Ambiguity in Othello

In class today, a student asked me how I come up with questions for class. It's no secret: I do research. When I'm preparing for a new unit, I'll always go down to the UT library and check out a bunch of books on the upcoming topic. If you're interested in our Othello unit, I can recommend two chapters in particular. They're both college level, so you might struggle with them, but I found the ideas quite accessible...

In "Deconsructing Othello," Stephen Cohen explores the relationship between ambiguity in language and political freedom. I borrowed from his ideas as we explored how Iago loosens Othello's linguistic hold on reality.

Then, in "The Redundancy of Language in Othello," Thomas Betteridge explores the play's interest in representation: How Othello makes his stories real for Desdemona, how Iago makes the handkerchief into proof of Desdemona's infidelity, and, ultimately, how the actors on a stage make the story real for the audience. What happens when we represent something that's false? Is it any less real?