Approaches to teaching Shakespeare's Othello / edited by Peter Erickson and Maurice Hunt.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Erickson, Peter.

Hunt, Maurice, 1942-

Series:

Approaches to teaching world literature ; 88.

Approaches to teaching world literature ; 88

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Othello.

Shakespeare, William.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Study and teaching.

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.

Interracial marriage in literature.

Othello (Fictitious character from Shakespeare).

Othello.

Jealousy in literature.

Tragedy.

Physical Description:

ix, 244 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2005.

Summary:

Investigating the paramount issues of race, gender, and sexuality in Othello; teaching the drama as an adventure play, as a tragedy and a comedy, as an antirevenge play; assessing the complex motivations of Iago; exploring the range of actors' interpretations of Othello's character over the centuries-these are only a few of the pedagogical strategies discussed in this 88th volume of the MLA's Approaches to Teaching series.

Part 1, "Materials," is designed to help instructors manage the wealth of resources available for teaching Othello. The editors carefully assess editions of Othello and of Shakespeare's collected works; review the textual history of the play; survey studies that address gender and race as historical concepts; and examine visual representations of Othello, particularly film adaptations.

The essays in the second part, "Approaches," are divided into six topical sections. The first group considers race in Othello, in the Renaissance, and in the contemporary classroom. The second section addresses male desire, the fluidity of gender roles, and competing male and female fantasies. The generic forces that shape Othello are examined in the third section. The final sections explore classroom strategies, survey performances of the play, and formulate innovative ways to teach the sources and analogs of Othello.

Contents:

Part 1 Materials / Peter Erickson, Maurice Hunt

Editions

Complete Editions of Shakespeare 3

Single Editions 5

Textual Studies and Sources 7

Teaching Resources

Critical and Pedagogical Studies 10

Suggested Student Reading 16

Performance and Theater Studies 16

Visual Materials and Other Artistic Media 18

Part 2 Approaches

Othello in the Work of James R. Andreas / Peter Erickson 31

Histories of Race

Othello and Race / Michael Neill 37

Rememorializing Othello: Teaching Othello and the Cultural Memory of Racism / Francesca T. Royster 53

Genealogies of Gender and Sexuality

"Your Own for Ever": Revealing Masculine Desire in Othello / Nicholas F. Radel 62

Improvisation and Othello: The Play of Race and Gender / Emily C. Bartels 72

Orders of Fantasy in Othello / Cynthia Marshall 80

Generic Frameworks

Othello as an Adventure Play / Jean E. Howard 90

Teaching Othello as Tragedy and Comedy / Douglas Bruster 100

"'Tis But a Man Gone": Teaching Othello as an (Anti)Revenge Play / Cynthia Lewis 108

Classroom Strategies

Teaching the Texts of Othello / Michael Warren 117

Motivating Iago / Maurice Hunt 125

Unhoused in Othello / Geraldo U. de Sousa 133

Teaching Teachers: Othello in a Graduate Seminar / Martha Tuck Rozett 141

Approaches to Performance

Teaching Richard Burbage's Othello / Virginia Mason Vaughan 148

Teaching Othello through Performance Choices / Miranda Johnson-Haddad 156

"Ocular Proof": Teaching Othello in Performance / Samuel Crowl 162

Interpreting the Tragic Loading of the Bed in Cinematic Adaptations of Othello / Kathy M. Howlett 169

Comparative Contexts

Teaching Othello with Works by Elizabeth Cary and Aphra Behn / Lisa Gim 180

Tales of a Fateful Handkerchief: Verdi, Vogel, Cinthio, and Shakespeare Present Othello / Sheila T. Cavanagh 187

Paper, Linen, Sheets: Dinesen's "The Blank Page" and Desdemona's Handkerchief / Janelle Jenstad 194

Finding Othello's African Roots through Djanet Sears's Harlem Duet / Joyce Green MacDonald 202

Survey Participants 213

Audiovisual Materials 236.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [215]-237) and index.

ISBN:

0873529901

087352991X

OCLC:

61131811

Publisher Number:

9780873529907

9780873529914