A level English Lit Othello Help!!!

Hey, does anyone know how to even go about answering this question?

'Explore how Shakespeare presents the character of Iago in Othello. You must relate your discussion to relevant contextual factors and ideas from your critical reading.'

I'm in year 13 now and STILL failing English Lit. I got 8s in English at GCSE and I never get past a D at A-Level, and no matter how much I try or ask for help, I get WORSE every time. My marks are staying around 8. * marks per essay. I literally don't know what the exam wants from me.

So any ideas on how to not fail this question? I've been here 5 hours trying to answer it and have precisely 3 sentences.

Reply 1

yashvimuchhala

Original post by CrashOfWorlds

Hey! Do you have an extract for this question? If not, you can use a wide range of ideas from the book. You can talk about Iago being a machiavellian character. You can talk about how he despises Othello due to his race and the racial prejudices in the Renaissance Era. Talk about Shakespeare's intentions to portray how in the end, his malign nature leads to his downfall as well. You can also mention his misogynistic attitude towards his wife Emilia and Desdemona as well. Honestly, there are so many points you can use. I suggest you take points from the website PMT for better understanding! I hope this helped.