Research Proposal on "Don Quixote and Othello: Failed Artists Compare"

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Don Quixote and Othello: Failed Artists

Compare and contrast how the artist is depicted within two or more of the works that we have read so far. You might want to address how and if a concept of "genius" is presented. Consider whether or not the creation of art is a collaborative. What is the source of inspiration for the artist? Is there such a thing as inspiration? What is the purpose of the art; i.e. The advancement of political ends, the creation of beauty, the recording of history, etc.

Both Cervantes' epic satire Don Quixote and Shakespeare's Tragedy of Othello, the Moore of Venice are considered works of towering genius, yet these artistic creations portray the art of romantic, chivalric storytelling in very suspicious lights. Art and storytelling has the power to lead men astray, and the nature of romantic fiction can distort reality for the worse as well as for the better. The purpose of art may be theoretically to elevate beauty, but in the case of Don Quixote and Othello's imagination, art is used for dark purposes to delude the central characters about the true nature of women.

In Othello, the main character is lead astray by the fictitious, jealousy-driven lies and storytelling of Iago. Iago in many ways is a kind of master-playwright of evil, cunningly crafting a story in which Desdemona is falsely unchaste and in love with Michael Cassio, a man whom Othello promoted to the position Iago believed he deserved. Just as under the influence of chivalric fictions Don Quixote sees his ladylove Dulcinea in the face of the peasant Aldonza Lorenzo, Othello under Iago's artistic influence sees a cunning whore in the face of the pure Desdemona. Just

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as Don Quixote sees a squire in the form of the fat farmer Sancho Panza, Othello sees a rival in the face of the guileless Michael Cassio.

Even Othello and Desdemona's original relationship was built upon romantic storytelling and lies. Neither of them knew one another very well before they married, instead Othello merely told the guileless girl romantic stories. Like Don Quixote, she was enchanted when she heard and:

Still question'd me the story of my life,

From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes,

That I have passed (2.2).

Although, unlike Don Quixote's stories, Othello's fantastic tales are true, Shakespeare hints that Desdemona falls in love with an incomplete picture of Othello. She knows nothing of the true, rough life of soldiering that makes him mistrust femininity at the soonest breath of suspicion conjured up by Iago and a stolen, strawberry-spotted handkerchief. The courtship of the lovers in Othello is not portrayed as a real exchange of minds, but in terms of a kind of 'as if' of ideals:

My story being done,

She gave me for my pains a world of sighs:

She swore, in faith, twas strange, 'twas passing strange, 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful:

She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd

That heaven had made her such a man: she thank'd me,

And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her

I should but teach him how to tell my story.

And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake:

She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd,

And I loved her that she did pity them (2.2).

The 'friend' or the imaginary Desdemona, one might say, falls in love with the imaginary, story-teller version of Othello, just as Othello will later grow to hate her and Cassio because of the false dream spun by Iago, where Cassio writhes in his sleep, calling… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Don Quixote and Othello: Failed Artists Compare" Assignment:

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World Literature I

For your second essay you will choose one of the following options and construct an argument that addresses that option. Keep in mind that the texts serve as evidence to substantiate your argument; refer to the texts often and well, by both quoting and paraphrasing; remember to explain sufficiently the significance of the textual evidence you have provided. This paper should be between 1200 and 1500 words in length and follow MLA format. Through writing this paper you should display a command of the ability to read closely, to develop sophisticated and compelling arguments based on your reading, to substantiate those arguments with textual evidence, and to write with a command of standard written English on the sentence level.

No outside research is required for this paper.

Works to compare or contrast or to use in any of these options : Fuente Ovejuna, of the power of the imagination, don quixote, othello, the praise of folly, or thorsetin the staff struck. Book we use is nortons anthology.

1. Compare and contrast how the artist is depicted within two or more of the works that we have read so far.

You might want to address how and if a concept of *****genius***** is presented. Consider whether or not the creation of art is a collaborative. What is the source of inspiration for the artist? Is there such a thing as inspiration? What is the purpose of the art; i.e. the advancement of political ends, the creation of beauty, the recording of history, etc?

2. Address how humanity is depicted in two of the works. Are people necessarily born with the propensity for good, or are they born into depravity? Are flaws and good deeds performances or the result of an innate identity?

3. Address how reason and passion are addressed within at least two of the works we have read. Consider whether these two forces are necessarily at odds with one another and which is the nobler and more powerful of the two forces.

4. Address how two or more of the works depict ambition. Do the works valorize the desire for achievement or personal honor? What is the object of ambition in the texts?

5. Compare how reason/folly or sanity/madness are depicted within two of the works that we have read. Consider what the criteria are for distinguishing between the two aspects of these dichotomies. Consider who, according to these works, is responsible for classifying a person, idea, or emotion into one of these categories.

6. Compare the moral and ethical systems of two characters, from two different works. How do they decide what is right and wrong? Are there certain institutions that influence their moral and ethical outlooks?

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