Othello Reflections:
The second play we explored was Othello. The dramatic play filled with jealousy, Iago’s jealousy over Othello’s power and Othello’s jealousy over Desdemona’s sexuality, was a contrast to the comedy we explored earlier and changed the meaning of analyzing the plays for me. Instead of focusing on a series of misunderstandings leading to happiness, we now look at a dark piece filled with harm and malice. My focus came off of specific characters and instead a general sense of heavy emotion explored through Shakespeare’s characters.
My first thought paper of Shakespeare’s Othello looked at just this, how the two heavily contrasted one another. “I enjoyed not knowing what Iago was going to do or say next. While Much Ado was easier to predict.” Since this was the first time I had the chance to contrast two experiences of looking at a Shakespeare play through a new lens, I felt it was important to focus on this new experience. I think my paper helped me see Shakespeare’s work for the first time as a collection of creations, where my previous high school classes for example only focused on one play at a time with one teacher telling you the information to look out for. And so it was interesting to explore what he crafted and how in one comedic play compared to a tragedy.
My next paper was on the Globe Theatre’s presentation of Othello. I focused on Iago’s soliloquy in Act II, Scene III and how he omitted the phrase “She’s framed as fruitful / As the free elements,” about Desdemona having a good nature. It drove me to analyze the intent the director had in shedding a certain light on Desdemona. And I feel like it had helped me in contrasting how Shakespeare paints his characters and how directors change that perception by changing the reading of a line.
My final thought paper was on Olivier Parker’s filmed version of Othello. Instead of comparing and contrasting a written play and two films, I’m now focused on a written play, a stage production of that play as it would likely have been thought of by Shakespeare and a filmed version. I looked at Iago in Act I, Scene III when he’s playing with the chess pieces. I realized the differences both directors had in their capabilities and limitations with directing a play vs. a film. I wrote, “In this scene I also noticed because it was on film and not in front of a live audience, capturing the silence between his lines made me more captivated in his presence. It was like a calm before the storm, because then, the lightning strikes and he tears down the pieces. Which could also be acting as pathetic fallacy for the troubling events that take place.” I feel like in this paper I learned how to balance looking at a film form a literary perspective and a film perspective.
Overall, I think my experience with Othello improved from Much Ado About Nothing because I had already looked at a set before and had some experience under my belt of doing thought-paper style writings. I was crafting a toolbox to look at a Shakespearian film with both the original work of Shakespeare and the modern sense of film in mind.
Othello by William Shakespeare
Because we just studied Much Ado About Nothing, a play where the characters face laughable and harmless misunderstandings. I found it interesting to read Othello in contrast, a play with one character that has intent behind creating malicious misunderstandings amongst a new set of characters. In Much Ado the characters act as an ensemble to create the harmless, love-driven deception amongst each other. While in Othello, it is Iago who carefully crafts his plan on his own, intending to destroy Othello, without any regard to who gets taken down along with him. While Shakespeare’s comedy piece captivated an audience with laughter and heart-warming moments. He uses this tragedy to take advantage of our interest in deception and being in on the act. Because Shakespeare wrote the play with the intent to be watched, his intention would be to pull the audience in as if they were accomplices to the crime.
With reading the play on my own, I felt more like I was sitting back and watching a crime show. Less a part of the immoral acts, but rather encouraged to sit through the commercials and wait for the next piece of evidence or confession to come to light. My focus of Much Ado was a banterful and blissfully unaware couple in love, Beatrice and Benedick. While Othello keeps me focused on this villainous character whom you know is carefully crafting his words and reactions to manipulate his fellow characters. I enjoyed not knowing what Iago was going to do or say next. While Much Ado was easier to predict, I felt it amusing to watch and see just how the characters would get to what I was able to imagine or predict. I think it’s also interesting that the two plays are completely different, yet the same audience would have enjoyed both just as easily as I did.
Othello Presented by the Globe Theatre
Othello. Dir. Wilsom Milam. Perf. Eamonn Walker, Zoe Tapper. The Globe Theatre, 2008. Image.
When watching The Globe’s performance of Othello, I found Iago’s soliloquy in Act II, Scene III captivating. Knowing he would reveal his internal thoughts and show is master plan more, I paid close attention to his words. Which is why it struck me that in his speech “And what’s he then that says I play the villain?” he speaks each line except for “She’s framed as fruitful / As the free elements.” He would be speaking about Desdemona, meaning she is generous or has a good nature about her.
Because the play is staged at The Globe Theatre, many of the audience members are already familiar with the play and the language. When it comes to a film, it’s almost expected that the language is played with and as films appear to a wider audience, it may go unnoticed. But this is the only line in which he leaves out, prompting me to believe that the director of the play chose to leave this line out.
Does he leave this out because he thinks her action of defying her father and/or marrying a black man is not a quality of good nature? Instead focusing only on her role as a pawn in his scheme to destroy Othello. Or perhaps, he does not want the audience to believe her innocent, instead to paint her as a follower, easily susceptible to manipulation. Whatever the intention, I think if an audience member is able to catch this, it may leave an effect just as it did with me. Wondering why such a smart and conniving character who has shown us his carefully crafted intent, leaves out such a simple yet telling line.
Othello Dir. by Olivier Parker
Othello. Dir. Olivier Parker. Perf. Lawrence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh. Castle Rock Entertainment, 1995. Image.
Act I, Scene III immediately stuck out to me as a defining and important moment for setting the tone of the play. When Iago speaks the line “Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light,” while setting up chess pieces, his menacing voice captivates us to listen, our sole attention on him. Not only do Iago’s words tell us his plan to manipulate and hurt Cassio, Othello and Desdemona, the director has him show us his plan as well. He sets up a black king, which due to the casting suggests it represents Othello, and the white queen as Desmonda with another figure coming in between them. I’m not familiar with playing chess, but I do know to play well you need to be intelligent, logical and plan several steps ahead of your opponent. By having Iago set up these specific pieces, the director lets the audience know early on that he is the master of the game, controlling everyone’s moves.
In this scene I also noticed because it was on film and not in front of a live audience, capturing the silence between his lines made me more captivated in his presence. It was like a calm before the storm, because then, the lightning strikes and he tears down the pieces. Which could also be acting as pathetic fallacy for the troubling events that take place.
I think this part of the film makes it stand out from other adaptions because Parker goes to great lengths to show us the intent and role of Iago early on in the film. While the words Shakespare wrote are enough to tell us that Iago is manipulative and has a master plan, the use of the chess pieces, the visuals/sound and his menacing tone captivates the audience into wanting to know how the plan unfolds and what other secrets he’s hiding from the rest of the characters.