Hello, it is great to see you today.

Welcome to your lesson on writing an analysis of Iago.

I'm Miss Sutherland and I'll be teaching you today.

By the end of today's lesson, you would've analysed how Shakespeare uses language and structure to present Iago as evil in Acts 1 and 2 of "Othello." So we are going to be zooming into the character of Iago today and considering his characterisation up until this point.

Our four key words today are: antihero, an antihero is a central character who lacks heroic attributes; Machiavellian, which describes someone who gets what they want in cunning, ruthless, and immoral ways; satanic, related to the devil or Satan; and depraved, which means morally corrupt or wicked.

I'll give you a moment to drop down any of those keywords.

Great, let's get started on today's learning.

So we have two learning cycles today.

In the first learning cycle, we'll be mapping Iago's presentation throughout "Othello" so far and we'll be exploring different interpretations of his character.

And in the second learning cycle, we'll be writing about Iago.

We'll be doing some analytical writing to cement our understanding of this character.

So let's start off with mapping Iago's presentation.

So in the first two acts of "Othello", Iago is the character that speaks the most and thus the audience, us, we know him the most.

Here are the appearances of Iago so far in "Othello" that we've had our attention drawn to.

In Act 1, Scene 1, he complains about his lack of promotion.

He says, "I know my price, I'm worth no worse a place." So he's saying, I know my worth.

I know I'm fantastic.

I should be in the position that Cassio is in.

I'm no worse than him.

I deserve to be in a position no worse than him.

In Act 1, Scene 1, he later speaks of Othello and we actually are introduced to Othello via Iago.

He says, "I follow, to serve my turn upon him." Meaning that he's only loyal to Othello to be able to get him back later on.

And he says, "I am not what I am." So he's saying that no matter what you think I am or what I seem to be, I can definitely assure you I'm not that.

So he's definitely manipulating appearance and reality.

Another appearance from Act 1, Scene 1, he tells Brabantio of Desdemona's elopement and he uses racial slurs against Othello.

He says, "You'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse," therefore dehumanising Othello.

Next we have Act 2, Scene 3, where he manipulates Cassio to play to his machinations.

So he gets Cassio to buy into this idea of speaking to Desdemona about losing his job rather than speaking to Othello.

And of course, we know that's because Iago is planning to convince Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair.

He speaks to the audience via soliloquy and he says, "How am I then a villain to counsel Cassio to his good?" So he's trying to manipulate the audience as well to think that he's not so bad.

He's trying to manipulate the audience into thinking that he's being honest, being helpful to Cassio.

But, of course, we know he is not.

And then in Act 2 Scene 3, he seeks to ruin Desdemona and Othello, and we see how he talks about this.

He says, "Turn her virtue into pitch and pour pestilence into his ear." So he wants to take all of Desdemona's goodness away and tarnish it and he wants to abuse Othello's ear, infect Othello's ear with his lies and schemes.

So there we have five appearances of Iago so far and I think we get to know this character quite well.

I want you to discuss now with a partner or on your own, what do each of these moments reveal about Iago? So go through each one and think about specifically what that moment or speech shows about him.

Pause the video and discuss.

I heard some amazing ideas.

I like how you considered how each of those quotes may actually show something slightly different about Iago.

Indeed, he's a very complex character.

Let's go through what you may have said.

So when he complains about his lack of promotion.

We could say he is malcontent, perhaps insecure and jealous of other successful characters like Casio and Othello.

When he talks about manipulating appearance in reality and being treacherous towards Othello, he seems he's proud to be duplicitous and his diabolical nature is hinted at.

Because remember that quote, "I am not what I am"? It's actually the antithesis to God's quote from Genesis, "I am that I am." So Iago's want to manipulate appearance in reality actually presents him as diabolical so early on in the play.

Next, when he tells Brabantio of Desdemona's elopement.

He shows himself to be a bigot with the racial slurs he uses against Othello.

Remember, a bigot is someone who has prejudice and antagonistic behaviour towards a certain group of people or person.

When Iago manipulates Cassio, it shows how he's exploitative because he's manipulating yet another character and he revels in the disorder.

When he sees Cassio and Desdemona greeting, he's saying, "Yes, continue to hold her hand, continue to kiss her, this is perfect." So we can see how he's really enjoying how he thinks they're playing into his schemes.

So in that sense, we can see he's a true villain, he's thriving in the disorder he's created.

And lastly, when he seeks to ruin Desdemona and Othello shows he's aligned with sin and corruption intent on tainting all the goodness around him.

And that's where we really see how Iago could be satanic.

Well done if you've said any of that.

Now we've got five interpretations of Iago's character.

So what is your overall impression of him at this point? Pause the video and discuss that question.

Interesting, some of you say you think he is a true villain and perhaps the most villainous Shakespeare character you've met.

Others might think he is more than a villain, actually he represents the devil.

There's some really interesting ideas there.

Thank you for sharing that with me.

So we've explored several interpretations of Iago's character now.

I want you to match each sentence stem which explores the different element of his character to the end of the sentence.

So there's three sentence stems and there's three sentence ends.

Can you match each sentence stem to its ending? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done, let's go through.

In Act 1, Scene 1, Iago appears diabolical because he aligns with the devil saying, "I am not what I am," showing the beginnings of his duplicitous nature.

In Act 1, Scene 1, Iago appears diabolical, but he also appears weak, obsessing about being passed over for a promotion.

And in Act 2, Scene 3, Iago appears wholly satanic because he talks of his sin and wanting to taint all the goodness around him.

Well done if you got those right.

So we're now going to look at Jun and Izzy's interpretation of Iago.

Jun says, "Shakespeare firmly characterises Iago as wholly satanic throughout this play." And Izzy says, "Whilst I recognise Iago's diabolical nature, I think he is also deeply insecure and malcontent, leading to him wanting to cause the same misery to other characters." I want you to think about whose opinion you align with if any.

Pause the video and discuss, whose opinion do you align with? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

I want you to use the sentence starters below to formalise your ideas about Iago.

So you are going to say whether you agree or disagree with Jun or Izzy.

You are going to say more specifically why you agree or disagree with Izzy or Jun.

And then you are going to say ultimately, so you're going to make a conclusion about what you think of Iago.

So remember Jun said he thinks that Iago is wholly Satanic, so completely representative of the devil all throughout the play.

And Izzy says that while she thinks that he does reflect the devil in some ways, he actually comes across as dissatisfied with his own life, insecure, and that's why he wants to cause other people misery.

So who do you agree or disagree with? Make sure you write up your complete answer using the sentence starters below.

Off you go.

Great writing, I really like how you gave really specific evidence to justify your idea.

Let's go through what you may have said.

I agree with Izzy's idea that whilst Iago's diabolical nature is clear, he is also deeply insecure and malcontent, leading to him wanting to cause the same misery to other characters.

More specifically, he clearly feels aggrieved about not being given a promotion in Act 1, Scene 1, this is where his lust for vengeance against Othello begins.

Iago then alludes to the fact that Emilia and Othello may have had an affair.

He then watches Cassio's over-friendly greeting with Emilia in Act 2 Scene 1.

Ultimately, Iago seems to be experiencing jealousy of those in more successful ranks and malcontent and insecurity regarding his own relationship.

That may be why he is diabolical, because he is firmly intent on causing damage and corruption to all that the other characters have, which he lacks.

This answer is really impressive because if you look at in the middle section, this person has given three examples of how Iago may be insecure and malcontent.

That really adds strength to the paragraph.

We're going to move on to our second learning cycle now where we'll write about Iago and we'll analyse his character.

So these two students, again, they've formulated their ideas into topic sentences.

So let's have a look what they have written.

Jun says, "Shakespeare, firmly characterising his antihero, shows Iago as wholly satanic.

In the first two acts of the play." Izzy's topic sentence says, "Shakespeare, firmly characterising his antihero, shows Iago's diabolical nature but also reveals the malcontent that drives this." Discuss what the difference is between these two topic sentences.

Pause the video and think about that now.

You may have said that Izzy's topic sentence uses two adjectives to give debate and depth to a paragraph.

And this is a tool you can use even if you don't agree with the second interpretation, you can use two adjectives in your topic sentence to show a developed understanding of the play.

So you see how Izzy's talked about Iago being diabolical and malcontent.

So she's shown that she really has looked deeply at the play because she recognises two aspects of his character, not just one.

So definitely try and use two adjectives in your topic sentence if you really want to impress the reader and show your understanding of the play, as well as adding depth and debate to your paragraph.

Now, I want you to elevate this topic sentence by including another adjective to explore a slightly different stance.

So this topic sentence right now says: Shakespeare, firmly characterising his antihero, shows Iago as depraved in the first two scenes of the play.

So the first adjective is depraved.

Can you add another suggestion to this topic sentence? Can you add another adjective to explore a slightly different stance? Pause the video and have a go.

Excellent, you may have said: Shakespeare, firmly characterising his antihero, shows Iago as depraved but also exceptionally clever in the first two scenes of the play.

Now that works quite well because Iago does come across as depraved, as corrupt and wicked.

But he also does come across as clever in the way that he reads all the characters very, very well.

He knows exactly what to say to move them, and he uses that to his advantage which is obviously a trait of a clever villain.

Yes, depraved villain but clever at the same time.

So let's read Jun's paragraph: As soon as we meet Iago in Act 1, Scene 1, his speech is reminiscent of the devil, as he parodies God with his paradoxical language "I am not what I am." This not only presents him as diabolical but also treacherous in his manipulation of Othello, who trusts him.

Later, Iago recognises the sheer evil behind his schemes, stating that "Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light." He seems to be calling upon the devil to help him orchestrate his plans.

He then refers to himself as a devil willing the blackest sin to occur while seeming heavenly.

Altogether, the repeated use of diabolical imagery confirms he's a satanic incarnation.

I want you to think about what Jun does that elevates his discussion of his key quotes? Pause the video and discuss that question now.

Now Jun has found patterns in the text relating to the diabolical imagery and discusses them by linking quotations together.

So notice how not all of those quotes come from the same soliloquy or scene.

Yet Jun has tracked Iago's character across multiple scenes and seen that his presentation and quotes in multiple scenes link through their use of satanic or diabolical imagery.

And this is an excellent thing to do to show you know how the author has crafted a character's journey.

So Shakespeare didn't just give Iago a diabolical quote in Act 1, Scene 1 and leave it there.

Shakespeare builds up Iago's character as a diabolical or satanic incarnation throughout the play.

Let's check your understanding of analytical writing.

What is true when discussing quotes in a paragraph? Is it that you should discuss each quote in isolation? Is it that you should discuss only one quote per paragraph? Or is it that you should link quotes together according to the patterns in the text? Pause the video and answer that question.

Well done if you said when discussing quotes in a paragraph, you should link quotes together according to the patterns in the text.

Much like Jun did in his example, he linked all of the quotes relating to satanic imagery together.

The way we close our paragraph is also important.

Let's look at how this paragraph has been improved by adding the green closing line here.

So at first, the paragraph reads: Altogether, the repeated use of diabolical imagery confirms he is a satanic incarnation.

Once we improve the last line, it says: Altogether, the repeated use of diabolical imagery confirms he is a satanic incarnation, a character that the audience can recognise as a puppet-master and catalyst in tragic hero Othello's demise.

I want you to discuss what has been improved in this particular closing sentence? What's been added to upgrade it? Pause the video and discuss.

So what this closing sentence did was it linked the character's presentation back to the big picture of the play.

We know this play is about the fall of a tragic hero.

So every single character in some way or the other is actually tied to Othello's fall.

So it's in our best interest when we're writing our closing sentence to link every moment back to the big picture of the play, which is the fall of Othello.

So in this last sentence, this person has managed to talk about how Iago's satanic representation links to Othello's downfall.

What can we do to improve our closing sentence in a paragraph? Should we use our best piece of analysis? Should we introduce a new idea? Or should we link back to the big picture of the play? Pause the video and check your understanding.

Well done if you said we should link back to the big picture of the play.

We should always link back our analytical writing to why it's relevant in the fall of Othello.

Now it's your turn to complete some writing.

You are going to write a paragraph about Iago's presentation in Act 1 and Act 2 of "Othello" and here are four top tips to elevate your writing today.

Number one, try to use slightly different adjectives in a topic sentence to add depth and debate to a paragraph.

Number two, you can comment on patterns of language such as diabolical or bestial imagery.

You should make reference to Iago as satanic and Machiavellian.

And you should try to craft a concluding sentence that draws ideas together and comments on Iago's role in the overall tragedy.

So pause the video and write your paragraph about Iago's presentation in Act 1 and Act 2 of "Othello".

Off you go.

Brilliant effort on your writing there.

I now want you to self-assess your paragraph.

Check that you have all of those four top tips that we mentioned earlier.

Pause the video and self-assess your work.

I'm really impressed with your focus today.

Thank you so much.

Here's what we've learned: Using two slightly different adjectives in a topic sentence can add depth and debate to a paragraph.

Commenting on patterns of language such as diabolical or bestial imagery is useful when analysing Iago.

Iago can be seen as satanic and Machiavellian.

And concluding sentences can draw ideas together and can help you comment on Iago's role in the overall tragedy.

Thank you so much for joining me in today's lesson.

I really hope to see you again sometime soon.