Othello
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Othello
William Shakespeare
Drama
James Mustich
Jul 31, 2018
Despite being an outsider, Othello is honored as the defender of Venice, and he falls ardently in love with Desdemona, a patrician daughter of the city, who has been swept away by the romantic aura of exotic adventure the noble Moor exudes. Although many of its scenes take place out of doors, the drama presents itself in psychologically claustrophobic close-up, our attention always zooming in to focus on Othello’s villainous ensign, Iago, who manufactures a series of incidents to discredit Desdemona and to corrupt his commander’s adoration of her. Othello’s sure-footed decisiveness, a boon in battle (and, in a way, the very opposite of Hamlet’s profound hesitation), leaves him awkward and uncertain in the sphere of private emotions. Iago preys upon this weakness, wielding words with lethal precision to transform his own envy into Othello’s jealousy. Relentlessly malign, Iago is a portrait of evil as sharply etched as any in literature. His insidious malevolence constricts the play’s tragic ambitions to the mean dimensions of his own twisted heart, making Othello a work of intensely concentrated, breathtaking power.
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Eli
Jan 29
Must read!
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