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!

Task 3

How is the time period in which the piece is set important to understanding the scenario? Well, Othello is set in the 15th century in Venice where the society was not so opened as it is today. All marriages had to be agreed and different social groups were not usually hanging out together and black people weren't something very common. In the play, the main character, black general of Venetian army Othello, gets married to Desdemona, daughter of the king of Venice and the more dramatic thing is, that nobody is supposed to know about it.

The scenario is related to today's world, because it is mostly about racism, inequality between people and terrifying things people are able to do because of being jealous. So, jealousy is the main issue in Othello. The main negative character Iago is very jealous for not getting higher position as Cassio and so he decides to tell Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio and sets off evidence by putting Desdemona's scarf in Cassio's room. That makes Othello go insane, and in jealousy, he kills Desdemona.

This reflects how people actually are in reality and that they are able to do very cruel thing just for their own benefits.

Task 2

The main characters I am going to be writing about are Othello, Desdemona and Iago. 

The very important thing about Othello is, that he is a black guy and that makes him seem more exotic than all other Venecians, and therefore he tries to make himself look like an outsider. He is a character full of opposites and to me he seems a little schizophrenic. The way he acts seems like he is the strongest person ever and the, he turns into a weak guy who is obsessed with his love Desdemona.

Iago is the perfect negative person in this play with all of his terrible characteristics. His jealousy is so strong that it makes him do really awful things to the people around him, thanks to his incredible talent for understanding people's deepest desires and then manipulating with them. So, he is basically this kind of a sneaky bastard who knows exactly what to do make himself satisfied and other people struggle. To show some of his good sides, I would like to say that to me, he often seems funny. 

The main female character Desdemona does not really seem so powerful like the male characters do, but we can feel that she is a really honest and good person. Her loyal and devoted character is what makes us feel good about her and understand why does Othello love her so much.