Task 10

With the play Othello, there are many different kinds of work based on this play. Movies, filmed performances, or parodies and to compare the original play, I've chosen a movie from 1995, directed by Oliver Parker. The main characters in the movie are represented by Laurence Fishburn (Othello), Kenneth Branagh (Iago) and Irene Jacob (Desdemona). 

I have to say that reading Othello, the language of Shakespeare can get really hard and I had a tough time understanding some of his expressions. The movie was strongly based on the play and with Oliver Parker's respect to Shakespeare, he did not forget any scene from the play and the script perfectly followed the play, so when I found a passage where I did not fully understand the text, the movie helped me a lot with seeing it acted. 

Normally, when I read a book and then see a movie, there is a huge contrast between both pieces of art and usually, for me, the book is more successful, because  with the book, my imagination is freely opened and I create my own version of the main characters and then, when see the movie, it is totally different, than I imagined. However, with this movie, I was positively surprised, because Laurence Fishburn was really closed to what I imagine Othello would be like. What was really exciting about the movie, was Kenneth Branagh, whose role was so persuasively acted, and I could not imagine Iago better. 

I have seen the movie before, because we read the play in my English class in the US, so we watched the movie, too. However, the teacher would always skip the erotic scenes, because she probably thought we would have nightmares after watching it, or I do not know! So I finally enjoyed watching the full movie without skipping scenes (I hate that!) and have to say that I liked it a lot.

Task 9

Task 8

So the blog continues..

Task 7

Until now, we already know that Iago is the protagonist of the play Othello. 
He is probably Shakespeare's most evil character, for the way how he takes advantage of how people trust him. He knows what their weakness is and then, he manipulates with everyone. But what's his primary motivation? 
While reading very first pages in Act I., Scene I, we start understanding how Iago is disgust at being overlooked for Othello's lieutenant Michael Cassio and that the primary motivation for making all the sneaky plans and manipulations was just anger, jealousy and revenge. Iago could not stant Michael Cassio for replacing him and that Othello overlooked him. He was full of anger that drove him to deep desire to revenge everyone who hurt him. 
Iago is that type of a character who needs everything he wants and his acts lead to his own wife's death, Desdemona's death, Roderigo's death, or Othelllo's death and he presents many different faces to the other characters, so we don't really know what his real face is. Another motivation of Iago's cruelty could possibly be racism, because Othello was not the same as other people. He was black, since he was from Africa. 
What was conversely Othello's (the protagonist) primary motivation in the play? I would say that it really depends on each part of the play, but generally, his primary motivation is his wife Desdemona. In the beginning, Othello wants her to be proud of him and he tries to be the best one and he does so much to be a brave general, but later on, when Iago talks about an affair between Desdemona and Cassio, Othello's main motivation is jealousy and he becomes so obsessed with it, that he kills his wife. 

Something about William

The author of Othello is probably the most famous English writer, William Shakespeare. 

*Will lived for 52 years as his biography confirms. In just 23 years, between approximately 1590 and 1613, he is attributed with writing 38 plays, Famous Shakespearean sonnets and 5 other poems. He is the most widely read of all Authors and the popularity of the Life and Works of Shakespeare, in English speaking countries, is second only to the Bible. It is therefore no surprise that Shakespeare's biography, or bio, sparks so much interest. We have categorised this William Shakespeare Biography, or bio, into sections to facilitate easy reference. These range from a section on Shakespeare's ancestors to his education and from William Shakespeare's brothers and sisters to Shakespeare's acting career. 

*http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography.htm

Task 5

There are many major themes in Othello, it only depends from what point of view we see it. For many people, the major theme is race. When I read the book two years ago, I was more than sure that the major themes of Othello are schizophrenia and jealousy. They appear in the play on every single page, you can feel them everywhere. 

Othello's weak side is that he is being way too jealous and not only that- he becomes paranoid. Because of his jealousy, he kills his wife, and then himself. He is too weak. Iago knows well what Othello's weak side is and he takes advantage of it. Iago is simply a schizophrenic. He lives many different types of life, depending on who is he with in that moment. He is able to lie to all the people he has around himself, he is able to hurt his "friends" and at the end, kill his wife! So, jealousy and schizophrenia play very important roles in Othello. They make it the way it is- very dramatic.

Task 4

The major events that happened so far in the play, all revolve around Iago and his intrigues he makes around himself. He is being a sneaky bastard who creates real tension in this play. In the act 1, Iago talks with Rodrigo about Othello and how much they both actually hate him and want to get him in trouble by telling Brabantio- Desdemona's father, that his daughter and Othello got secretly married. Therefore, Iago and Rodrigo wake up Brabantio in the middle of night and they tell him the secret. The another day, when  everyone has a debate about the Turks trying to get to Cyprus, Othello comes inside and has a monologue about the love between him and Desdemona. 

"Her father loved me; oft invited me;

Still question'd me the story of my life,

From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes, 

That I have passed.

I ran it through, even from my boyish days,

To the very moment that he bade me tell it;

Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances,

Of moving accidents by flood and field 

Of hair-breadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach,

Of being taken by the insolent foe

And sold to slavery, of my redemption thence

And portance in my travels' history:

Wherein of antres vast and deserts idle,

Rough quarries, rocks and hills whose heads touch heaven

......" 

After his long speech in the senate, Desdemona enters and her father agrees with their relationship. 

Roderigo gets angry bacuse he realizes that Desdemona is not in love with him, but with Othello and Iago is still unhappy with his life, so he has to start ruining somebody else's life and his plan is to tell Othello that his wife is cheating on him with Cassio. 

That is the Act 1 and I know there will be so much drama going on in the next few pages. I really expect Iago to do something incredibly bad. Iago is insane!