Othello

I knew almost nothing about this play going into it, but I think it might be one of my favorites so far. It may also be Laurence Fishburne’s 1995 portrayal of Othello that helped win me over.

I feel like this play would be easy to criticize because so much of the climax depends on this very tenuous handkerchief scenario that relies on a lot of coincidences and people behaving irrationally. But at the same time, I think this plot device works because it shows just how masterful Iago is at manipulating people and exploiting their weaknesses.

Speaking of Iago, he is such a mystifying sociopath. I kept thinking I had missed something because I couldn’t figure out why he was trying so hard to basically ruin everyone’s lives. But I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss anything. He’s just an awful person. And he’s so perfectly written, the way he’s able to make everyone feel like he’s doing them a favor while he’s actually saying the exact things that he knows will lead to disaster.

I was fascinated by how the play deals with race. The text is certainly filled with racism, but I was surprised by how much power and respect Othello has at the beginning. He is a dark-skinned foreigner, but he is also an extremely respected military leader who is shown to be calm, eloquent, and capable in tense situations. Brabantio may be horrified by the idea of Othello marrying his daughter and assumes he must have used witchcraft to win her over, but he also takes Othello’s military ability and judgment more seriously than I would have expected.

I really liked this setup because it makes Othello’s descent so clearly extreme. We first meet him as this powerful, confident, respected leader, and by the end he has become insecure, irrational, jealous, and violent. It turns the whole story into sort of a nature versus nurture thing, where we have to decide how much of Othello’s violent jealousy reflects who he really is and how much comes from being pushed into the stereotypes that other people project on him, which is a pretty timeless theme.

Lastly, major respect to Emilia at the end, who basically gives her life to get the truth out there. If it weren’t for her loyalty to Desdemona and her final act of courage speaking out against Iago, he very well might have gotten away with everything, and I would have been really mad about it.

Book author: William Shakespeare