Othello: No Fear Shakespeare Deluxe Student Editions - Shakespeare Side-by-Side Plain English

by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare everyone can understand—now in new DELUXE editions!
 
Why fear Shakespeare? By placing the words of the original play next to line-by-line translations in plain English, these popular guides make Shakespeare accessible to everyone. They introduce Shakespeare’s world, significant plot points, and the key players. And now they feature expanded literature guide sections that help students study smarter, along with links to bonus content on the Sparknotes.com website. A Q&A, guided analysis of significant literary devices, and review of the play give students all the tools necessary for understanding, discussing, and writing about Othello .
 
The expanded content includes :  
Five Key Five frequently asked questions about major moments and characters in the play.
 
What Does the Ending Mean?: Is the ending sad, celebratory, ironic . . . or ambivalent?
 
Plot What is the play about? How is the story told, and what are the main themes? Why do the characters behave as they do?
 
Study Questions that guide students as they study for a test or write a paper.
 
Quotes by Quotes organized by Shakespeare’s main themes, such as love, death, tyranny, honor, and fate.
 
Quotes by Quotes organized by the play’s main characters, along with interpretations of their meaning.

Genres: Classics

416 pages, Paperback

Published October 6, 2020

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Vic Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(spoiler alert)

But why though?

Iago is probably Shakespeare's most viscous villain but I don't believe we ever really know why. He says he believes Othello slept with his wife but he only seems to mention that idea almost in passing. This supposed cuckolding does not seem to bother Iago overmuch. Shakespeare gives us a villain for the ages but not his true motivation. So, for me, Othello gets 4.5 stars.

The story itself is entrancing. We watch the poison of mistrust administered, take effect, and conclude in violence and blood and tragedy. We look on, helpless to warn Othello that he has misplaced his trust in Iago instead of his faithful wife Desdemona, and honest lieutenant Cassio.

As Shakespeare is like to do, the story will sweep the reader up and keep them riveted for the whole ride. Little nagging questions, like Iago's motive, are quickly forgotten while the play is in motion. It is hypnotic as much as it is tragic. What is witnessed is foul and cruel and impossible to look away from. We must know more and are so engaged with both the characters and the plot we feel compelled to ride to the bitter end, even knowing what's to come and dreading it.

I've read this play before, but never seen it performed live. I've also seen the movie the movie from 1965 starring Laurence Olivier and Maggie Smith. And when I finished this reading it still gave me knot in my stomach so powerful are the emotions it still evokes. Every bit as powerful as the first time I read it. Highly recommended to all who enjoy the theater and any who speak the English language.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huge fan of the story line and the complexities. Although it is Shakespeare, making it seemingly incomprehensible to me. This copy with all of the added features helped TONS though.

[Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE ENDING???!!!! the gasps i let out

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, such a terrible story! Lesson learned from it: don’t believe everything you hear! I do like the No Fear Shakespeare series though. They make the plays so much easier to understand!