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Love Through the Ages

English Lit: AQA A Level Othello, topic 11.1.2

Love Through the Ages

The aim of this topic area is to encourage students to explore aspects of a central literary theme as seen over time, using unseen material and set texts.

Love through the Ages

Love through the Ages

  • Students should be prepared for Love through the Ages by reading widely in the topic area, reading texts from a range of authors and times.
  • The range of texts (of which Othello is one) allows students to study representations of love by a variety of authors across time.
The exam

The exam

  • Within the examination, students study three texts:
    • One poem.
    • One prose text, of which one must be written pre-1900.
    • One Shakespeare play (Othello).
  • You will also respond to two unseen poems in the exam.
Aspects of love to explore

Aspects of love to explore

  • Although not an exhaustive list of Aspects of Love through the Ages, areas that can usefully be explored include:
Romantic love of many kinds

Romantic love of many kinds

  • Romantic love of many kinds:
    • Othello and Desdemona.
    • Iago and Emilia (but failed and damaged).
    • Cassio and Bianca.
Love and sex

Love and sex

  • Love and sex:
    • Othello and Desdemona.
    • Iago and Emilia—and her dissatisfaction.
    • Cassio and Bianca—the notion of paying for sex/love.
    • Love and Sex in the context of the 1600s in general and the historical period and place the play is set.
    • Desdemona’s interest in sex.
Love and loss

Love and loss

  • Love and loss:
    • Othello’s suspicion and jealousy, feeling like he has lost Desdemona to Cassio.
    • Emilia realising that she has lost Iago.
    • Othello killing Desdemona.
    • Desdemona (alive enough) to realise Othello’s death.
    • The failure of Cassio and Bianca’s relationship.
    • Cassio’s injury and Bianca’s reaction.

Love Through the Ages 2

Although not an exhaustive list of Aspects of Love through the Ages, areas that can usefully be explored include:

Social conventions and taboos

Social conventions and taboos

  • Social conventions and taboos:
    • The love affair between a white woman and a black man.
    • Marrying without the permission of one’s father (Brabantio).
    • The age gap between Othello and Desdemona.
    • The notion of witchcraft.
History and time

History and time

  • Love through the ages according to history and time:
    • Conventions during the Renaissance.
    • The ability of those at the top of society to do what they want.
    • The challenge of the ‘new man’ in the form of Iago.
    • The way that relationships are conducted between men and women.
    • The legitimacy of courtiers / prostitution.
    • The conventions of marriage.
Individual lives

Individual lives

  • Individual lives (young love, maturing love):
    • Othello and Desdemona when younger, but also their maturity at the end of the play - reverting perhaps to childishness once more.
    • The impact of thinking one is being deceived.
    • The fear that one partner thinks the other partner believes they are having an affair.
    • Love and sex, paid for by money.
    • The loveless marriage of Emilia and Iago.
    • The manipulation of others by an individual.
Jealousy and guilt

Jealousy and guilt

  • Jealousy and guilt:
    • Othello’s misplaced jealousy of Cassio.
    • Iago’s jealousy of Othello (he believes Othello once slept with Emilia).
    • Iago’s jealousy of Cassio.
    • Brabantio’s guilt about his daughter.
    • Desdemona’s own guilt over going against her father.
    • Othello’s guilt over killing Desdemona.
    • Emilia’s guilt at not telling the truth soon enough.

Love Through the Ages 3

Although not an exhaustive list of Aspects of Love through the Ages, areas that can usefully be explored include:

Truth and deception

Truth and deception

  • Truth and deception:
    • Iago’s deception of Othello.
    • Iago’s deception of Emilia.
    • Othello’s realisation of truth about Desdemona.
    • The symbol of the handkerchief.
Proximity and distance

Proximity and distance

  • Proximity and distance:
    • Desdemona and Othello’s initially close marriage and eventual distance.
    • Iago’s enforced distance from Emilia.
    • Bianca’s distance from Cassio.
    • The distance from Cyprus (away) to Venice (home).
Marriage

Marriage

  • Marriage:
    • Desdemona and Othello’s marriage and how it declines into chaos.
    • Iago and Emilia’s failed marriage.
    • Cassio and Roderigo’s incapacity to marry.
Approval and disapproval

Approval and disapproval

  • Approval and disapproval:
    • Social approval of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage by the Senators.
    • Brabantio’s disapproval of Othello.
    • Iago’s disapproval of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship.
    • Iago’s anger over Emilia’s past relationship with Othello.
    • The general disapproval of mixed race love and marriage in the society at the time.

Test yourself on Love Through the Ages

  • How many unseen poems will you have to respond to in the exam?

  • What features of Othello relate to the idea of love and loss?

  • How does Shakespeare explore the theme of jealousy and guilt in Othello?

  • What ideas could you draw on when discussing the theme of love through history and time in Othello?

  • How does Shakespeare explore the theme of approval and deception in Othello?

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