Othellos

In this course we will read Shakespeare's Othello from a number of different perspectives, including those of race, religion, gender, staging, form, and literary legacy. We will engage the play at the level of rhetorical analysis, textual history, character analysis, source analysis, staging, and stage history. We will also study contemporary dramas resembling Othello (e.g., Titus Andronicus, Selimus, the Renegado, The Duchess of Malfi, and The Winter's Tale), and examine its legacy in texts such as Woolf's Orlando and Ellison's Invisible Man, and popular films (e.g., "O," Kalyattam, and Jarum Halus). At every point, we will consider critical reception and theoretical implications. 3 hrs. sem.