English Notes Latest Questions

  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Racial bias and prejudice is strident in Othello with the title character facing the brunt of it. Pitting his physical virtues against his wife Desdemona who is fair and pear white in complexion becomes a constant tone of discussion and attack. Iago, Brabantio, Rodrigo, Othello (self-flagellation) aRead more

    Racial bias and prejudice is strident in Othello with the title character facing the brunt of it. Pitting his physical virtues against his wife Desdemona who is fair and pear white in complexion becomes a constant tone of discussion and attack.

    Iago, Brabantio, Rodrigo, Othello (self-flagellation) all show a clear revulsion to Othello’s race and even his ethnicity being a ‘Moor’.

    Desdemona is probably the only person that decided to look past the racial difference between herself and Othello and accept him for his valour and courage.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Othello is based in 16th Century Europe when the Christian Venetians were locking horns with Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the Mediterranean lands of Cyprus etc. The word ‘Moors’ used for Othello was used for Muslims and may suggest he was converted to Christianity and recruited to the Italian aRead more

    Othello is based in 16th Century Europe when the Christian Venetians were locking horns with Muslims of the Ottoman Empire for the Mediterranean lands of Cyprus etc.

    The word ‘Moors’ used for Othello was used for Muslims and may suggest he was converted to Christianity and recruited to the Italian army in the crusade against the Turks. The inspiration behind the text was a story Giraldi Cinthio’sfrom Hecatommithi.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Themes of gender disparity and sexism is manifest used in Othello. The women are considered sinister and disloyal and the two feminine characters end up getting murdered. Even though Emilia and Desdemona are strong and intelligent they are shown to be gullible and impressionable. Male characters likRead more

    Themes of gender disparity and sexism is manifest used in Othello. The women are considered sinister and disloyal and the two feminine characters end up getting murdered.

    Even though Emilia and Desdemona are strong and intelligent they are shown to be gullible and impressionable. Male characters like Iago and Othello openly condemn women as witches.

    In the society established in Othello women play dormant roles in terms of political involvement and militaristic governance and often relegated to homes and palaces.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Best Answer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    In the Dramatic Monologue "The Patriot", Robert Browning uses imagery to show his glory in the beginning and tragic end of his life in the end. In the beginning, the patriot says that when he came back from a war after winning, there were "roses, rose...with myrtle". In addition, there were so manyRead more

    In the Dramatic Monologue “The Patriot”, Robert Browning uses imagery to show his glory in the beginning and tragic end of his life in the end.

    In the beginning, the patriot says that when he came back from a war after winning, there were “roses, rose…with myrtle”. In addition, there were so many people on the roofs of houses (to welcome him) that “house-roofs seemed to heave and sway” and the flags were waving on the top of Churches. It looked like “church-spires flamed”. All these images show how Patriot was treated by the people when he came victoriously.

    However, after 1 year, he is going to be executed because he tried to do too much for them. Now, nobody praises or supports him. There are “just a palsied few at the window set”. The word “palsied” depicts their cold behaviour towards the Patriot. However most of them have gathered to see him hanging. It is raining and he is bleeding as people are throwing stones at him.

    He describes his execution scene as follows, “Thus I entered, and thus I go!” meaning that he was not giving a moment and stoned to death.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Desdemona is a strong, intelligent and compassionate woman. She is fair in her dealings and just in her evaluation of people. She ignores racial difference to fall in love with Othello for his talents and bravery. She is caring and tries to help Cassio get his employment back. She is also headstrongRead more

    Desdemona is a strong, intelligent and compassionate woman. She is fair in her dealings and just in her evaluation of people. She ignores racial difference to fall in love with Othello for his talents and bravery.

    She is caring and tries to help Cassio get his employment back. She is also headstrong as she asserts her will to marry Othello even when his father and most people in Venice are against her marriage to a man of colour.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Power is the over riding desire for people in the society where Othello exist.Wars for possession of fertile lands of the Mediterranean forms the background of the story. Even individual characters like Iago, Rodrigo, Othello etc are vying for their share and form of power. Iago wants revenge over ORead more

    Power is the over riding desire for people in the society where Othello exist.Wars for possession of fertile lands of the Mediterranean forms the background of the story. Even individual characters like Iago, Rodrigo, Othello etc are vying for their share and form of power.

    Iago wants revenge over Othello for preferring Cassio and exhibits powers of manipulation, Rodrigo wants Desdemona and Othello wants acceptance in a society and polity where he is still considered inferior due to his skin colour.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Betrayal is a constant thread in Othello. Starting with Desdemona’s betrayal of his father’s trust and marrying Othello and culminating Othello murdering her for her perceived betrayal with Cassio. Iago feels aggrieved by Othello’s betrayal by his selection of Cassio as his lieutenant. The biggest bRead more

    Betrayal is a constant thread in Othello. Starting with Desdemona’s betrayal of his father’s trust and marrying Othello and culminating Othello murdering her for her perceived betrayal with Cassio.

    Iago feels aggrieved by Othello’s betrayal by his selection of Cassio as his lieutenant. The biggest betrayal is the orchestrated by Iago who masterfully manipulates all the characters in the play. He brainwashes both his trusting ally Othello and loving Wife presuming an affair between the two.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Othello and Iago are long time friends and ally. The both exhibit some similar traits like military expertise, leadership, bravery and a penchant for rhetoric and verse. They both are driven individuals and emotionally charged in their conduct. However, Iago is a master manipulator and is able to hiRead more

    Othello and Iago are long time friends and ally. The both exhibit some similar traits like military expertise, leadership, bravery and a penchant for rhetoric and verse.

    They both are driven individuals and emotionally charged in their conduct. However, Iago is a master manipulator and is able to hide his true intentions.

    Othello is impressionable and trusting and falls for Iago’s tricks and lies. They both are fuelled by jealousy and anger which forces them to kill the women of their respective lives.

    In a way they both are trying to justify their worth and position in a setup which questions their qualifications and traits.

    See less
  1. John Crowe Ransom is known as the father of New Criticism. He coined this term in 1941. This approach to literature is based on the principle of 'Art for Art's Sake." It focuses on the text (Formalist), known as "close reading" (particularly) and ignores other parameters like social context, readerRead more

    John Crowe Ransom is known as the father of New Criticism. He coined this term in 1941. This approach to literature is based on the principle of ‘Art for Art’s Sake.”

    It focuses on the text (Formalist), known as “close reading” (particularly) and ignores other parameters like social context, reader and author in order to find how a work of literature functions as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic object.

    See less
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poem celebrates the moral values like courage, love for the country, loyalty and dedication of the army. The Light Brigade marched towards their enemies i.e. Russians without questioning their leader in spite of knowing that he made a mistake because the enemy was stronger and had dangerous weapRead more

    The poem celebrates the moral values like courage, love for the country, loyalty and dedication of the army. The Light Brigade marched towards their enemies i.e. Russians without questioning their leader in spite of knowing that he made a mistake because the enemy was stronger and had dangerous weapons while the British Army had only swords.

    The soldiers attacked the enemy. according to the poet they went into the mouth of death without fearing and sacrificed their lives for their country.
    Read the detailed summary of the poem.

    See less