Justin Monisit’s Reviews > Othello > Status Update

On Act V and now I can officially say that - yeah, this is not Shakespeare's best work. The entire plot hinges on miscommunication which is so frustrating to read as they talk around the thing. I am fine with Iago being a flat EVIL character, but everyone else being this flat is also just boring to read through. Some nice quotes here and there, but yeah - disappointing reread.

Okay so Act 3.3-3.4 actually is straight up fire (though I have a feeling that sleeping scene... probably is left out). Still shy of landing among my favorites as it's taken me so long to get through it but I now can say I understand the praise. Iago is truly slimey and brings out the worst in all

I guess the hot take is that I guess I do have to watch a production in order to fully appreciate this. It is good, but damn these speeches go on for a while and are just exposition - not the moral philosophy that I love. But damn, Iago is ruthless and I think Shakespeare tackling racism is still something that is noble.

First time reading Shakespeare without an adaptation, maybe hampering my enjoyment. I respect how unabashedly evil Iago is from the first scene, but so many monologues that aren't chewy enough. Just explaining things in an unpoetic way