Oh my - I'm so incredibly chuffed to hear this. Thank you for letting me know, and a massive well done to you, Mia!

Any top tips on getting an A*?

You're so welcome - all the best with your exams :)

Woot! So great to hear - and best of luck with your exams. Keep up the hard and good work 😘

You are so welcome! Thank you for watching, and for the lovely feedback x

You're so welcome girl!

Yes please! Would be great to know what eventually come up. All the best for today!

@@JenChan it was on the significance on marriage in othello. And section A was act 1 scene 1: interaction between iago and roderigo

@@soomayiap5052 Thanks for letting me know, and I hope it went reasonably well for you!

You are so welcome! Thanks for watching x

Well, first, make sure you punctuate! :) Run-on sentences can often get in the way of clarity and concision. In terms of 'how detailed' you should be with context/intertext/criticism, there's no hard and fast rule, and your primary focus should always be on the text(s) itself. Contextual facts, intertextual references and critical insights are only there to help give our argument more texture, and to show that we've engaged with circumstances and viewpoints that may have influenced the writing the text. In any case, what will score you top grades is the conviction with which you make your argument, not the quantity of information you include about details external to the primary text.

Thanks so much - I'm so flattered that you'd want to reference my work. I suppose if you wanted to cite my views, you'd do it the same way as you'd reference literary critics (e.g. "As Jen Chan observes in her analysis video 'Is Othello a misogynistic play?' dated XXX, [insert whatever view here it is that you want to cite]")

Yes - that's a reasonably strong argument to take. I'd suggest that you consider why Shakespeare would have framed Desdemona via the POVs of her father and husband at the start of the play - and what that might signify about Desdemona's personal agency and power positioning in the play (perhaps also room to zoom out and think about it contextually re women's social standing back in Renaissance England).

It's probably an indication of how typecasting can be a socially pervasive instinct, so much so that both men and women are prone to doing it as a way to feel morally superior. Also shows that Bianca's mistreatment has its roots in social stigmatisation more so than pure gender discrimination, I feel. What do you think, Eric?

​@@JenChan yes i hadn't thought about the class implications. i always think it shows some sort of internalised misogyny, because it is quite a change in attitudes from what she says in a4s3. perhaps that even the women who we may deem the strongest still fall victim to patriarchal expectations. perhaps also something about the difference in how she can express herself when in a domestic context among women, and how that changes when we shift to a more military context among men (similar to when she asks for permission from the men to speak her mind in the next scene). thank you so much for all your videos!! they're a godsend, got my a level exam on tuesday.

@@ericparker1224 fantastic insights, especially re your point about the tonal shift activated by the shift from domestic to military context - had not considered that. All the best with your exams!

@@JenChan had my exam today - this proved a lifesaver!! thank you so much :)

@@ericparker1224 Yay!! Well done for getting through the exam, and so pleased to hear that this video helped :) was a bit of a mad scramble putting it all together ahead of your paper today, frankly!

"But when Desdemona reveals her assertive nature, she is murdered for being a disobedient wife"

Hm... interesting thought, but dramatic irony often refers to the gap in knowledge between the character and the audience/reader, so I wouldn't quite see your example as being dramatic irony if we were to go by the strict definition...

It's a hugely reductive prompt that's just begging for a much more nuanced analysis, is my take...! Consider how Desdemona/Emilia/Bianca assert their power at multiple points in the play, and try not to impose a simple black-and-white patriarchal vs feministic reading.

@@JenChan I think that's a really interesting take ! I think I might want to dm you further if that's ok? Huge fan.

If you go on to look at the video Jen posted of ‘Desdemona being more of than a victim’, it will help back up the point of Desdemona being a victim of impossible standards. It feeds into your idea of Iago planting the unfounded seeds of jealousy into Othello, so ultimately she is never be able to fulfil the standards of being a ‘whore’ because she represents the archetype of a goddess in Venetian society. So that being said, Othello’s ego could be greater than his love for Desdemona, as he is willing to murder her rather than ask for the truth from Cassio initially. This is so his reputation he had held of her for being a ‘whore’ is not lost. This video is a slightly different interpretation to point you try to make as it links in the contextual factors of these women already establishing their roles in society and being targeted by the gendered assumptions and wilful ignorance of men. Either points are very valid and they do intertwine because they both discuss the treatment of women in Renaissance England.

Thank you so much for this, this is very helpful. There is an argument, however that even though Desdemona is the epitome of the traditional Jacobean wife, she is murdered because of how people think she will behave. The key to misunderstanding and tragedy in the play is that women are assumed to be sexually promiscuous by default.