Hello, everyone, and welcome to your lesson on an introduction to "Othello." My name is Ms. Sutherland, and I'll be teaching you today.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to identify major plot points in the play "Othello" by William Shakespeare.

We have five key words today which will be vital in our understanding of the play.

Don't worry if you aren't familiar with them.

We'll be learning them now.

The first word is protagonist.

A protagonist is the main character in a play or story.

The protagonist in the play "Othello" is indeed a man called Othello.

The play is centred around what happens to him, and indeed, the play is named after him.

He will be a very important character for us to consider.

Our next key word is Moorish.

Moorish people were the North African people that ruled Spain from the year 711 to 1492.

Now the word Moor is used quite a lot in the play, and it's really important to consider it.

A lot of the characters refer to the protagonist, Othello, as the Moor, and that tells us a lot about the society in which Shakespeare was writing because they use it to show how much of an outsider Othello is being a person of colour.

The next key word is catalyst.

A catalyst is something that causes something else to happen.

The next keyword is inciting incident, and that's an event that acts as the catalyst for the protagonist's changing fate.

Now what that means is that the protagonist in this play, "Othello," at one point his fate is going to change.

It may go from good to bad, it may go from bad to good, but one thing we know for sure is that it's going to change and we will call the event that triggers that change the inciting incident.

And our last key word is resolution.

The resolution is the end of the story where the problem is solved.

Now remember Freytag's pyramid that you probably have studied at one point.

The resolution is the very end point of that pyramid.

It's the end point in a story structure.

Great.

Let's get started with today's lesson.

We have two learning cycles.

In the first, we will be understanding the plot of "Othello." And in the second, we will be understanding context in Othello.

So let's start with understanding the plot of Othello.

Now the plot is everything that happens in the story, so we'll be learning about all the major plot points in the play "Othello." Let's get started.

Othello is a tragic play by William Shakespeare.

Do you know what a tragic play is? Maybe you've come across a tragic play before.

What I want you to do is discuss with your partner what a tragic play is.

Pause the video and start the discussion.

Great.

Some great ideas.

I heard some people say that, perhaps, a tragic play might be a sad play or, perhaps, a tragic play might involve death or suffering.

And I heard one person say that a tragic play, they think, involves a protagonist that might be their own worst enemy, perhaps.

All brilliant ideas.

Let's see if any of you are right.

Let's see what a tragic play is.

A tragic play usually follows a protagonist who acts to promote their own downfall.

Tragic plays evoke pity and fear in the audience.

The play "Othello" is set in 16th century Venice.

It later moves to Cyprus, where Othello and his army go to defend Cyprus from Turkish invasion.

Let's go through the main plot points of "Othello." Othello, the protagonist, is a Moorish general in the Venetian army who secretly marries Desdemona, a Venetian woman.

Iago is a soldier within Othello's army who has been fostering a hatred towards Othello after being passed over for a promotion.

Iago thus decides to tell Desdemona's father that she married Othello.

At first, Desdemona's father disapproves of the marriage.

But Desdemona convinces her father of her love for Othello.

Iago finds another way to get back at Othello.

He plants Desdemona's handkerchief in Lieutenant Cassio's room to prey upon Othello's insecurities.

Othello falls for Iago's manipulation and kills Desdemona as a punishment for her supposed infidelity.

Othello later kills himself.

So as you can see, this play is very much a tragic play through and through, and you can see that by what happens to the characters and ultimately Othello's fate at the end.

Let's check your understanding of that summary of "Othello." Did you understand the main plot points? Answer this question.

Who manipulates Othello throughout the play and why? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done if you said, Iago manipulates Othello throughout the play because he was passed over for a promotion.

So that means Iago is quite angry and bitter at Othello because Othello, who's the leader of the army, did not promote Iago to a senior position.

Iago wanted to be lieutenant, so that means Iago wanted to be second in command to Othello, but Othello gave that role to Cassio instead.

Let's see how the play Othello can be plotted on to Freytag's pyramid.

Let's recap the structure.

The first part of Freytag's pyramid is the exposition, which introduces the character's background and setting.

Next we have the inciting incident, which is a catalyst for the protagonist's changing fate.

We're gonna have the rising action, where the tension grows as it leads to a conflict.

We then have the climax, which is the middle of the story, considered the turning point where tension is highest.

Next, we have the falling action where the story shifts to action that happens as a result of the climax, and the resolution, finally, at the end is where the conflict is resolved and loose ends are tied up.

Check your understanding of Freytag's pyramid now.

Which section is missing from Freytag's pyramid? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done if you said the climax is missing from the story structure there.

Now, we have all the events of "Othello" bullet-pointed on the screen.

They are not in the correct order.

Your job is to place each of these events from the play onto Freytag's pyramid.

So you need to decide what event's the exposition, what event marks the inciting incident, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.

You need to plot each of those six points on the pyramid.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done on getting to grips with the complex plot of "Othello" and being able to order it on the pyramid.

That's very impressive.

Let's go through what you may have said.

In the exposition, we learn of Othello and Desdemona's marriage.

The inciting incident might be when the play moves to Cyprus where Iago plants seeds in Othello's head about Desdemona's infidelity.

This is considered the inciting incident because it's where Othello's fate changes.

He begins to become insecure and jealous after this point.

Next, the rising action.

Othello becomes more agitated and asks for proof of Desdemona's infidelity.

The climax is the point in which a Othello receives his visual proof that Desdemona is cheating.

And it's when he gets shown that Cassio has Desdemona's handkerchief.

For Othello, that proves that Desdemona has cheated.

But, of course, we know he's being manipulated by Iago.

The falling action is when Othello hits and shouts at Desdemona and people begin to doubt Othello's honourable status.

Can you see there how the events of the falling action are a direct result of the climax? Othello gets violent towards his wife because he strongly and firmly believes that she's been unfaithful.

And finally, the resolution.

Othello strangles Desdemona and kills himself.

And that is the tragic end of our protagonist and tragic hero, Othello.

Well done if you ordered all those events correctly.

Let's move on to our second learning cycle where we'll understand context in Othello.

Remember, context is all that background information that surrounds a text.

So, in our study of "Othello," we'll be playing close attention to characters who are treated unfairly or who suffer from other people's prejudiced views.

So in other words, we'll be paying close attention to characters that were considered as outsiders at the time of Shakespeare's writing.

So anyone that was considered not to fit in, anyone that was ridiculed for a certain reason, anyone that was pushed of the side or treated unfairly, we'll be looking at them and giving them a voice in this unit.

So, in order to understand who the outsiders are, we need to know when Othello was written.

Othello was written in 1603, the Elizabethan era, and it was first performed in 1604, the Jacobian era.

It's important to examine key contextual information, as I said, in order to understand who would've been considered an outsider in the play and how their treatment may drive the plot.

Let's check your understanding of context.

When was "Othello" written? Pause the video and have a think.

Great, "Othello" was written in the Elizabethan era.

Well done if you got that right.

Now one important characteristic that we need to look at in the Elizabethan era is race.

So we are going to learn a bit about that now.

At the time Othello was set and written, there was a lot of prejudice against non-white people.

The term Moor was used to refer to North Africans and Sub-Saharan Africans, as well as for Muslims of dark skin.

White Venetians were considered superior to Moors, and to some Elizabethans and Jacobeans, pale skin was seen as the most beautiful.

Some of the public associated blackness with evil, thinking incorrectly that whiteness was a sign of purity.

And lastly, interracial marriage would've been frowned upon by many.

Thankfully, society has changed a lot, where we no longer hold these prejudice views against people of colour.

I now want you to think about, in terms of the player "Othello," which characters' relationships and events are likely to be shaped by these contextual points.

So which character is likely to be presented in a way in which they are affected by the prejudice? Pause the video and have a think.

You may have said that Othello, being a Moorish man, being a man that we assume is from Africa, he will be the one that suffers in the play as a result of this prejudice.

Also, his relationship with Desdemona might also suffer as a result of the ignorance that persisted around interracial marriage.

Now we move on to gender in the Elizabethan era.

Shakespeare lived and wrote an extremely patriarchal, male-dominated society.

This meant that women were considered to be the property of their father until they married and then they became the property of their husbands.

Women were expected to be obedient to their father and husband in all things, and marriages in the Elizabethan era were normally arranged with the father having the final say on who his daughter married.

Remember, society has changed a lot since the Elizabethan era, and we now give women the same respect that we would give a man.

Discuss now which characters relationships and events in "Othello" are likely to be shaped by these contextual points.

So which characters are likely to be affected by gender stereotypes? Pause the video and have a think.

You may have said that someone like Desdemona would have been affected by these beliefs on the screen here, especially because she marries, on her own accord, she marries someone secretly.

And that may have repercussions for her considering that she does not consult her father beforehand.

Let's check your understanding about those contextual points.

What is true of race in the Elizabethan era? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done if you said, in the Elizabethan era, white people were seen as superior to black people and this is not a belief that we tolerate in our society.

What is true of gender in the Elizabethan era? Pause the video and have a think Well done if you said, in the Elizabethan era, men were treated as superior to women.

Again, this is not a belief we tolerate in our society.

With the contextual information in mind, answer the following questions in full sentences.

You have five questions to answer, and they are all about linking the play and the plot events to the contextual information.

Let's read the questions together.

Based on the prejudices you have learned about, which characters do you think would've been considered outsiders in Elizabethan society? Remember, that's anyone who would've been treated unfairly or face prejudice.

Number two, why do you think Desdemona and Othello marry in secret? Number three, what do you think Iago expects to happen when he tells Desdemona's father of her secret marriage to Othello? How does this feed into his revenge? Number four, how do gender roles come into play in Iago's successful manipulation of Othello? And number five, how can Desdemona's tragic end be linked to gender roles? Pause the video and answer those five questions.

Well done, everyone.

I really like how you used full sentences to answer those questions and made your answers very thorough indeed.

Let's share our ideas now.

Number one, Othello may have been considered as an outsider since he was a Moor, a black character when racism was rife.

Also, due to the patriarchy, Desdemona may also be seen as an outsider.

Desdemona and Othello likely marry in secret because they know that society may disapprove of their interracial marriage.

Also, Desdemona has not consulted her father about the marriage, so she also defies her filial duty in marrying without his knowledge and permission.

When Iago tells Desdemona's father of the secret marriage, he probably expects her father to be angry with Othello and disappointed with Desdemona.

It is likely that Iago hopes his revenge will be fulfilled in the separation of Othello and Desdemona.

Number four, Iago may have been successful in his manipulation of Othello because by convincing Othello of Desdemona's infidelity.

He questions Othello's dominance in their relationship which may have been damaging to Othello's male pride.

So we can see there how the gender roles may be coming in into his manipulation because a man was expected to be in control of the relationship and a woman was expected to be obedient to the man.

So the fact that Othello gets convinced that Desdemona isn't being obedient to him, isn't letting him be in control, maybe that affects his pride.

Number five, how can Desdemona's tragic end be linked to gender roles? Desdemona is innocent.

She actually is not unfaithful to Othello, but she's killed anyway.

It shows the lack of power she has as a woman living in a patriarchal society because her voice wasn't listened to.

Well done on those questions.

Here's what we've learnt in today's lesson.

Iago is angry that he has been passed over for a promotion, so he pretends to love Othello whilst plotting his downfall.

Iago tells Desdemona's father about her secret marriage to Othello which causes trouble but she defends her love for him.

Iago prays on Othello's insecurity by planting Desdemona's handkerchief, false proof of her betrayal, in Cassio's room, Iago manipulates Othello to the point where he murders his wife as punishment for her supposed unfaithfulness.

Race and gender are key contextual ideas to consider in the play, and both Othello and Desdemona can be seen as outsiders and their treatment may drive elements of the plot.

I hope you've enjoyed your first lesson on "Othello" and I look forward to reading more of the play with you later.