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Fall 2003

English 15: Second Paper:

Length: 5 pages (c. 1,500 words). Due at start of lecture Tuesday, November 18. Late papers will be penalized one full grade (e.g. B becomes C). After one week late papers will be penalized two full grades.

This essay should be a comparative discussion of Hamlet and Othello which develops one of the following subjects. Your essay should be grounded in close reading of specificl passages. Avoid general plot summary.

1. The villains. The villain in Hamlet is Claudius. Iago is the villain in Othello. Write an essay in which you consider how each is presented in the play. You may wish to select a single topic to use as a lens to focus your discussion. For example, you might wish to compare Claudius’s first appearance in the play (I.ii) with Iago’s (I.i). Claudius is first shown delivering a major public speech, Iago is first shown in informal conversation. How do these crucial introductory moments relate to the characters of the two villains? Claudius appears to be assured, invulnerable, but in fact his smooth surface hides inner passions that we only later glimpse. Iago, on the other hand, is from the first interactive and manipulative. Alternatively, you may wish to write about the two characters by comparing Claudius’ soliloquy, “O, my offense is rank . . .” (III.iii.36-72) with one of Iago’s soliloquies, perhaps “And what’s he then that says I play the villain. . .” (II.iii. 324-350).

2. The deaths of innocent ladies. Ophelia goes mad and drowns whereas Desdemona is brutally murdered by her beloved husband. Both ladies are “innocent” in that each is a faithful woman and incapable of deceit. Both are “innocent” as well in the sense that neither is quite aware of the terrible things happening around her. Write an essay in which you develop an argument about the roles of these two innocent ladies in their respective plays. You may wish to select a single topic to focus your discussion, for example, the different manner of each lady’s death. Alternatively, you may wish to focus on the fact that in each play the “innocent lady” is contrasted with another, more worldly female figure, Gertrude and Emilia.

You may substitute another comparative paper subject that deals with Hamlet and Othello but only if you first provide your TA with a written proposal – a 100-200 word description of your proposed topic – and if you secure the TAs permission in advance.

Presentation. Again, your paper should be neatly printed in a normal font. It should be proofread and checked for spelling. Quotations should be from the Pelican Shakespeare paperbacks or Complete Penguin Shakespeare and should indicate the act, scene, and line numbers of the passage. Your name, the course number, your TA’s name, and the time of your section should appear at the top.