Aim: Is Othello's brave personality for real?

Objective: Students will find evidence to back up reasons why Othello's insecurity makes him weak even though he presents himself as valiant.

Procedure:

1. Ask students to find evidence to support Othello as a strong person at the beginning of the play (answers include the following: Act 1.2.20-31: Othello is confident that Desdemona's father will accept him because of his work for the government. Act 1.3.91-110: Othello subtly reminds the group of his work as a soldier while modestly speaking of himself as a poor speaker while he knows he is a good one. Act 1.3.149-196: Othello confidently speaks of why Desdemona fell in love with him).
2. Ask students why they would suspect that Othello may not be as confident as he presents himself (answers include the following ideas that make the reader question how Othello can be so confident in the face of such animosity: a) Iago's use of derogative slang when speaking of him; b) Brabantio's utter disgust at his daughter's new husband; c) The fact that the way Desdemona fell in love with Othello seems to have no real basis for a relationship).
3. Ask students what evidence they can find of Othello's emerging insecurity (answers include the following: a) Othello's starts to fret over his age, looks, etc. when Iago mentions another man; b) The way Othello believes his love is cheating on him before he has any real proof; c) Othello won't believe Desdemona even when she professes her love for him).
4. Students should be directed towards the following websites with articles about insecurity. They should find evidence from these articles that validates actions/feelings that Othello has throughout the play (students can be divided into groups which analyze one article each, or students can browse through all articles, depending on time frame). They should record their ideas for class discussion: The Trouble with Insecurity ; Letting the Steam out of Self Esteem; Fraud; Romantic Jealousy; Your Trump Card: Self Love
5. After students record their answers, list ideas on the board (answers include the following: a) People gain confidence through their mates' love--when Othello's security from his love was gone, he became insecure; b) Low self-esteem makes one take out anger on others--Othello hits Desdemona which shows he is projecting his anger on her; c) Self-esteem must be based on something significant--Othello's battles may not have helped him overcome his low self-esteem which stems from his role as a minority in Venice; d) Self-doubt leads to feeling like a fraud--Othello's sudden self-doubt must be because he is feeling this way as he realizes his physical qualities are not worthy of Desdemona's love; e) Jealousy comes from low self-esteem and it is a reaction to a perceived threat to a valued relationship--Othello feels a threat based on his lack of qualities that Desdemona would love; f) Lack of real substance in a relationship leads to self-doubt--Did Desdemona really fall in love with Othello for solid reasons?).