Write a thesis-driven research paper about Shakespeare’s Othello of at least 800 words in which you respond to one of the prompts following this paragraph.
You will need to cite at least three critical sources, all of which must be from either Gale literary sourses or JSTOR databases. Use sources only from these two databases!
Note that you will need a Works Cited entry for Othello as well; thus you will have at least four Works Cited entries.
This paper is thesis-driven, which means you need to take a stand. Although you will employ research in your discussion, you will also need to make a claim which you support throughout the body of your research paper.
Prompts
Desdemona’s innocent conception of the relations between men and women is contrasted by Emilia’s more realistic or worldly view. Research the roles of women and the societal views of them in Elizabethan England and relate your research to the women in Othello.
Race plays a large role in Othello. It has been claimed that Othello ultimately fulfills an Elizabethan conception of Moors as a barbarous race, prone to jealousy and murder. Is this a fair assessment? Research Elizabethan views of the Moors and discuss whether Shakespeare, despite creating a noble character in Othello, does indeed play to stereotypical Elizabethan views.
Iago claims he hates the Moor because the lieutenancy he desired was given to Cassio and because it is rumored Othello has slept with his wife. These claims have not convinced everyone; Samuel Taylor Coleridge famously claimed that Iago’s soliloquy in 1.3 is the “motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity.” Research what Coleridge meant by this annotation in his copy of Shakespeare (he doesn’t use the word “motive” quite the way we do) and research how his claim has been received by other critics. Where do you stand? Does Iago endeavor to undo the Moor because of his stated reasons? How do you account for Iago’s apparent delight in plotting against Othello?
In-Text Citations of Verse Plays
See Verse Plays in the MLA section of The Little Seagull Handbook. In the current edition, it’s on page 156. However, below is what you need to know:
Give act, scene, and line numbers, separated by periods:
For example, Iago says, “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse” (1.3.364).
Othello is written in verse, for the most part. If your quote is more than one line, use a forward slash (/) to indicate a line break:
As the scene closes, Iago has a villainous idea: “I have’t! It is engendered. Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light” (1.3.384-385).
Note that each line starts with a capital letter.
Works Cited
Have your Works Cited on a separate page at the end of your essay.
You can see an example of a Works Cited page near the end of the MLA handout on Brightspace under Class Handouts.
Note that you need to alphabetize and reverse indent your entries.
The two required databases will provide you with a correct Works Cited entry. See the video.
Use the “Anthology” example on the Works Cited table near the end of the MLA handout for a model of how to create a WC entry for Shakespeare’s play.
