Othello is a common tragedy. It is a classic for the fact that it was written by Shakespeare, and it will stay that way regardless of any reviews it gets. Believed to have been written in 1603, it basically tells the story of how people do not communicate at ALL. This is the most frustrating part of the whole story, is that it all could have been avoided had people just talked to each other. However, like many of Shakespeare’s plays, it never ends how you want it to.
Personally, to begin reading the story you may want to educate yourself on simple terminology. It is written in the language of the time, obviously, so sparknotes will be your best friend. Find out what stances each character is in that society, for example Othello himself is a Moorish prince living in Venice, Italy and appointed general in the Venetian army. To truly understand the situation you must understand the society at the time. Placement of birth class had an effect on a person’s life. A Moor was a black or Arabian man that came from North Africa at the time of Shakespeare.
Consisting of five acts and much drama, I would recommend the play. It is crazy. The opening scene is Roderigo and Iago plotting against Othello. The audience gets dropped in the middle of a growing disaster. It is very obvious Iago is the bad guy from the get go, no spoilers. Desdemona and Othello being married is a problem to the Father of Desdemona, Barbantio, and thus he casts her out of his house. Rough start, but she just moves in with Othello and then since Othello has to go do general duties Othello places her in the care of Iago. This is foreshadowing that Desdemona’s future is in Iagos hands, and it is more than the reader or audience knows at this point. The whole play just explodes and suddenly characters are stabbing other characters and the play is all over the place. I mean, for real, if Shakespeare got bored i’m pretty sure he just killed characters.
Anyway, I’m not gonna give away spoilers, but it is a pretty cool play. Good just to know it exists, honestly. Emilia was my favorite character. She is Iagos wife and Desdemona’s friend. She is strong and most definitely shows she has a voice. I love her because of the part she plays. Emilia, ultimately, is the truth of the story. Ironically, she is the villain’s wife. Desdemona as a character didn’t have much to do with the actual doing of things, she hardly even took up for herself. It irked me the way she let Othello just walk on her the way she did in Act IV and V. She did not even really try to understand. If I keep going on this rant, I will most definitely spoil something. Shakespeare’s language will get to any reader, it’s difficult to understand, but it is worth the read!
I would give it a good 3.8 out of 5.
