I recently attended a production of Othello at the Maynardville Open-air Theatre in Cape Town.
When I saw the poster advertising the production, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, no! That doesn’t look like Othello!’ (See top left-hand photo in the collage.) While he certainly looked strong of character, and fearless, to me he didn’t seem handsome enough to have wooed Desdemona. Trying to pinpoint and vocalise my doubts was difficult, but it is important to question one’s ‘gut’ reactions.
Was Othello good-looking? Did he not woo Desdemona with his brilliant story-telling ability rather than his physical appearance? And surely this is a quality unlikely to be portrayed in one’s looks. I finally decided that the actor playing Othello looked too mean – Othello is many things, but not mean of spirit.
This got me thinking about how physiognomy could be used in literature classes. Physiognomy is the assessment of a person’s character or personality from his or her outer appearance, especially the face. A ‘simple’ task of asking learners to look for photos or illustrations of faces that represent various characters (or they could draw the faces if they are talented enough) involves so much more than just looking for pictures. In order to select the most appropriate picture – and obviously different people will have different views – learners first have to list the essential qualities of the character in order to find a face that matches this list. I believe that by going through this process learners will have a clearer understanding of literary characters that will not easily be forgotten.
Give it a try, and let me know how the process worked out for you. Having a thorough understanding of the characters, and their passions and motives, will help learners answer both the essay and contextual questions.
Remember to recommend Macrat’s Study Manuals to your learners – the user-friendly approach makes studying so much easier, and it is guaranteed to yield results!
[By the way – which face in the collage best represents Othello?]
MacMo