Othello- By Corin Elmore
characters
imagery, themes, lessons
plot
OSF production
Othello
Iago
Rodrigo
Cassio
Brabantio
Emilia
The Duke
Desdemona
Desdemona is a loyal woman who is loved by Othello. She is the object that the play revolves around. Othello kills her in the end and then kills himself when he learns that she was faithful. Desdemona is the victim of prevalent, societal sexism.
Iago's wife. She is good friends with Desdemona. she is independent, but still experiences Iago's sexism when he forces her to steal Desdemona's handkerchief. She dies after revealing all the secrets to Othello and exposing Iago.
Cassio is Othello's lieutenant at the beginning of the play. He is a good man, but Iago tricks Othello into thinking that Cassio has slept with Desdemona. Cassio gets drunk and into a fight. This causes him to lose his position. Throughout the play, he tries to get Desdemona to talk to Othello for him. He falls victim to Iago's plan multiple times.
Iago is the villain of the play. He hates Othello because he thinks that he has been Cuckolded by Othello, and also he was not given the promotion that Cassio received.
The main part in the play. He is a general, who is a Moor. Iago is his soldier, conspires against him. Othello is married to Desdemona but gradually begins to think that Desdemona is not faithful. Tragic hero.
Friend of Iago's. A suitor of Desdemona. He is rich, pathetic, ignorant. Is manipulated by Iago, and then killed by Iago.
Desdemona's Father, hates Othello, and even dies because of his hatred for Othello. Small part, beginning of the play.
The duke of venice, a small but pivotal part in terms of plot. Sends Othello to fight the war against the turks in Cyprus. Favors Othello, sees him as a good man, who won Desdemona fairly.
The Osf has done a wonderful job with the play, giving it life and drama. The theater is known for performing well, but this production was not outstanding in my opinion.
The set, for the most part, was well done. I liked the simplicity of it, and I also liked the costumes. However, one scene made me annoyed: in a modern gym. It was distracting and seemed to "try" too hard. The TVs in the background were immensely attention-drawing and subtracted from the intensity of the scene and dialogue.
I felt that the Iago was not preformed like I would have wanted. A little too mischievous, not enough evil emotion was put into the character. I didn't connect with the Rodrigo character either. The man who played Othello did well, but was a bit melodramatic at times, which made relating to him difficult.
The director could have cast Cassio better. The man who played him did not do a good job of feeling pain. The audience should feel bad for him after he is dismissed from Othello's ranks. However, this Cassio seemed not willing to fight for his position.
Act 3, Cassio begs Desdemona to convince Othello to reinstate him. Meanwhile, Iago speaks to Othello about Desdemona and Cassio and implies that the two are having an affair. This idea grows in Othello's head, and he finally asks Iago to prove that Desdemona is a "whore". Then, Iago sets into motion his handkerchief story. Emilia stole the handkerchief for Iago to plant in Cassio's room, to make Iago's story believable. Othello loses it and believes that Desdemona is unfaithful.
Act 4, As Iago, continues to manipulate Othello, Othello becomes more and more vexed. He falls into a trance of rage. Then, Iago speaks to Cassio while Othello speaks, and seeing Cassio smile, Othello has been pushed over the edge. He wants to kill Desdemona himself. He also orders Iago to kill Cassio. Then, when Desdemona mentions Cassio publicly, Othello slaps her, and she runs off. She still loves him though, being devout and true. Othello asks Emilia to change the sheets on the bed, and soon Desdemona knows she will die.
Act 2, Everyone arrives at the island of Cyprus. The Turks are beaten, and people rejoice. At night, Cassio drinks too much and begins to fight a jealous Rodrigo. Othello comes to stop the fight and tells Cassio that Cassio is no longer a soldier due to his irresponsible acts. Iago's plan is going, and Othello believes that Iago is extremely honest. Iago reveals that he believes that Othello slept with his wife, Emilia.
Act 5, All of the play's build up comes to conclusion in act 5. Othello meets Desdemona in their chamber, and after some talk, he strangles her. Shocked, Emilia calls Othello a murderer. Emilia states that it was her who stole the handkerchief, and Othello just killed an innocent woman. Iago is caught and beaten. Othello kills himself before he can be apprehended. Finally, Cassio is put into power, and the bed of dead bodies is the last thing that audiences see. A truly powerful ending.
Act 1, Rodrigo and Iago conspire agains Othello. Othello and Desdemona are newly wedded, but people are looking for them because Brabantio thinks she is kidnapped by him. They all meet before the duke, and things are situated. Othello is sent to Cyprus to fight the Turks. Othello and Desdemona are happy, Rodrigo thinks his shots of being with Desdemona are ruined. Iago hatches plan to take down Othello.
Iago's character has a weak motivation, but motivation is not necessarily his point. Shakespeare experiments with Iago as being like a negative voice in Othello's head. We all have negativity in our lives, but the challenge is to block it out. So Iago is more of a feeling than a real character.
Emilia and Desdemona seem to not have much control over their lives. This highlights some of the systemic gender issues of Shakespeare's time. How women are seen as mischevious and untrue, so they must be watched and not given an inch. This is immensely sexist.
There is lots of revenge and jealousy that is in this play. The feeling of being wronged, and then feeling like you have to right that wrong, is a prevalent idea in the play. Shakespeare shows that such a feeling of revenge can only lead to negativity, and once the feeling takes hold, it sucks everything down and feels inescapable. It is like a black hole.
In the play of Othello, there is a lot of underlying theme about sexism and racism. Shakespeare paints Othello as a character who is a foreigner (moor) living in a society where he feels he has to prove something. This leads to his downfall. So there is a lot of imagery and racism about "black" and his race.