NEA RETAKE

Gilbert and Gubar’s thesis The Madwoman in the Attic suggests that because society forbade women from expressing themselves through creative outlets, their creative powers were channelled into psychologically self-destructive behaviour and subversive actions.

Using ideas from the Critical Anthology to inform your argument to what extent do you agree with this view in relation to The Yellow Wallpaper?

The nameless female protagonist,

Psychologically, an explanation for her decent into lunacy could refer to the theory that, when a person is deprived of their liberty and autonomy, they become increasingly more proactive in their struggle to feel a sense of freedom due to their increasing frustration. Therefore, it could be concluded that because the woman is effectively imprisoned, she uses her obsession with the wallpaper as an expressive outlet in order to experience some form of catharsis. Furthermore, her fixation on the wallpaper becomes the only element of her life that she has any control over, hence why she is more susceptible to any form of anger and that is why she becomes obsessed with the woman in the wallpaper, as it is the only ‘thing’ available to displace her emotions onto. For instance, at the beginning of the text, it is very clear that John is her main concern as she constantly puts him first, this is due to the fact that she is part of a phallocentric society that means the distribution of power is not equal due to the male centred nature of civilisation. Her obsession with john is clear not just in terms of her welfare but also in the way she talks, such as when she refers to him first when talking about them both ‘John and myself’ shows this. Therefore, as john, as an individual very active in the public sphere, becomes progressively more absent due to his ‘serious cases’, her emotional outlet that she releases towards him becomes less accessible, therefore her obsessive attitude towards him shifts to a new outlet, being the wallpaper and therefore the woman she sees in it.

NEA RETAKE NOTES

Gilbert and Gubar’s thesis The Madwoman in the Attic suggests that because society forbade women from expressing themselves through creative outlets, their creative powers were channelled into psychologically self-destructive behaviour and subversive actions.
Using ideas from the Critical Anthology to inform your argument to what extent do you agree with this view in relation to The Yellow Wallpaper?

ideas

john stops her from expressing herself through creative outlets

representation of the society they're from.

in the end she is slef destructed psychologically

victory comes at the price of madness

because she has no freedom or perimeter of escape she self destructs

private sphere - wallpaper is the only thing she has to focus on.

critic ideas

'in most literary representations, female independence gets a strongly negative connotation while helplessness and renouncing all ambition is seen as endearing and admirable' 

- h bertens 

quotes

'john laughs of course but one expects that of a marriage'

'john and myself' - always puts john first

'a great relief of my mind'

'absolutely forbidden to work'

'personally i disagree with all of their ideas'

'would do me good'

'but what is one to do' - repetition

'i did write for a while in spite of them' 'but it does exhaust me a good deal -  having to be so sly about it, or else be met with heavy opposition'

'the colour is repellent'

'i never saw a worse colour in my life'

'dwells in my mind'

'fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper. perhaps because of the wallpaper.'

'knocks you down and tramples upon you' - like the patriarchal society does to women.

Critical approaches to Othello and Misunderstanding in Othello

Critical approaches to Othello

What do new historicists do?

Read the summary of Cinthio’s De Gli Hecatommithi, 1565 by clicking on the "view images from this item tab" immediately below the image of the book. Now answer the following questions

What does Cinthio's collection of short stories explore?
explores the pros and cons of different kinds of love, especially within marriage. 

How does Shakespeare adapt Cinthio's tale in Othello?

Post colonialism

What is post colonialism?

it speaks about the human consequences of external control and economic exploitation of a native people and its lands.

What do post colonial readings focus on in the play?

they focus on the play’s representation of Ottoman Turks.

What real life event was the inspiration for the plays rising action?

set his play within the context of Venice’s struggle during the 1570s with the Ottoman Empire for control of Cyprus
Venice owned Cyprus from 1470 to 1569, but in 1571 Turkish forces seized the island. Later that year an alliance of Christian powers defeated the Turk in the famous naval battle of Lepanto.

How does the play undercut the Christian/Turkish binary?

by making the play’s most villainous character a Venetian and its hero an outsider.

What are Brabantio and Desdemona fascinated by and why?

by his strange stories of cannibals and anthropophagi

New historicist reading: ‘far more fair than black’

What debate are new historicist critics currently having?

Whether or not race was a factor in early modern representations of non-English peoples.

What evidence is there that Othello was held in high esteem by other characters?

‘far more fair than black’ and Montano’s claim that ‘the man commands / Like a full soldier’ (2.1.36–37) indicate the high esteem others have for him.

What references establish his liminal position in society?

Nevertheless, references to Othello as black and a Moor, as well as his lack of understanding of Venetian customs, establish his liminal position in Venetian society.

Feminist reading: ‘a maiden never bold’

What is endogamous marriage?

the practice of marrying within a local community or ethnic group

What has changed in the audiences reading of the character of Desdemona since the plays original performances and the 20th century?

From the play’s earliest performances, audiences responded sympathetically to Desdemona’s plight. After a 1610 production at Oxford, Henry Jackson recalled that Desdemona ‘entreated the pity of the spectators by her very countenance’. That changed in the late 20th century, however, when feminist critics underscored Desdemona’s initial independence and Emilia’s eventual strength, and outlined the ways both women – as well as the courtesan Bianca – were constrained by the male characters’ patriarchal suppositions. 

What is the current feminist perspective on the play?

From a feminist perspective, early modern England’s preoccupation with cuckoldry demonstrates a basic male insecurity about women’s sexuality.

Can you find evidence in the text to support this (include quotations)

Say they slack their duties,
And pour our treasures into foreign laps,
Or else break out in peevish jealousies,
Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us,
Or scant of former having in despite –
. . . 
Yet have we some revenge. (4.4.82–88)

Marxist reading: ‘’Tis the curse of service’

What are marxists critics concerned with?

the economic and psychological impact of early modern England’s hierarchical social system.

What is the hierarchy (pecking order) in the play?

The Duke and aristocratic members of the Venetian Senate give orders to Othello, who in turn commands his Lieutenant Cassio. Ensign Iago is subordinate to both. All three ostensibly serve out of loyalty to the state and for the status their military position brings, but they can be dismissed at the pleasure of their superiors.

What have fuedal obligations of service been replaced with?

a new economic model (dont get it)

TASK 2

According to the article, where does the texts tragedy spring from?

essentially springs from acts of misunderstanding.

How does Iago manipulate Othello?

Iago manipulates Othello’s latent insecurities about his new marriage to Desdemona

The handkerchief

READ the explanation of Italian handkerchiefs to gain a better understanding of its significance.

What two things does the article believe the handkerchief represents?

emblematises both the unblemished quality of the couple’s affections and Desdemona’s sexual purity

What does the pattern on the handkerchief represent?

implies the loss of virginity and represents the beginning of greater sexual experience and the potential dangers of those experiences.

The Venetian ‘state of mind’

How does the play Othello characterise Venice?

- as an immensely sensationalist society – and perhaps such sensationalism adds to the characters’ difficulty in acquiring unequivocal knowledge.

- and a society eager for the most colourful version of events and with no pressing concern for the truth of the tales it is told.

What did the Venetians have an appetite for?

for the scandalous as opposed to more nuanced thought is also present in the immediacy with which Brabantio believes the speculations about how his daughter’s union with Othello started.

How did John Leo view Africans and why is this a significant difference to Venetian's?

Joannes Leo’s casting of ‘the African’ as ‘most honest’ and ‘high minded’. It is a counterpoint to the Venetian desire for salacious statements, a desire he is repeatedly confronted with.

War

Why does this section believe misunderstanding is inevitable?

Gender

In the play, what do Venetian men have little grasp of?

Venetian men have an insufficient grasp of the ‘true’ character of their womenfolk; men cannot see women for who they ‘really’ are.

What is Emilia's function?

Emilia’s function as the ‘straight-talking’ working woman seeking to cut through patriarchal misreadings makes her, to my mind, one of the text’s most memorable figures.

Summarise this section from a feminist perspective.

What does Kiernan Ryan believe the play is a 'searing critique' of?
racial and sexual injustice, which is more powerful now in the 21st century than it could ever have been at the dawn of the 17th.

What evidence does Ryan provide to substantiate this view?
The fact that they are obliged to elope makes the illicit nature of their relationship in the eyes of Venice immediately clear. 


What does Ryan believe is Brabantio's main fear regarding Othello and Desdemona's relationship?
that the foundations of society are rocked by the interracial union. this is seen to be more influencial than the violation of his honour as Desdemona’s father.

Which quotations are used to demonstrate that characters 'speech is infected with contempt for "the Moor"?
‘Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe’ (1.1.88–9)
‘the thick-lips’ (1.1.66)
‘Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom / Of such a thing as thou’ (1.2.70–1)
‘If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black’ (1.3.289–90)
‘I saw Othello’s visage in his mind’ (1.3.252)
‘Haply, for I am black, / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have’ (3.3.263–5)
‘Her name, that was as fresh / As Dian's visage, is now begrim'd and black / As mine own face’ (3.3.386–8)

What type of jealousy is shown to be the 'rule' in Venice? 
sexual jealousy

What item does Ryan believe links the three couples?
the handkerchief

Why does Ryan believe Iago is so successful in making Othello believe that Desdemona has been unfaithful?
Othello is primed to believe it by the warped view of women and female sexuality that he shares not only with Iago but with other men.

Which two quotations does Ryan use to show this to be true?
- ‘did deceive her father, marrying you’ (3.3.206) 
-  ‘Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see; / She has deceived her father, and may thee’ (1.3.292-3).

Summarise why Ryan believes that Iago DOES NOT possess 'motiveless malignity'.

Iago's Control Over The Play

How many lines do Othello and Iago have?
othello has 880 lines
iago has 1088 lines

What is 'unusual' about this fact?
this is unusual because it is strange to give such an anti hero such prominace

Soliloquies

What is the difference between a soliloquy and a monologue?
a speech delivered directly to the audience, with no other characters on stage

What does the author believe is significant about how Shakespeare allocates these to both Iago and Othello?
because it creates a bond between the character and the audience. In the case of iago it makes the audience somehow feel part of it. the importamce of this in the play othello is that we as the audience already know what is going to happen as iago has already told us what he will do.


A Study In Vilany

What is significant to the author about Iago's lines in Act1 Scene 3?
'cassio's a proper man: let me see now;
to get his place, and to plume up my will
in double knavery - how, how?-lets see:

shows his brain working and hatching a plan.
this gives us the assumption that Shakespeare wanted to spend time examining the nature of villainy, which he does by focusing a lot of the play on iago and voicing his opinions in soliloquy's.


What is unusual about the final act? 
iago has no soliloquys

Words As Weapons

What does the author notice about Iago and Roderigo's interactions?
although roderigo has a 


Verse and Prose - Iago's Insincere Sincerity
At what points in the play does Block believe that Shakespeare uses prose intentionally?
Why does the author believe that verse reflects our true feelings?
What does the author believe is significant about Iago's use of iambic pentameter?
Which quotations are used to show a weak strong rhythm in the play?
The Terrifying Power of Language
What does the author believe is Iago's final insult 

Othello is a conflicting character due to the fact that he is an insider because of his military job, however he is an outsider due to his race. this is shown when Othello says that 'boasting is an honour, i shall provogulate'. by this, Othello means that he is as noble as Desdemona, his wife, in different ways. This conflicts the points when Othello is referred to as 'the moor' which instead shoiws Othello to be an outsider due to his race.

The fact that Othello and Iago are stood 'outside of the Saggitary' which helps to set up the tragedy as it enforces the idea that Othello is doomed from the start. this is because the 'Saggitary' refers to a sculpture of a half archer half man which has negative and dangerous connotations.

act 3 scene 3 study questions

For what two reasons does Desdemona agree to plead Cassio's case?

Desdemona agrees to help Cassio because she believes he truly ''does love my lord' and that he is an 'honest fellow'.       

What is Iago referring to when he says, "Ha! I like not that."?

By this, Iago refers to the fact that Cassio and Desdemona are talking privately. By saying ' i like that not' it would plant an idea and paranoia into Othello's head about the relationship between Cassio and Desdemona. This would then aid his plan when attempting to convince Othello about Desdemona and Cassio's disloyalty.

After Othello repeatedly urges Iago to tell him what's on his mind, Iago says "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;/It is the green eyed monster, which doth mock / The meat it feeds on." What is Othello's response? What does he want from Iago?

Othello's response to this is ' O misery'. This reply from Othello portrays the

What does Iago say about the women of Venice?

What contextual evidence do we have to support Iago's views of Venetian women?

Why might this cause Othello to believe this or, at least, not dismiss it immediately?

because it would have been seen as common knowledge by Venetian men that the women of venice are disloyal,  more so than anywhere else. this would therefore ensure that Desdemona fits the stereotype which would make it more believable to Othello as a result. 

Who echoes Brabantio's earlier warning to Othello?

Iago echoes brabantios warning to othello from act 1 when he refers back to when 'he thought 'twas witchcraft'. he does this while attempting to convince him of desdemonas disloyalty as it reminds him of the fact that she was disloyal to her father by marrying othello so it should not surprise him if it as to happen again.

In his duplicitous fashion, what bold statement does Iago make about Desdemona and Othello?

Desdemona's handkerchief becomes an imposrtant piece of stage business. Why did Desdemona produce it? What happens to it? What might this symbolise? What happens to it? What does Emilia plan to do with it?

What do you think motivates Emilia to take the handkerchief to Iago?

Emilia thinks that her husband, Iago, will use the napkin as a romantic gesture to her as Othello did to Desdemona. this would motivate her due to the fact that Iago is not very interested in her sexually or as a wife, therefore she would crave the type of relationship Othello and Desdemona have which she thinks she can replicate by being given 'that same handkerchief'.

What does Iago plan to do with the handkerchief?

Iago explains his plan once he has the handkerchief which is 'in Cassio's lodgings lose this napkin and let him find it' which would as a result will prove as a 'confirmation' and 'as proofs of holy writ'. this would therefore be included in the 'ocular' proof of Desdemona's disloyalty which Othello has demanded from Iago.

When Othello returns to the scene upset, what warning does he give Iago?

What 'proof' of Desdemona's disloyalty does Iago give Othello?

What is Iago's final 'proof'?

What is noticeable about Othello's language in this scene?

in this scene, Othello's language switches often as he goes from being the dominant one in the conversation, to only replying with one word or a short sentence.

the cool store

'The large cool store' was written in the 1960's by Philip Larkin and attempts to reflect the division between the higher class bourgeoisie and the lower class proletariats. the bourgeoisie was seen as the 'ruling class' and to be the group that controlled big businesses and corporations whereas the proletariats where the working class individuals who worked for them for a small wage at the base. at the time, proletariats where seen to be exploited and in this poem, seem to aspire to be like their superiors. 'the large cool store' was a fitting title to convey this as it refers to a large production (marks and spencers) who sold cheaper yet fashionable pieces which possibly reflects the clothing typical to someone in a higher class than them.

the shop in question is described as 'cool' which has an oxymoronic meaning as it could connote the feeling inside the shop as cold, therefore an unpleasant environment. similarly, this description could also be used by larkin to express the qualities of the bourgeoisies who own this corporation, these being 'cold, emotioneless or cynical' individuals. However it could infer a conflicting meaning that the shop's range of clothing is 'cool' meaning fashionable which would enable the proletariats to fit in with the rest of the higher class. despite this second inference, the capitalist society at the time would mean that the Bourgeoise had Hegemony over the lower working class proletariats which meant that the groups would never mix despite their efforts to fit in eventhough the means of production in clothing tried to tell them it was possible.

A Marxist critic would  argue that not the description of the clothes as 'simple sizes plainly' suggests another conflicting meaning as this could show them as not only dull garments but also used to show the plain and unoriginal qualities of the mass in the early 1960's. this idea of a culture with little individuality is enforced when the colour palette of 'brown and greys, maroons and navy' is used to describe the clothing sold in the shop. due to the fact that the clothes being described would be for proletariats to wear during the day, it gives us an insight to the type of work they would be enduring in relation to the boring and basic practical wear being sold to that group. this enforces an idea of indoctrination of a false consciousness to this group as this is the only thing available to them in relation to the clothes available to someone of a higher class and with not such a physically demanding job.

secondly, the next stanza moves on to picture the lives of factory workers and the shops target market. Larkin describes their houses as 'low terraced houses' which portray that they live in more run down areas as a result of their social class which emphasises their economic situation in comparison to that of the bourgeoisie. he then goes on to say 'factory, yard and site' which he does to highlight the labour driven jobs that these particular people would have to endure due to being inferior to the ruling class.

when Larkin refers back to the shop, he describes the mens clothing to be 'heaps of shirts and trousers' this infers that they are not driven by aesthetics, but are more simple when it comes to clothing. in comparison to this, women are shown here to have that of a materialistic nature and describes clothing to be worn at night 'modes for night'. he does this to emphasise the difference no only between the bourgeoisie and proletariat but also between that of men and women and does this to highlight which group would be more vulnerable to false consciousness. the garments are described as 'machine embroidered' and 'thin as blouses' this comment is not just used to present the difference in appearance but also to reflect lower class women as a whole. the use of the particular word 'thin' makes us adopt the representation of woman as empty or vacuous and individuals of dramatic nature. looking at this section through a Marxist lens shows us the different types of people in the capitalist society as the bourgeoisie has the freedom away from work to enjoy social activity, however, proletariats do not have this privilege as much due to the fact they are exploited by the system and do not benefit from capitalism. Reification is also used as they are presented as nothing more than a commodity in the society the poem is set in, however looking at it with a modern view helps to show the audience how much society has changed.

similarly, Larkin continues onto the next stanza with colour imagery however, in this instance they are more positive and help describe the clothes worn at night and are presented as more luxury than previously: 'lemon, sapphire, moss-green'. the fact that this type of clothing would be available at relatively cheap prices at the 'store' for lower classes, promotes the illusion that they would be able to escape their position in society due to the clothes they wear. this advertising would be directed by the bourgeoisie to promote these superficial and materialistic attitudes to make the proletariats believe they could be equal to them when realistically this could never be achieved. this point is reinforced by Larkin when he describes this consumer culture to be 'unreal wishes' and the whole idea is subject to false consciousness created by the ruling class to exploit the proletariats of more of their money. the lower class individuals would be alienated from themselves while trying to fit into a culture they don't belong in, by giving into consumer desire. As a result, this would cause them to resent their own social class by trying to fit into the superstructure.

Overall, Larkin infers that desire to be part of a certain culture is 'synthetic' meaning their wishes are man made to suit consumerism as this makes people believe they need to own the latest trends or be like someone else to be superior and have power which is essentially fake. As a result of the higher classes exploiting the lower classes, they are achieving more and more as they are the only ones benefiting from the cycle that consumerism creates as a result of the illusions made by them. There will never be an ultimate equality between classes due to the fact that there is still a clear division regarding the classes and what makes them work.