Othello

Product Information

Gillies, John; Minami, Ryuta; Li, Ruru and Trivedi, Poonam "Shakespeare on the Stages of Asia" in Wells, Stanley and Stanton, Sarah (eds.) "The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage", Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp.259-283 at pp.260-261. This jealousy is symbolized in the play through animal imagery. In the early acts of the play it is Iago who mentions ass, daws, flies, ram, jennet, guinea-hen, baboon, wild-cat, snipe, monkeys, monster and wolves. But from the third act onwards Othello catches this line of imagery from Iago as his irrational jealousy takes hold. [62] The same occurs with "diabolical" imagery (i.e. images of hell and devils) of which Iago uses 14 of his 16 diabolical images in the first two acts, yet Othello uses 25 of his 26 in the last three acts. [63] Samuel Taylor Coleridge's marginal note to the closing speech of Act 1 in his own personal copy of Othello, cited by Thomson and Honigmann, 2016, p.45; Neil, 2006, p.31; McAlindon & Muir, 2005, p.xliv and by Honigmann, 1997, pp.33-34 TL;DR (may contain spoilers): Iago manipulates literally everyone. Othello gets really jealous. (Almost) everyone dies. Othello Summary As Robert Watson summarises it: "The seemingly endless critical debate about Iago's motivation reflects a truth, rather than a confusion, about the play. ... If it is disturbing to suspect that a devil may be lurking around us in human form, perhaps within our most trusted friend, it is even more disturbing to realize that this devil may be ... a reflection of our own destructive tendencies." [160]

Robert Smallwood writing for Shakespeare Quarterly in 1990, quoted by Welles, 2000, pp.307-313 at p.311. Part of the explosion of the Romantic movement in France was a fashion for re-writing English plays as melodrama, including Alfred de Vigny's 1829 Othello adaptation Le More de Venise. [292] Oliver Parker's 1995 Othello was trailed as an "erotic thriller", including a ritualized love scene between Othello and Desdemona, and, most memorably, Othello's jealous fantasies of encounters between Desdemona and Cassio. [275] [276] Swiss actress Irène Jacob as Desdemona struggled with the verse, as did Laurence Fishburne, more experienced in expletive-ridden thriller roles, as Othello. [277] Iago was Kenneth Branagh in his first outing as a screen villain. [278] The overall effect was to create, in Douglas Brode's words "the tragedy of Iago" - a performance in which Iago's dominance is such that Othello is a foil to him, not the other way around. [279] The film was described as a "fair stab at turning the Bard into a decent night at the multiplex" [280] but failed to achieve success at the box office. [281] Wells, Stanley (ed.) "Oxford Shakespeare Topics: Shakespeare in the Theatre– An Anthology of Criticism", Oxford University Press, 2000, pp.112–113.Austern, Linda Phyllis "The Music in the Play" in Neil, Michael (ed.) and Shakespeare, William "Othello" The Oxford Shakespeare, Oxford University Press, 2006 pp.445-454 at p.445. The play’s protagonist and hero. A Christian Moor and general of the armies of Venice, Othello is an eloquent and physically powerful figure, respected by all those around him. In spite of his elevated status, he is nevertheless easy prey to insecurities because of his age, his life as a soldier, and his race. He possesses a “free and open nature,” which his ensign Iago uses to twist his love for his wife, Desdemona, into a powerful and destructive jealousy. Critics have naturally focused on the two central male roles. But Emilia becomes a powerful role in the final act. Indeed Charlotte Cushman's Emilia was said to upstage Edwin Forrest's Othello in 1845. [211] And when Fanny Kemble played Desdemona in 1848 she changed the performance tradition. Previously, Desdemonas had (in her words) "always appeared to me to acquiesce with wonderful equanimity in their assasination" but Kemble, a passionate feminist and abolitionist, decided "I shall make a desperate fight for it, for I feel horribly at the idea of being murdered in my bed." [212]

Bate, Jonathan; Rasmussen, Eric (2009). Othello. Basingstoke, England: Macmillan. p.3. ISBN 978-0-230-57621-6. Bate, Jonathan (ed.), Rasmussen, Eric (ed.) and Shakespeare, William "Othello", The RSC Shakespeare, The Random House Publishing Group, 2009, p.3. Hoenselaars, Ton "Shakespeare and Translation" in Wells, Stanley and Orlin, Lena Cowen (eds.) "An Oxford Guide: Shakespeare". Oxford University Press, 2003, pp.645–657, at p.649. These sentiments were instrumental in ushering in the so-called "bronze age of Othello" (discussed further under "19th century" below). [94] Iago persuades Othello to be suspicious of Cassio and Desdemona's relationship. When Desdemona drops a handkerchief (the first gift given to her by Othello), Emilia finds it and gives it to Iago at his request, unaware of what he plans to do with it. Othello appears and, then being convinced by Iago of his wife's unfaithfulness with his captain, vows with Iago for the death of Desdemona and Cassio, after which he makes Iago his lieutenant.Iago crudely informs Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, that Othello and Desdemona have eloped. Before the Venetian Senate, Brabantio accuses Othello of bewitching Desdemona. The Senators wish to send Othello to Cyprus, which is under threat from Turkey. They bring Desdemona before them. She tells of her love for Othello, and the marriage stands. The Senate agrees to let her join Othello in Cyprus. In spite of Othello's protestations in the first act that no magic was used in his wooing of Desdemona, he later claims magical properties for the handkerchief, his first gift to her. [122] [123] A question which has interested critics is whether he himself believes these stories or is using them to pressure or test Desdemona. [124] [125] There is certainly a contradiction between Othello's assertion - linked to its supposed magical properties - that his mother received the handkerchief from an Egyptian charmer in Act 3 Scene 4, [126] and his later assertion that his father gave it to his mother, made in Act 4 Scene 2. [127] [128] Are we, the audience, intended to believe in the handkerchief's magical properties? [129] The word "honest" is used more than 40 times in the play, sometimes with reference to Desdemona's chastity, but in almost all other cases with reference to Iago, where it has a double meaning - as a condescending term for a social inferior, and as a reference to his supposed truthfulness. [142] Act 2, scene 1 The Turkish fleet is destroyed in a storm, while Cassio and then Desdemona, Emilia, and Iago arrive safely at Cyprus. Desdemona anxiously waits for Othello. When his ship arrives, he and Desdemona joyfully greet each other. Iago, putting his plot into action, persuades Roderigo that Desdemona is in love with Cassio and that Roderigo should help get Cassio dismissed from the lieutenancy.