Shakespeare's Othello in school

literary classics and the desire to humanize social relations

Abstract

Literary classics feature deeply striking characters and situations. They offer creative models of language, examples of behaviors to be imitated or avoided, and reflections on what humanity is and what it may become, revealing appearances that conceal deeper essences. In the school context/ In the context of basic education it becomes necessary to establish criteria by which teachers select works, given the constraints of limited school time and the competing purposes ascribed to literary education. Considering this concrete challenge for teaching practice and for the research field on literature teaching, this article presents theoretical considerations to support the selection of Shakespeare's Othello for use in elementary and high school. The play was analyzed using György Lukács' Marxist aesthetics, which reveals the presence of typical characters and themes expressing dialectic of humanization and dehumanization. We conclude that the work is aesthetically effective, as it enables the possibility to the individual to “become someone else” through its study, in accordance with the principles of Historical-Critical Pedagogy.