Othello - Related Texts
Combat and Classics [http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/combat-and-classics/] These podcasts discuss conflict in famous literery texts from a philosophical perspective.
Betrayal: Make sure you look at the position of the betrayal in the Shakespearean Tragedy (narrative structure, characterisation of the tragic hero) rather than just thinking about the plot.
An unusual direction could be an essay about the role of friendship and betrayal in society, which you can use as a frame through which to interpret the relationships in the play. Look at:
Betrayal: Make sure you look at the position of the betrayal in the Shakespearean Tragedy (narrative structure, characterisation of the tragic hero) rather than just thinking about the plot.
- Wilkie Collins: A Terribly Strange Bed (1852) [Link it to the audio book. The text is available on Gutenberg) Originally published in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words, this crime story narrates the betrayal of hospitality by a hotel. The Victorian Web [http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/collins/pva271.html] has useful analysis questions.
- Canto XXXIV of Dante's Inferno [http://www.online-literature.com/dante/inferno/24/] describes the deepest part of hell which is resereved for betrayers. Danteworlds [http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/circle9.html] has a summary of the Canto.
- Anne Sexton's poem The Break-away [http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/7206/the_break_away] describes the disintegration of a relationship, invoking images of that ultimate betrayal, the holocaust.
- Episode 9 of Joss Wheedon's Firefly: Ariel [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36AY9Hl6-qg] deals with the betrayal of crew-members in a sci-fi Robin Hood situation. There are some interestign conversations on line about how the captain deals with the betrayal, including Reddit [https://www.reddit.com/r/firefly/comments/280llb/why_did_mal_keep_jayne_on_the_serenity_crew_after/]. Don't get bogged down in explaining the plot - focus on the different representations of the betrayal (and the reactions of those betrayed). (for backfround on the betrayer's character you may want to watch Episode 7: Jaynestown)
- Martin Luther King's anti-war speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (1967) [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2564.htm] casts America as the Great Betrayer or it's friend Vietnam. You can listen to him on Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4T0Yq_fYjY]
- Amilcar Cabral 's Cancer of Betrayal speech [https://shekereblog.wordpress.com/the-cancer-of-betrayal-amilcar-cabral/] attacks those who perpetuyate the colonial betrayal of Ghanese society through corruption and power-mongering. Aziz Salmone Fall's discussion of this speech [http://www.azizfall.com/TheCabral.pdf] could also be a related text in it's own right.
- Phillip Levine's poem The Negatives [ http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/16812/the_negatives] depicts the effects of betrayal on four men.
- Betrayal performs as a key plot point all through Homer's Illiad [http://www.shmoop.com/iliad/summary.html] (C8th BCE), whether it is Helen of Troy falling in love with her captor, the God's tricking Achilles, Achilles betraying his warrior role when he tears Hector's body asunder, or the trusting the Greek wooden horse. Just choose one section of the poem - it's enormous!
- Milton's epic retelling of the opening scenes of the christian bible, Paradise Lost [http://www.paradiselost.org/], parallels the betrayal of God by Lucifer (the fallen angel/devil) and Adam & Eve. This link includes a parallel version of the poem in plain English and links to essays. Again, pick just one section as your related text. Textual Tapestry [https://textualtapestry.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/comparables-between-shakespeare%E2%80%99s-julius-caesar-and-john-milton%E2%80%99s-paradise-lost/] has an excellent comparison of Paradise Lost with Julius Caeser, another Shakespearean play dealing with ambition and betrayal.
- Normal Again (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 6:17)[http://www.buffyworld.com/buffy/scripts/117_scri.html] shows Buffy betraying all of her friends under the influence of demon poison. This is a particularly interesting episode as a related text because she believes she is a mental patient who has deceived herself into thinking she's a superhero (after all, what's more likely?!) which opens up all sorts of textual layers for you to unpack in an essay. the link is to the script - It may be on Netflix etc or see Ms Carmyn for a DVD.
- Any of the King Arthur stories depict betrayals such as Lancelot and Guinevere's betrayal of Arthur when they sleep together, Mordred's betrayal of Arthur and the entire court when he kills King Arthur, Nimue's betrayal of Merlin when she imprisons him in a tree, miscellaneous times that the knight's betray the chivalrous code of the round table... You could look at Malory's original Morte d'Arthur [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36462], Tennyson's Idyllls of the King [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/610] (but don't do Lady of Shallot - it's on the HSC list) or try to source retelling by famous literary figures such as J R Tolkein or John Steinbeck.
- If you haven't done "I had been hungry all the years" [http://www.bartleby.com/113/1076.html], Emily Dickinson's poem can be read from the perperspective of the betrayal of an ideal.
- Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde (F STE) can be read as the betrayal of one's self as well as the betrayal of society/social values. Look in Schoop [http://www.shmoop.com/jekyll-and-hyde/] for a summary.
An unusual direction could be an essay about the role of friendship and betrayal in society, which you can use as a frame through which to interpret the relationships in the play. Look at:
- Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics [http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/ethics/summary.html] The summary of this text is available at Classical Wisdom Weekly [http://classicalwisdom.com/aristotle-art-friendship/] could itself be used as a text.
- Emerson's Essay on Friendship (1841) describes both friendships born of novelty and hero-worship and deep close friendships. Pay attention to the ways his definition of friendships describes the power play between Iago and Othello.
- Julie Fitness's essay about Betrayal, Rejection, Revenge and Forgiveness: An Interpersonal Script Approach [http://www.psych.purdue.edu/~willia55/392F-'06/FitnessBetrayal.pdf] takes a socio-psychological approach to the narrative of betrayal.
- The introduction to Penelope Anderson's Friendship's Shadows: Women's Friendship and the Politics of Betrayal in England 1614-1705 takes a philosophical perspective on the role of friendships (and more specifically, the betrayal cause by split allegiances in war) during the English Civil War.
- There are probably articles from psychology journals about the "mean girls" phenomenon that you could also use in this way. Let me know if this is an approach you want to take