquisite" and "perfection" to describe her, this is all absent of sexualised language. Alternatively, Iago says "what an eye she has", implying that Desdemona looks at other men in sexual ways, to make Cassio believe he might have a chance with her. Despite Iago's attempts, Cassio defends Desdemona, saying that she's "modest" which shows he is a decent person and cares for Desdemona in a friendly way.





How does Iago persuade Cassio to drink? Use your close reading skills to analyse the language he uses. (Note how ‘but’ is used as an adverb here) AO2 LFS

Iago persuades Cassio to drink in Act 2 Scene 3, by making him feel guilty as he will not drink with his men. Cassio knows that he cannot hold his drink and that he becomes drunk on very little alcohol, therefore he is very reluctant to drink anymore as he had already had one glass that evening. Despite his worries, Cassio eventually gives in to Iago when Iago states "but one cup" to drink with his friends. The adverb "but" comes across as meaning that one cup is nothing and that in saying it, Iago is trying to convince Cassio that just one glass of wine won't have an effect on him.




Why does Iago try to subvert the social order and bring others down to his level, rather than try to climb the ladder and raise himself up? Consider ideas about social order at the time AO3, context.

In the time period, it was very difficult, near impossible to climb the social ladder in a society which based its rules on the fact that if you were poor, you stayed poor, and if you were rich you got richer. There was no movement in the rankings in society. Iago recognises this, and in order to become higher up in the hierarchy, he knows that he has to bring his higher nobilities down to his level or lower in order to raise himself up his goal of taking Othello's rank.



Othello says “My blood begins my safer guides to rule/And passion, having my best judgements collied/Assays to lead the way.” (lines 201-203) What does this quotation reveal about the effects of Iago’s knavery in this scene?

Othello reveals within his quote, his anger towards Iago's knavery, aimed at Cassio as Iago hasn't been exposed as the villain a to this moment in time. This is very alternate to Act 1 Scene 2 where Othello keeps very calm as he is repeated accused of 'stealing' Brabantio's daughter. This could be because he is the person of authority and the person that he most trusts has been fighting against Othello's will even though Cassio was supposed to be keeping the peace.


BIG QUESTION: Why is this scene important in relation to the play as a whole?
-How is Iago presented
-What happens in the scene
-What this scene indicates about the key characters

In this scene, Iago fully reveals his manipulative character as he manipulates Cassio into thinking that Iago cares about him and his position. Iago tells Cassio how he could get close to Desdemona so that she will talk to Othello and convince him to give Cassio his rank back as Othello's lieutenant. Despite Iago's façade that allows him to be deceptive, his real motive for giving Cassio this advice is to victimise him by planting the idea in Othello's head that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair and therefore if Cassio gets close with Desdemona to get his position back, his flirtatious nature will make Othello believe Iago's untruths. The happenings in this scene show Cassio to be fairly naïve to evil in amongst friends or colleagues as he listens to Iago out of desperation. Othello, when he fires Cassio, is shown to conform to the racial stereotype of black people being easily angered when Othello's "blood begins my safer guides to rule" which shows that Othello is starting to be influenced by his feelings and anger. 

Othello Act 2 Scene 1 questions

Re-read Act 2 scene 1 lines 95-100. What sort of person is Cassio?

From line 98 we can blatantly see that Cassio has a very open personality as he "extends his manners" by 'kissing' Emilia to show greetings. He is a tactile character as he connects and welcomes people through a physical action rather than verbal, as when he kisses Emilia, this could come across to others as Cassio having a flirty nature, yet he shows that it is his "breeding" to be so open and free with his actions and that it is just a "bold show of courtesy" nothing more.

How does Iago plan to use Cassio’s character traits to usurp and ensnare both Cassio and Othello? (Lines 167-176 will help.)

Iago recognises that Cassio's open nature could easily be mistaken for be flirtatious, therefore knows that it would be easy to "ensnare" both Othello and Cassio, by manipulating Othello's thoughts to make him believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Iago plots to do this to "strip" Cassio out of his "lieutenantry" by doing this as Othello will believe that Cassio has betrayed him by sleeping with his wife. Although Iago knows that Cassio holds no feelings of love towards Desdemona, Cassio's nature makes him the perfect prey to become Desdemona's 'lover'. This is ironic because Cassio may be one of the few male characters in the play that don't hold any passionate feelings for her.

What does Iago tell Roderigo to do, and why does Iago say it will help Roderigo to win Desdemona’s heart? (Lines 249-278 will help you with this question.)

Although Iago knows for a fact that Desdemona loves Othello, he still uses manipulation on Roderigo to make him think that her love for Othello is untrue. He states that "if she had been blest she would never have loved the Moor" which shows that according to Iago, Desdemona is no angel as Roderigo thinks of her; and that if she was, she would never have married a person of colour. Straight after, Iago brings into his manipulation, the story of how Desdemona is going to have an affair with Cassio, "Did thou not see her paddle with the palm of his hand?" showing that after being married for a limited amount of time, she is already starting to 'flirt' with other men. Iago then further imbeds his story into Roderigo's mind when he states "Lechery, by this hand: an index and obscure prologue to the history of lust and foul thoughts", Iago is again manipulating Iago to see Cassio's gestures of courtesy as flirtatious and lustful and tries to hint that it is the start of something Desdemona being unfaithful.

What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in Act 2? What is the effect of having him share his thoughts and plans with us through his soliloquies? Pay attention to the language used in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of descriptive language does he use? How does it contribute to the picture of Iago that Shakespeare is drawing?


In act two we see more clearly Iago's manipulative personality as he tells us of his plans, and how he will execute them. Dramatic irony is used when Iago says his soliloquy as we gain knowledge that the other characters in the play are oblivious to. This adds effect as we know what is to happen in the play and we have to watch the other characters as they fall victims to Iago's plan. Iago is fairly sexist, calling women "wild cats in the kitchen" presenting women in a stereotypical way of only being useful doing domestic tasks.

Othello Act 1 Scene 3 questions

What do we learn about views towards foreigners/moors?

Before Othello enters the scene, he is described as the "valiant moor" which shows he is known and respected for being brave in battle, yet also well known for the colour of his skin which has many negative connotations of racism. The people Othello mixes with, nearly all discriminate against black people as they have been brought up to think that black people are beneath themselves. Brabantio enters the room and reports that his daughter, Desdemona, has been "stolen" from him which shows Venetian people's stereotyping of black and foreign people that they were thieves and untrustworthy. Brabantio also accuses Othello of "witch craft" and using "spells and medicines" leading to his daughter being "corrupted" into thinking that she loves and wants to marry Othello. This is also in line with the stereotype of black people being mystical negros who indulge themselves in witch craft. After the accusations were made, the Duke finds Othello innocent of everything he is accused of and comes to the conclusion that Desdemona married Othello out of her own free will. This shows that most things that the Venetians thought about foreigners, were untrue and biased.


What is ironic about Othello's claim that "rude am I in my speech"?

Othello "won" Desdemona through telling her his stories of war and bravery. Therefore it is ironic that he says that he is "rude" meaning unskilled; as he must be skilled with his words to make Desdemona fall in love with someone that she is forbidden to be with or marry and also marry him without the knowledge of her Father who is furious about it. Othello says that Desdemona "devoured" up the stories in which he told her about being "sold to slavery" and of his "travailous history" and that she fell in love with him through the telling of his life.


What is startling about Othello's decision to let Desdemona speak on his behalf?

It is startling that Othello allowed Desdemona to speak on his behalf, because in the seventeenth century women were submissive to men and were viewed as property, shown when she is reported "stolen". Therefore Desdemona, in a white woman's status,  couldn't be expected to convince the Duke and her father that she married Othello out of her own choice instead of being forced by "witch craft".


Using the thinking question above, what 'stories' does Othello tell in his speech to the senate?


Othello fits the stereotype of an exotic and interesting person of colour through his stories of his life previously in which he was "sold to slavery" and endured many battles. He portrays himself as tough and as a brave warrior and therefore demands respect indirectly which will make the senate less likely to think that he is guilty of theft or witch craft.

Final essay question for feminism

'Angela Carter presents and emphasises the intense desire of women to become liberated through sexual acts in her collection of short stories The Bloody Chamber'


Using the critical anthology to support your argument, how far do these texts support or undermine this view?




-The Tiger's Bride

• female gaze
• male gaze
• liberated together
• innocence vs experience
• she takes control and almost liberates herself

1. Faraway castles
2. happy endings
3. dutiful daughter
4. sexually promiscuous
5. Beast like male

-'white rose'- symbol of virginity

-'one profile of his mask is the mirror image of the other, too perfect, uncanny.'- attracted & repulsed at the same time- female gaze

-'I prick my finger and so he gets his all smeared with blood'- impure and tainted

-'scare me into good behaviour'- the story from her nurse of the 'tiger man' was used to frighten her- in her childhood he was used to scare her, now he becomes her liberation

-'the day my childhood ended'- innocence vs experience

-'my frail rose, already faded'- 'faded' like her purity

-'you should give me only the same amount of money that you would give to any other woman'- offers prostitution- allows herself to be used as a sex object

-'The sight of a young lady's skin that no man has seen before'- the beast longs for visual sexual pleasure

-'prepare yourself for the sight of my master, naked'- allowing the female gaze

-'I felt my breasts ripped apart as if I suffered a marvellous wound'- she gains sexual pleasure and liberation through the sight of the beast undressed

-'unfastened my jacket'- allowing the beast his sexual pleasure as she's had hers

-'pride it was, not shame'- she isn't embarrassed, she wants to impress him

-'I felt I was at liberty for the first time in my life'- liberated herself through allowing herself to subside to her own sexual desire

-'fear of devourment'- metaphor for sex

-'I, white, shaking, raw, approaching him as if offering, in myself, the key to a peaceable kingdom in which his appetite need not be my extinction'- lamb to the slaughter- but she wants to

-'He snuffed the air, as if to smell my fear; he could not'- she isn't scared- she's embracing desire

-The Erl King

• has sex with the erl king
• innocence vs experience
• liberates herself through killing him when she is experienced
• saves herself from getting trapped by him- liberation

1. Beast like male
2. sexually promiscuous
3. isolated setting

-'He lays upon me his irrevocable hand'- first contact

-'I lie at the mercy of his huge hands'- she is almost his sex slave- he can do with her as he pleases

-'I lie down on the Erl-King's creaking paillasse of straw'- again lay down for him

-'I go back and back to him'- she can't help but going back to him

-'consumed by you'- metaphor for sex- similar to the Tiger's Bride

-'I shall strangle him'- kills the person she gained sex from

-'let the birds free'- liberated through setting the other birds free and killing him 

-The Snow Child

• subjugated
• objectified
• not liberated
• raped
• subjected to male domination
• taken advantage of

1. damsel in distress
2. the evil matriarch

-'I wish I had a girl as white as snow' 'as red as blood' 'as black as that bird's feather'- his idyllic view of a woman

-'stark naked; she was a child of his desire'- his desire not hers

-'unfastened his breaches and thrust his virile member into the dead girl'- rape, she didn't want it, she isn't liberated

message- underlying material of fairy tales is that the women are sexually objectified

Carter said 'I was taking... the latent content of those traditional stories and using that; and the latent content is violently sexual.'

The Snow Child questions

In what ways does the tale allude to (link to) other stories or fairy tales?
The Snow Child links to other short stories from the prose 'The Bloody Chamber' by Angela Carter, as it contains a dominant male figure who is wealthy and who obtains a powerful stance in society, alongside a young, vulnerable female character as in the other short stories like 'The Bloody Chamber' and 'The Courtship of Mr Lyon'. In this story, the count longs for a young girl with 'white skin, red mouth, black hair' which also relates to the fairy tale of 'Snow White', in which the appearance of the young princess in the tale, mirrors that of the pure, young girl in 'The Snow Child'. There is also a malevolent, devilish female character in most fairy tales, which wish to do harm to the young, innocent female character. 'The Snow Child' directly mirrors this, as the Countess seeks to find any way possible to get rid of the young girl and finally succeeds in her desire when the snow child 'pricks her finger on a thorn' and dies.


How does this story link to the other stories in The Bloody Chamber collection?
The short story of 'The Snow Child' links to many other stories in Angela Carter's book of short stories, 'The Bloody Chamber'. It links to 'The Tiger's Bride' as the male character in both of the stories, look upon the young girl's based on their own sexual desire. In the Tiger's Bride, 'the beast' wants to 'see the pretty young lady unclothed nude without her dress' to satisfy his own desire of visual pleasure, similarly in The Snow Child, the Count views the young girl as his sole desire, the female he has longed for and lusts for, yet, unlike in The Tiger's Bride, the Count gains desire from 'thrusting his virile member into the dead girl' (raping the girl) instead of looking at her. The Snow Child also links to 'The Erl King' because again, both male characters sexualise the young females; The Erl King uses the girl as almost a sex slave when the Erl King 'lays her down on his bed of rustling straw where she lies at the mercy of his huge hands', likewise the Count in The Snow Child has sex with the naïve, innocent female.


The girl melts at the end.  Why do you think this is the case?  What do you think Carter could be trying to communicate?
In 'The Snow Child', Carter presents the young girl as a symbol of purity due to her skin that is 'white as snow'. At the end the child 'began to melt', this could be to represent the washing away of her purity, innocence and virginity and as she's a symbol of purity 'there was nothing left of her' by the end of the prose, once she had been violated by the Count when he 'unfastened his breeches and thrust his virile member into the dead girl' all innocence that she ever possessed is crushed. Alternatively, she could be melting back into the snow, the place in which she was created based upon the dream of the Count to have a girl 'as white as snow', therefore she would not have been real, either a figure of imagination, illusion or sorcery.


What do you think it means when the Countess says "It bites!" at the end?  What is "it"?
 Despite getting her wish of regaining the Count's attention, the Countess is 'bitten' by the rose when it pricks her finger. The rose is a symbolises femininity or the vaginal area, so when the Countess thinks 'it bites' it represents the suffering of every woman in every social class, as the elite cannot escape natural happenings.

The Erl-King by Angela Carter

The Erl-King

How is the Erl-King presented?

Carter presents the Erl-King as a threat and a predator through the description of his appearance. He is presented as a monster like figure with 'pointed teeth' which portrays him to be a threat to the 'young girl' that he has lured to him in the forest. The female protagonist  breaks down the binary roles of the woman being the carer and the male being the one who provides the money. By showing the Erl-King to be 'an excellent housewife', she contradicts the idea of him being a threat to her and others and presents him as obtaining the passive role in their relationship, showing herself to be dominant over him.


How is the narrator presented?
Carter presents the narrator to be trapped by the Erl-King yet also by herself, as she comes across as a character of self-conflict in which her actions do not mirror her thoughts. The protagonist presents herself to be trapped by the Erl-King's 'green eye', the feature upon which her love for him exists. The narrator is already mentally caged by her false love for him and realises that she is to be kept in an 'osier cage' as she sees him 'weaving a cage' for her. When the narrator tells us that the Erl-king is 'an excellent housewife', she is presented as a strong individual, breaking down the binary roles of the male being dominant over the female as the male seems to be conducting the role of the female. She contradicts her thoughts by not going through with them, when the female narrator 'lies at the mercy of his huge hands', in this

Feminist theory- Stephen Martin critical essay questions and summary

What does 'derided' mean?
'Derided' means to express contempt for something or someone.


What is 'gynocriticism'?
Gynocriticism is the historical study of women writers as a distinct literary tradition. Gynocriticism as a result of the interrogative critiques utilised in post-structuralism and psychoanalysis.


Feminist theory reduced to 5 sentences

• Feminist theory is the belief that society is patriarchal and controlled only by men.
• Women are conditioned to accept the view of women in which they are and should be submissive to male dominance.
• The association between gender and other features- all things that go to make up our concept of what is 'feminine' and what is 'masculine'- is a cultural construct.
• Gynocriticism is criticism that deals with literature written by women in all its aspects.
• Female critics have also sought to redefine the accepted list of great works, rescuing large numbers of female writers from obscurity, and establishing quite large numbers of female writers as worthy of the attention hitherto denied them.

Reduced to 5 words


-Patriarchal
-Conditioned
-Construct
-Criticism
-Obscurity


Reduced to 1 word


-Patriarchal


119 word summary
Feminist theory by Stephen Martin outlines the idea that women are controlled and ruled by the male sex, that they are subordinated to men in all aspects of life, work and culture. It states that women are conditioned to accept and promulgate the view of women that allows them to be dominated therefore they become a factor of their own enslavement. Women are made in society’s gaze of how they perceive the perfect woman to be; passive, emotional and supportive. Throughout literature the odds have been stacked against women as it has been dominated by men writing for men. Feminist critics have sought to redefine the accepted list of ‘Great works’ and to rescue many female writers from obscurity.