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Othello
Life is sweet for Othello. He is deeply in love with his new wife, Desdemona, and as the Duke's general, he is the most important person in Venice's army. But Othello does not know that his flag-bearer, Iago, hates him and wants revenge. As Iago begins to succeed with his clever plans, a frightening emotion takes hold of Othello's hear: will jealousy destroy him?
80 pages, Paperback
Published August 31, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 5, 2024
First time reading for Shakespear!
Now I wish I read the original and not this version, and so I did
I loved how it all started with a lie and a fight, in this way we got to meet and understand the characters better and to know their morals, values and characteristics by their actions and reactions
It kept me excited to see how this whole misunderstanding will be resolved? however, I had some questions like what was the relationship between Emilia and Desdemona? what happened before that made Emilia this loyal to her, and how and why she married an evil man like Iago?
This kind of realism is what I mostly appreciate. There are no foolishness as keeping characters alive just because they are important!
The moral lessons in the play are all about love, honesty, and loyalty
love without trust destroys everything
characters in the play trusted the wrong person and believed him
and lastly, jealousy is what moves this play in the first place, leading to a tragedy. All those points are connected to one another. Jealous people should search for the truth, and those in love should believe their lovers as well. People can work out a lot of things if they just simply talk.
Iago is officially crazy, what a villain man
Now after reading about ‘Moor’, ‘Black’ that has left me with so many questions about Shakespear and history, was Othello black & a Moor? were there any Moor generals in the army in the sixteenth century?
feeling like some information are missing
After searching, here is what I found:
“Although Othello is a Moor, and although we often assume he is from Africa, he never names his birthplace in the play. In Shakespeare’s time, Moors could be from Africa, but they could also be from the Middle East, or even Spain.”
Now the question remains, why is Othello black? why did shakespear choose his character to be a Moor?
“It could also be that Othello’s blackness provided Shakespeare a new way to explore questions that consumed his playwriting at this time in his career: What is identity, and how is it formed? What is a man? What is an Englishman?”
to make it easier, this same question could introduce us to the answer that this is the whole plot, this is where jealousy falls in the play!
They say in Shakespear’s time there were a lot of Muslims who converted to Christianity, and that English people feared those and their capability of fully changing, and so, Othello’s descriptions as ‘a Moor’ could work as a symbol of his ‘true’ essence that Iago was trying to show to others, and to Desdemona’s father.
It also has to do with England’s relationship to the Ottoman Empire, and British sailors being sacked by pirates, often Turks. All of this leading to the difficulties in trusting Moors and black people, which Shakespear was trying to expose.
In the last chapter, Othello starts to have a swinging mood, not believing himself, questioning everything, and having inner thoughts and conflicts especially after seeing how people have always trusted him and believed in him.
Now I wish I read the original and not this version, and so I did
I loved how it all started with a lie and a fight, in this way we got to meet and understand the characters better and to know their morals, values and characteristics by their actions and reactions
It kept me excited to see how this whole misunderstanding will be resolved? however, I had some questions like what was the relationship between Emilia and Desdemona? what happened before that made Emilia this loyal to her, and how and why she married an evil man like Iago?
This kind of realism is what I mostly appreciate. There are no foolishness as keeping characters alive just because they are important!
The moral lessons in the play are all about love, honesty, and loyalty
love without trust destroys everything
characters in the play trusted the wrong person and believed him
and lastly, jealousy is what moves this play in the first place, leading to a tragedy. All those points are connected to one another. Jealous people should search for the truth, and those in love should believe their lovers as well. People can work out a lot of things if they just simply talk.
Iago is officially crazy, what a villain man
Now after reading about ‘Moor’, ‘Black’ that has left me with so many questions about Shakespear and history, was Othello black & a Moor? were there any Moor generals in the army in the sixteenth century?
feeling like some information are missing
After searching, here is what I found:
“Although Othello is a Moor, and although we often assume he is from Africa, he never names his birthplace in the play. In Shakespeare’s time, Moors could be from Africa, but they could also be from the Middle East, or even Spain.”
Now the question remains, why is Othello black? why did shakespear choose his character to be a Moor?
“It could also be that Othello’s blackness provided Shakespeare a new way to explore questions that consumed his playwriting at this time in his career: What is identity, and how is it formed? What is a man? What is an Englishman?”
to make it easier, this same question could introduce us to the answer that this is the whole plot, this is where jealousy falls in the play!
They say in Shakespear’s time there were a lot of Muslims who converted to Christianity, and that English people feared those and their capability of fully changing, and so, Othello’s descriptions as ‘a Moor’ could work as a symbol of his ‘true’ essence that Iago was trying to show to others, and to Desdemona’s father.
It also has to do with England’s relationship to the Ottoman Empire, and British sailors being sacked by pirates, often Turks. All of this leading to the difficulties in trusting Moors and black people, which Shakespear was trying to expose.
In the last chapter, Othello starts to have a swinging mood, not believing himself, questioning everything, and having inner thoughts and conflicts especially after seeing how people have always trusted him and believed in him.
November 23, 2024
Othello got married and was supposed to be happy.
However, Othello was manipulated by Iago into doubting Desdemona’s fidelity, which ultimately drove him to kill her and then take his own life.
Jealousy is certainly the main theme of this work, but I believe the greatest cause of the tragedy was Othello’s inability to trust Desdemona and Cassio.
Desdemona’s unwavering love for Othello, even up to the moment of her death, is deeply heartbreaking.
However, Othello was manipulated by Iago into doubting Desdemona’s fidelity, which ultimately drove him to kill her and then take his own life.
Jealousy is certainly the main theme of this work, but I believe the greatest cause of the tragedy was Othello’s inability to trust Desdemona and Cassio.
Desdemona’s unwavering love for Othello, even up to the moment of her death, is deeply heartbreaking.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews