Monday 19 August 2013

OTHELLO


I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice: then, must you speak
Of one that lov'd not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe. 
Othello, Act V, scene ii

Here you can find a detailed analysis of Othello, one of Shakespeare's great tragedies. Written around 1603, the play tells the story of a powerful general of the Venetian army, Othello, whose life and marriage are ruined by a manipulative, deceitful, and envious soldier, Iago.
Othello is perhaps the most famous literary exploration of the corruptive powers of jealousy and suspicion.  At the same time, it is among the earliest literary works dealing with race and racism. Othello, heroic even if eventually flawed, is the most important black protagonist in early Western literature. Othello faces persistent racism from other characters, in particular when he marries Desdemona, a privileged white woman whose father disapproves of the union.



Now let's watch a couple of videos of  this great play.





Here you can watch an intriguing  video in which  Dion Johnstone (Othello) and Bethany Jillard (Desdemona) discuss their roles in the Stratford Festival's 2013 production of Othello.

Here you can watch a video about word choice in Othello.
To revise the play, you can download a PDF presentation here.

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